This week, I’m outlining the pros and cons of the web analytics tools Google Analytics and Tableau.
To Whom It May Concern: As business managers, you are aware that data and numerical proof of your digital marketing campaign’s success are key components to identifying goals and understanding where areas in your organization can be improved. But just as important as making quantitative determinations is being able to qualitatively assess your current social media tactics and see if they can be replaced by better strategies. No doubt you’ve researched various web analytics dashboards/tools that will best serve the interests of your digital marketing goals and measurements. You want a tool that will show you the page views, bounce rates, number of unique visitors, optimal keywords, sources of traffic, and much more. But equally important is the “why” behind the results you see. There is a myriad of apps and tools that allow you to see the numbers, but what platforms will also help you identify what actions can be made to drive more traffic to your website and increase your conversions? I’ve weighed the pros and cons of the two analytics tools, Google Analytics and Tableau, in hopes of alleviating the pressure you may have encountered trying to make the best decision for your company’s digital marketing plan. Here are two simple pro/con lists that give brief overviews of each platform’s strengths and weaknesses: Google Analytics Benefits:
Disadvantages:
Tableau Benefits:
Disadvantages:
My initial inclination would be to use the tried and true method, Google Analytics. For one thing, it is the more economical option and has name recognition. But if your budget will allow it, Tableau may be the better choice if you’re seeking the chance to analyze the various moving parts that come with full, comprehensive web metrics. Because Google Analytics is free, it is limited as far as showing full website visitor activity. Tableau, on the other hand, provides more visual options, categorizes visitor posts that mention your brand (and if their comments were positive or negative in nature), and provides more accurate, up-to-the-minute data. To wrap up this proposal, I end with some words from author and digital marketing evangelist Avinash Kaushik’s essay, “The Biggest Mistake Web Analysts Make...And How To Avoid It!”. He argues that a big part of an impactful web marketing strategy is ensuring that your measurable outcomes are instantly actionable. The fastest way one can positively impact their business is by using insights from their analyses (in this case, web metrics) to make improvements. Kaushik writes: “...you are looking for big, obvious broken things that can mostly likely be fixed quickly and for which the impact can be quickly measured. You are trying to find something with a clear purpose to show the power of actions taken through data.” With that, I wish you all the best in your digital marketing journey.
2 Comments
Kelcey
11/4/2018 12:26:00 pm
Hi Caitlin. great job on this assignment! I thought this read so professionally and really could have been from a social media manager to a higher-up at the company. Im so impressed by that! You kept your structure and message clear and easy to understand which I realize is important since someone higher up in the company may no nothing about analytic tools, or even just anything about the importance of web analytics.
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Stefani
11/6/2018 07:13:40 am
Caitlin,
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