Marina asks, “How do you add a comparison of a metric over dates in a table in Google Data Studio?” While this has been requested in Google Data Studio’s feature requests, it’s not available in the application now. But there’s a bigger issue at play: techniques to engineer this sort of thing, like calculated fields,…
Shannon asks, “Do you have any tips on how to demonstrate your value to your coworkers?” Value is defined by what you do that helps others. Depending on who the others are dictates what you report on. If your others are customers, then it’s metrics like increasing the lifetime value of the customer. If it’s…
Deborah asks, “Are you using or scoping out a Customer Data Platform (CDP) with the intent to implement personalization? Which tools?” Customer Data Platforms – CDPs – are something of a symptom of bad data management and governance at a company. If your data infrastructure and architecture is sound, you shouldn’t need a CDP. And…
Chacha asks, “Is there such a thing as unintentional bias?” This is an interesting question. Bias itself is a neutral concept – it simply means our data leans in one direction or another. Sometimes that’s a positive – there’s a definite bias of people in my Slack group, Analytics for Marketers, towards people who love…
Sheedeh asks, “Will new advances like automated machine learning make data scientists obsolete?” Most definitely not, though I can understand why that’s a concern. AI is currently automating a fair number of tasks that data scientists do, but those tasks are relatively low value. I’ve had a chance to test out a bunch of automated…
Magdalena asks, “If you have a new company or a new startup in marketing, how do you get started with no data?” This is a common question not only for new companies, but also for people new to a role who are coming into an organization where data may not be trustworthy or analytics software…
Pick a term that is bandied about the most but understood the least in business (especially marketing) and chances are it will be ROI, return on investment. Many marketers are asked by senior stakeholders what their ROI is, how to calculate marketing ROI, or whether their ROI is trending in the right direction. Before we…
Magdalena asks, “Which is more important for marketers, qualitative or quantitative data?” This common question is a false choice. Both are equally important and inform each other. Watch the full video for an explanation with details, and ways to gather both. Can’t see anything? Watch it on YouTube here. Listen to the audio here: Download…
Seth asks, “I just took over a marketing volunteer role for a small non-profit and they have no data repository. Like, nothing but disparate spreadsheets; some with donors, some with event attendees, some prior volunteers, etc. What should I be thinking about while building from the ground up to make sure I’m setting them up…
Michael asks, “Have you heard of augmented analytics (defined by Gartner)? It seems to me it means your job will get easier in the short run and you’ll be out of business in the long run – if you believe it. I’d be interested in your comments on it.” Augmented analytics is what the rest…
