Saturday, September 21, 2013

Top 7 Takeaways from the DAA Chicago Symposium

The Digital Analytics Association Chicago Association Symposium on September 17th attracted over 200 attendees for a stellar agenda on Omnichannel Marketing.  It was a pleasure to serve on the planning committee.  The topic was "Connecting the Dots: Optimizing the Customer Experience in an Omnichannel World."

We had a student/newcomer session in the morning which attracted 30-40 folks. It was a lively and attentive audience.I have put my talk on at the forum on Multichannel/Omnichannel Marketing on slideshare.  The talk contains introductory information on the topic and a transition into the following discussion on analytics attribution.


I enjoyed the entire day but some of the key takeaways for me from the symposium were as follows:

  1. Attribution as hockey:  +Braden Carlson and Kris Young from Digitas used hockey to describe how we need to give credit to channels that enable the final purchase, focusing on ROI and not just 'last click.' It's really not a customer funnel but more of a 'ping pong' effect, as my slides show.
  2. In-house trend:  +Andrew Swinand  comment that 52% of companies surveyed  want to bring digital in house so they can respond more quickly and inexpensively to market needs, driven by data, meant to me that there will be a growing market for the type of generalist marketers we are educating in our Digital Marketing programs.
  3. More data, less usage:  Andrew also quoted an IBM-released CMO survey, saying that only 30 pct of CMOs use data to make decision, down 17 points from prior years.  If fact, 70 percent say they are unprepared to utilize data, so there is a lot of opportunity for the education in this area.  I wonder if there is in some sense a fear of using data or just not enough knowledge, or both.
  4. Data quality: +Casey Carey  from Adometry reiterated the need for quality data in the organization, which is the focus of some of my recently-published academic research.  You can find this information summarized on my slideshare presentation from the last eMetrics forum.
  5. Focus on outcomes:  I also enjoyed Casey's approach, "Begin with the End in Mind."  We focus on outcomes in education and it was interesting to hear this approach for marketing.  It is the second time I have heard this approach in a week and it really makes sense.  Focusing on the customer experience helps us understand which data to collect and then analyzing that data helps us understand how best to meet customer needs.  Are we focused on attraction, acquisition or retention?  The strategic outcome should determine our tactical approach.
  6. Shortened buying cycle:  Shelby Saville and Kristin Haarlow from Spark Communications highlighted the 'ping pong effect in customer decision making and that the buying cycle is radically condensed.  In the auto industry, the purchase cycle is down to 28 days.  This condensed cycle puts more pressure than ever on marketers to deliver.
  7. The basics are constant:  As +tony bombacino noted, it is still, "Right customer, Right message, Right time."  That simple phrase should be the goal of any analytics program.

Please look into joining the DAA if you want more of this type of information and a great  group of colleagues. Kudos to +Amit Kadam, +Kristin Schwallie+Jared Vestal, Don Drews and others for your work on this great event.  Hope to see you all at the next one!

By Debra Zahay-Blatz.
You can find Debra on  and Twitter as well as LinkedIn.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Link(edIn)ing Search and Social

Social Media Platforms Rank High in Search Engines


September 10th I am giving a talk at +Aurora University on how to create an effective LinkedIn Profile.  I am planning on talking about the importance of picking good search keywords so you can be found on LinkedIn.  If you want to work in social media marketing, put those keywords in your job descriptions, Profile Title and Summary sections. I gave this advice to a student last semester and within two days she started seeing relevant job recommendations targeted to her interests from LinkedIn.

Another aspect of a good LinkedIn profile is having a large number of connections.  Most experts suggest at least 500 connections as 'social proof' that you are influential in your field.  I have over 2500 connections, am listed in the top 1% of LinkedIn Profiles and my profile shows up in search results regularly.  As a result, my LinkedIn Profile comes up first when people search for me online.  If you are seeking to build a professional presence, you want this result also.



Social media marketing, personal branding



Search engines are putting more emphasis on social media platforms, which in itself is a reason to participate in social media. As you can see my guest blogging for econsultancy.com, my participation on Twitter and Slideshare, all come before my editorship of the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing. The more active you can be on social media, the more you can control what others see about you online and how you are perceived.

Come hear more at the The Dunham School of Business (DSB) 2013-2014 Professional Development Series  The first session is Tuesday, September 10, 5-6pm in UBH. I will present, Get LinkedIn: The First Step in Personal Branding.  Hope to see you there.


By Debra Zahay-Blatz.
You can find Debra on  and Twitter as well as LinkedIn.