Analytics & Testing

How Much Are You Paying for Free Analytics?

barb-jones.pngBarbara Jones from the Stellar Thoughts blog set up an interview for her CRM Strategy Sessions podcast using Skype. I’m really impressed with the quality of the audio (right down to the bird squawking in the background in my apartment). We discussed analytics as a whole as well as why someone would actually pay for an analytics package.

Barb assists small businesses with the implementation, deployment and strategy of an email and customer relationship management (CRM) solution called Infusionsoft. I didn’t cover all the reasons in the podcast but here are a few:

  1. Most paid analytics providers also provide implementation and training as well. Opening a paid analytics package like Webtrends can provide you the opportunity for access to hundreds of reports. In Google, you’re going to have to add and modify profiles, and build your own custom reports. Not fun if you’ve never done this type of work before!
  2. Google Analytics has a serious lag in data capture and has limitations on how much data is captured. That’s a serious handicap when you need to be responsive with your online business.
  3. Because they’re not trying to simply keep up with demand, paid analytics providers have the resources to continue to enhance their products. Webtrends, for example, has mobile integration, Facebook analytics integration, social media measurement, a visitor data mart and a robust set of APIs for pulling and pushing data.

The bottom line is that sometimes free comes at a cost. With analytics, I believe that cost is significant for mid and large-sized businesses who could make a substantial impact on their inbound marketing strategy if they were able to identify the revenue opportunities. Without the answers they need to make great decisions, they’re simply wasting time and money with a free application.

Here’s the podcast:

[audio:https://martech.zone/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/WebAnalyticso-StellarThoughts.mp3]

Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr is CMO of OpenINSIGHTS and the founder of the Martech Zone. Douglas has helped dozens of successful MarTech startups, has assisted in the due diligence of over $5 bil in Martech acquisitions and investments, and continues to assist companies in implementing and automating their sales and marketing strategies. Douglas is an internationally recognized digital transformation and MarTech expert and speaker. Douglas is also a published author of a Dummie's guide and a business leadership book.

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