Digital-analytics-DAF-2016

AT Internet’s annual Digital Analytics Forum (which we fondly call the “DAF”) has always been a special event for both AT Internet and our customers. It is an opportunity to step back and take a look at the digital analytics market, which has been subject to many changes over the years. Data is the centerpiece and, if you happen to work in the “digital” field, know exactly what we’re talking about: Using your company’s data efficiently is the key to great performance. Unfortunately, a digital analytics project’s success does not depend on data alone. In the words of Peter Sondergaard from Gartner Research, “Data is inherently dumb.” The success of our customers – and of your company – depends on people, advice, questioning and constant re-evaluation. If data is dumb, let’s all work together to make it smarter!

To find the value in data, you need proper guidance: All of our event guests were invited to visit our “Data Angels Corner” throughout the day to get answers to their digital analytics questions. During his introduction speech, AT Internet’s CEO Mathieu Llorens painted the portrait of a modern data scientist who, in his view, is much like a journalist: meticulous, specialised, bold, independent, and capable of prioritising information and telling a story. This reminds us of the importance of data storytelling: According to Jennifer Aaker, social psychologist and professor of marketing at Stanford, and machines, unlike humans, don’t tell stories!

 

DAF 2016 Mathieu Llorens

 

 

The fact remains that a good tool will still make your storytelling easier. Analysts are often overburdened by the data demands of their colleagues, which forces them to act as mere “Reporting Squirrels” – a term popularised by Avinash Kaushik, a renowned blogger in the digital analytics sphere. The Reporting Squirrel is the opposite role of the Analytics Ninja – a kind of a data master capable of intelligently extracting value, rather than simply producing an Excel sheet devoid of any meaning or insights.

 

reporting vs analytics - DAF 2016

The Reporting Squirrel VS. the Analytics Ninja… Fight!

 

The Digital Analytics Forum also introduced several new features to satisfy both seasoned digital analysts and business users. These latest innovations of the Analytics Suite include:

  • Integration of SEO Oncrawl data into your dashboards
  • The capability of using your AT Internet analytics data in third-party tools, such as Power BI, bime, Qlik and Tableau
  • Smart SDK, a feature announced at last year’s Digital Analytics Forum, which revolutionises the tagging of mobile apps
  • The new User Insights feature which provides an advanced visitor-centric, cross-device and cross-platform view
  • An “In-Page Analytics” browser extension, which provides your analytics data directly in your web browser (for Chrome, Firefox and Opera)

There are also a number of features planned in our roadmap:

  • The Tag Crawler and Tag Inspector tools, to ensure data quality by detecting tagging errors
  • A new version of Data Manager, which will enable even more agility in data collection and processing
  • Explorer, a new tool that will help web analysts take an exploratory approach to their data for greater insights

Data-driven marketing

We just want to help you avoid reproducing the above pattern in your company…

 

We also had the pleasure of welcoming James McCormick, principal analyst at Forrester Research, for a session on digital intelligence. James shared the strategy and company structure required to reach this digital intelligence: how teams and tools should be organised, understanding data collection and visualisation, defining the right metrics, and continuous optimisation… and how all these elements must work together to create better understanding of customers.

 

DAF 2016 James McCormick

 

The event continued with a talk on artificial intelligence from Sébastien Foucaud, head of data science at Scout 24. You thought AI was still the stuff of science fiction films? Think again – AI is already a part of our lives, and the largest companies are already using it: Amazon, Apple, Uber, Netflix and many more are using colossal volumes of data in order to deepen their understanding of customers and fully customise the user experience. In this way, your digital analytics tool can help you incorporate artificial intelligence into the heart of your business strategy.

 

Every year, the DAF also provides the opportunity to hear from our clients and partners. This year, we heard from Alexis Mollet, digital marketing director of the Le Groupe La Poste, who explained that “Analytics is at the service of business.” Le Groupe La Poste is already extracting interesting insights from AT Internet’s In-App Analytics and TV Tracking dashboards. We also welcomed Jillian Minor, web analytics director at TicketNetwork – a marketplace dedicated to the resale of event tickets (sports, theatre, concerts, etc.) – who shared her experience working with real-time analytics dashboards to track activity, with the bulk of sales being made over an “on sale” period determined by the announcement of an event by an artist or a sports team. To finish off this series of “best practices”, Julien Crochet, AB Tasty’s VP of sales, demonstrated the complementary nature of digital analytics and A/B testing (as if it needed to be proven!). An important point to keep in mind if you are in a testing stage: You must consider your visitors’ objectives, rather than your own objectives for your site…

 

DAF 2016 Julien Crochet AB Tasty

 

The workshops organised around the topics of mobile analytics and segmentation made it possible to understand and try out the new features announced throughout the day. Ultimately, we left the DAF with our heads full of ideas. It was also a valuable opportunity to catch up with our clients in an enjoyable environment (meaning, with a glass of Grand Cru Classé in hand!). The feedback we received from our clients, partners and guests was rich in lessons for us, and there is no doubt that the Analytics Suite’s future innovations will make it possible to get even closer to the Holy Grail: making better decisions thanks to data!

 

See photos from the 2016 Digital Analytics Forum in our Facebook album, and check out videos from the day on our YouTube channel!

Author

Alexis joined AT Internet in early 2014 after obtaining his master’s degree in digital communication and community management. Passionate about social networks and online advertising, he is also in charge of marketing automation at AT Internet. A proper geek, he strives to stay on the cutting edge of all innovations related to social networks and new technologies.

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