How to Navigate the World of Analytics with Michael Loban

Business Unveiled

If you don’t have any type of analytics or data set up, it probably should be the first thing you do before you go to bed tonight. Really, it’s that important. I’ve learned the hard way that really making sure that you’re asking the right questions and that you have the right data points set up can really make or break your business from a profitability standpoint. Our guest today is Michael Loban, Chief Growth Officer of the analytics consulting company, InfoTrust. He is also the coauthor of the Amazon best-seller Crawl, Walk, Run: Advancing Analytics Maturity with Google Marketing Platform. We’re talking to him about the ways you can (and should) use analytics for your company.

One of the things you should be most aware of is your website. We talk about digital transformation: the process you take to give your website a complete refresh. This is the route you should take if your website hasn’t been touched at all in years. There is another option besides transformation, however, and it is one that big companies use. Michael calls it digital evolution: changing and tweaking something new every day. This process is so subtle that customers often don’t notice it, and it helps you avoid the intensive process of a digital transformation.

There are so many options in the Google marketing platform, and it can get overwhelming. Don’t worry: Michael explains the differences between each platform and what they do. He also explains which ones may be the best options for your business.

So many people are so excited to begin running ads, but their decisions can often turn into expensive experiments if they are not careful. Before you invest in any advertising, ask yourself how you came to the conclusion that you needed the advertising. Then, validate your decision. If you can’t do either of these things, then you are not ready to invest. Also, always make sure you keep your advertising to a budget that you can afford to lose because advertising is a learning curve.

Finally, non-compliance fines are a big deal. Avoid these by being respectful of your customer’s data and by asking for permission before you do anything with it. It really comes down to your integrity as a business owner. Do what’s right, and you won’t get into trouble. Listen in to learn even more exciting things about the world of analytics!

Main Topics:- The difference between digital transformation and digital evolution- Which Google marketing tools are best for you- What you should do before investing in ads- How to avoid non-compliance fines

Key Takeaways:

- “The easiest way to persuade somebody is not for me to use my opinion or say I wrote a book about it. Instead, we build a couple of quantitative models and see which one can deliver us more results.”

-“You always want to look at the progress. Do not look at absolute number. Just look at how things are progressing.”

-“Good advertising can help customers make good decisions.”