In a post at the Istobe blog, Chris Herrick reports on key takeaways he picked up at the Predictive Analytics World and eTail West conferences held earlier this year. In his view, the lessons include simplicity and restraint. Here are two of his recommendations:

Zero in on the metrics that matter. Just because data is interesting, that doesn't mean it's inherently useful. "Figure out what you want to accomplish," says Herrick, "whether it's increasing online revenue, bumping up conversion rates, or lowering churn, and then narrow your focus to only use metrics that give information about that goal."

They're most effective when used properly. According to Herrick, marketing analytics should inform your decisions—not make them. "While I fully believe that analytics are critical for valuable insight into what's really happening with customers," he says, "they shouldn't be used as a proxy for marketing decision making … [U]se analytics to show you where you need to spend your time and give you options, use your own business insight and marketing intuition to execute your strategy."

The Po!nt: It's possible to overcomplicate the analysis of your data, and to rely too heavily on what it seems to say. Says Herrick, "[M]ake sure you're using your customer data effectively and, most importantly, keep it simple."

Source: Istobe. Click here for the full post.

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