how to build a data driven company - josh braaten - searchlove 2014

How to Build a Data-Driven Company

Josh BraatenCollegisEducation.com

@JLBraaten

Josh Braaten

• Director of Inbound Marketing, Collegis Education• Vice President of Minnesota

Search Engine Marketing Association• Co-Founder of Glass en Masse

1. Internet Math is Business Math

Data-driven companies are…Three times as likely to execute decisions as intended

Source: Forbes,The Big Data Boom: Is Your Company Ready? October, 2013

http://www.forbes.com/sites/baininsights/2013/10/30/the-big-data-boom-is-your-company-ready/



Impressions * Click-Through Rate = Clicks = Visits * Conversion Rate = Conversions *

Average Transaction Value = Revenue – Expenses = Profit

Internet Math is Business Math

Sent Emails * Open Rate = Opens *

Click-Through Rate = Clicks =

Visits * Conversion Rate = Conversions *



# of Tweets * Avg Retweet Rate =

Twitter Impressions * Twitter Click-Through Rate = Clicks = Visits * Conversion Rate = Conversions *



Impressions * Click-Through Rate = Clicks = Visits * Conversion Rate = Conversions *

Average Transaction Value = Average Revenue per Quarter *

Number of Quarters – Quarterly Expenses = Profit


2. If You Don’t Have a Metric, Make One

Data-driven companies are…Twice as likely to use data very frequently when making decisions

Source: Forbes, The Big Data Boom: Is Your Company Ready? October, 2013


Netflix and User Preferences

3. Tie Issues to Revenue

Without a System, All Issues Look the Same

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Creating a Metric Was Helpful

Issues Reported by Students

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We Can Also Tie Issues to

Lost Customers

Issues Reported by Students with Drops



Opportunities to Improve Look

Different


Public Enemy #1

New Priorities Emerge



Walmart, Beer and Pop Tarts

Source: The New York Times, What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers’s Habits November, 2004

“Start predicting what’s going to happen, instead of waiting for it to happen.”

-Linda Dillman, Walmart, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/business/yourmoney/14wal.html

4. Store and Structure Your Data

Target Knows Kids Better Than Parents Do

Source: Forbes, How Target Figured Out a Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did February, 2012

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/

Guest ID # Credit Card Name Email

1000000001 xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-4243 Josh Braaten [email protected]

1000000002 xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-3053 John Doe [email protected]

1000000003 xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-1836 John Smith [email protected]

Tying Everything Together

Getting Systems in Order is Both Easy and Hard

Unique Customer ID

Jawbone Stores 60 Years’ Worth of Sleep Data Every NightSource: Fast Company,

Jawbone Tracked Hundreds of Thousands of Up Users to Find the Most Sleep-Deprived States December, 2013

http://www.fastcompany.com/3022977/jawbone-tracked-hundreds-of-thousands-of-up-users-to-find-the-most-sleep-deprived-states

http://www.fastcompany.com/3022977/jawbone-tracked-hundreds-of-thousands-of-up-users-to-find-the-most-sleep-deprived-states

Without It, Everything Looks Like This

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Or At Best This

Issues Reported by Students


But Never This



5. Analytics, Insights and Iteration



Public Enemy #1

Continuous Improvement and Iteration

Source: Wired, Mark Zuckerberg’s Letter to Investors: “The Hacker Way” February, 2012

“The Hacker Way is an approach to building that involves continuous improvement and iteration. Hackers believe that something can always be better, and that nothing is ever complete. They just have to go fix it — often in the face of people who say it’s impossible or are content with the status quo.”

- Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, 2012

http://www.wired.com/business/2012/02/zuck-letter/

An Analytics Swiss Army Knife Provides Insights


Segment Traffic CR(%) Goal Completions

Products 80,000 4% 3,200

Locations 50,000 6% 3,000

Home 225,000 1% 2,250

New Customers 10,000 10% 1,000

Service 15,000 5% 750

Five times as likely to make decisions much faster than their market peers


Data-driven companies are…


6. Test, Test, Test

Controlled Testing Verifies Hypotheses and Understanding

7. Use Data to Empower Action



Public Enemy #1

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

No Social Media 72% 70% 73% 72%

Facebook Users +26% +27% +15% +14%

Community Users +24% +21% +5% +14%

Retention and Social Media Participation

Source: Harvard Business Review, When to Act on Correlation, and When Not To March, 2014

Correlation and Action

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/03/when-to-act-on-a-correlation-and-when-not-to/

Help Everyone Have a Say in KPIs

Help Everyone Have a Say in KPIs

Original V1: Blue V2: Olive0%

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Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied

Qualaroo NPS Ratings by Background Color

8. Hire Someone Good at Math

If You’ve Made It This Far, Hire For Math

9. Don’t Forget to Turn Data Collection Into Marketing and More

10. Give People Data and They’ll Grow to Depend on It


Data-driven companies are…Twice as likely to be in the top quartile of financial performance within their industries


When More Companies Can See Where Issues Affect Revenue

Impressions * Click-Through Rate = Clicks =

Visits * Conversion Rate = Conversions *

Average Transaction Value = Average Revenue per Quarter * Number of Quarters – Quarterly Expenses = Profit

Where Issues Seem Less Like This

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