My colleague Matt Fulk and I were looking for a follow up to our white paper, Lead Management Automation Using SAS, which covered our evolution with marketing analytics. One initiative that has really been rewarding to work on has been the internal implementation of our Customer Experience Analytics solution. For me, the most exciting part has been seeing the evolution of web analytics from an ad-hoc reporting tool into a true analytical solution that integrates with the rest of our customer intelligence solutions .

I touched on the broader notion of web analytics in my post, 4 Ways to Match Online Behavior with Real Time Offers, and in retrospect it seems we were just scratching the surface. We have learned a few things since then; some of which I share below:

Web Analytics and Demand Generation - What Can I Do?

1. Web behavior and analytics are a powerful combination – Our lead nurturing capabilities  let us see what we could do with email optimization . Combining our other data sources has allowed us to segment better , realizing on the fly that individuals or accounts are looking for something specific. This has helped us modify our customer touchpoints and create customer insight driven content. Our What is big data page is a nice example of what can come from that combination.
2. Use a real time recommendation engine – Ever since Amazon and Netflix made it popular, executives have been demanding – “get me one of those.”  With these new data sources and a real time engine to deliver them, the behavioral marketing set now has their ideal solution. I really believe that digital marketers have a real opportunity here. This is a must have for marketers involved in demand generation.
3. Development of the analytical marketer – The evolution of big data requires marketers to develop new skills and process reengineering. As a practitioner, this means a fundamental shift must take place. Strategies like lead nurturing, lead management automation, content marketing, organic customer acquisition, and adaptive contact planning  didn’t exist a few years ago. Customer intelligence solutions like marketing automation, web analytics and marketing optimization were not as advanced and pervasive as they are today. Analytical skills were left to database marketing and other quantitative analyst positions; they were not a requirement of roles like corporate, product and field marketing as they are today. There is now a need for extreme focus here.

As a marketer, I am excited to be a part of these developments. I have been hearing about “single view of customer” and “personalization” since I was in college, and now we are real close to seeing that become a reality.

If you'd like to hear more, I will be sharing this story at DemandCon in Boston on October 1-2, 2012 in a presentation titled Web Traffic in the Funnel. Join me and others as we talk about B2B demand generation, web analytics and more.