Analytics outlook report shows its not all doom and gloom
The Web Analytics Association released their Outlook 2009 Survey Report this week.
As a Board Director of the WAA, I was one of the people who presented the research findings to members in a webcast. And I was struck by just how much relevance the findings have to anyone marketing a business or organisation online, in particular to some of the travel and tourism marketing questions we have discussed here at Tracking Tourism.
So while the full research and podcast is available to WAA members only (one of many good reasons to join!) I thought I would share some of the report’s findings.
WAA members can sign-in to access the research and download podcast, or if you’re not a member you can find out more about the Web Analytics Association here.
My pick of the research findings
A total of 653 web analytics users (from online marketers and finance to business intelligence analysts and business owners) from around the world participated in the WAA survey. Respondents were asked questions that included their use of web analytics today, their planned usage in 2009 and when they envisaged their 2009 investments to be made.
1. Measuring what matters to the business bottom line
The WAA found that making sure business decisions are driven by analytics will be the big motivator in 2009. They explain “It was also a top focus in 2008, but there’s a significant increase in the number of organizations keeping this top of mind in the next year. Clearly, when budgets are tight, demonstrating ROI is going to be key.”
They also suggest that this significantly increased focus on supporting business decisions is because organizations are more aware of the vital role web analytics plays in demonstrating the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
Personally, I think there is also the factor that individuals, teams and entire business units are sharply aware of the need to demonstrate how they contribute to the business bottom line – and are not by implication in any way expendable.
2. Investments in people above technology
A symbol, perhaps, of the maturing online marketing environment – 2009 is the year when people say they will be investing more in people and their training than they will in the purchase of new tools and technology. The report states that “Training will get the biggest share of budget for over 43% of organizations.”
Hooray! I have never seen the point in investing in analytics technology, then expecting untrained, inexperienced staff to deliver earth shattering insight from it. It doesn’t work that way.
Even for businesses that are forced into reducing their staff headcount, it is critical that those who remain are equipped with the skills they need to contribute positively to the bottom line.
3. Online marketing and analytics spend is not in total freefall
At least that’s what the online marketing professionals say. The research seems to back it up – according to an Epsilon CMO survey, 63% of senior marketing executives intend to increase interactive and online marketing in 2009, 23% expect it to stay the same. Only 14% say it will decrease.
The WAA report a similarly optimistic picture: “Last year, nearly 69% of survey respondents said they would be increasing their investment in web analytics. This year, that number has gone down to 52.1%….Only 4% will be decreasing them in the next year.
4. Video, mobile and consumer generated content are where we’re focussing
As travel and tourism marketers know full well, video and user generated content is where its at – and mobile is finally looming large on the radar. The WAA report that “Video is strong and will only get stronger, but the biggest growth will be in measuring KPIs for Mobile Media, which will more than double”
Think of us web analysts as canaries in the coal mine – we have to sniff out how to measure the stuff that marketers want to spend on. So where there’s interest in measurement, there’s money to be spent close behind. And it seems budget will be flowing to video and mobile.
This is just my pick of the WAA Outlook 2009 report findings that I think particularly relevant to travel and destination marketers.
The full research, podcast, slides and much much more is avalable to WAA members. Visit www.webanalyticsassociation.org for more information.
Post by Vicky
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 11th, 2009 at 8:06 pm and is filed under Data, Future trends, Web analytics and web measurement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.