The “Analytics Trap”

By FH Cooper | Leave a Comment

Analytics are reporting tools that allow the user to view key statistics on the performance of their site.  To prove the effectiveness of your site and show that your marketing efforts are working, you may employ any number of analytical methods. What should be of concern is not which methods you use but the time it takes to employ these analytical methods.  Often, the user can get caught up in simple or sophisticated analysis and forget to pay attention to the tasks at hand, namely supporting the marketing efforts.

An old cliché might apply here, namely, “When you’re up to your ass in alligators, it’s hard to remember your initial objective was to drain the swamp.” Put another way, it is easy to get sidetracked.

The size of your analytical process should match your business, that is, not overly sophisticated and time consuming if your business is not that large. It is possible to find or develop analytical processes to match the size of your company that will provide indicators as to the effectiveness of your site and marketing. If, for example, you are using market segmentation for an e-mail flyer, are you reaching the people you targeted initially?  Was the result an acceptable response or do you need to make some revisions to increase its effectiveness?

We are not disparaging analytics. What we are suggesting is that the methods you use should match the size of your business.  Don’t lose sight of the main objective:  your site and the marketing that supports it.