What Is Marketing Analytics?

September 14, 2021

Compiling data just for the sake of it is useless, and many marketing teams do just that. They collect data and reports on the activities they engaged with, reinforcing the perception that marketing is a cost center. What they should be doing is showing that their marketing efforts are revenue drivers.

In order to do that, they need to understand the importance of analyzing marketing data in a holistic way and with a goal in mind. Also, they need to execute said analysis in a way that generates actionable results.


Most don't do that because if they did, a lot more than 35% of marketers would have said that understanding the ROI of their campaigns is "Very Important" or "Extremely Important," as they did in a marketing statistics report by Hubspot. And truth be told, the ROI on the marketing spend is probably one of the most important metrics for any business.


So, it's safe to say that going over what marketing analytics really is, its importance, how businesses use marketing analytics, and the challenges of analyzing data and how to overcome them is not redundant, it's long overdue.

Marketing Analytics Defined

Marketing Analytics 101 guide by Marketo defines marketing analytics as "the practice of managing and studying metrics data in order to determine the ROI of marketing efforts like calls-to-action (CTAs), blog posts, channel performance, and thought leadership pieces, and to identify opportunities for improvement."

Still, marketing analytics engagements should go a step beyond and provide a strategic road map to improve efficiency and provide actionable results to help the entire organization improve sales. But beyond the obvious end goal of "getting more sales," what other benefits do marketing analytics engagements provide, and why is it important.

Why Marketing Analytics Is Important

Nowadays, consumers have more than one, two, or three products or services to choose from to satisfy a particular need. They could even have 40 different products or service offers, all competing for their attention. In a modern world full of competition, accurate marketing analytics is more important than ever.

The insights provided by marketing data analytics service engagements will help a company understand its profitable customer segments and predict consumer behavior. Companies will also get detailed information about their customers' interactions and touchpoints within their buying journey, and doing so will help master lead attribution.

One of the most essential building blocks of any winning strategy is to have the correct information to build upon. Marketing analytics will provide that information in the form of actionable insights for a company's marketing and sales teams.

How Businesses Use Marketing Analytics

Like we mentioned before, marketing analytics provide information that can help marketing and sales teams design winning strategies. But that is not all that marketing analytics can do for a business. The information from marketing analytics engagements can also be used for the following:

• Product intelligence, including trends on product development.
• Customer trends and preferences.
• Evaluating the competition.
• Making predictions on strategy results.

As we can see, there are many benefits for businesses and uses for the information comprised in marketing data analytics engagements. However, analyzing marketing data has its challenges.

The Challenges of Analyzing Marketing Data and How to Overcome Them

In a technological era where our browser's cookies track our every move, it may be an understatement to say that the amount of available data is massive. But this is just one and the most obvious challenge to analyzing marketing data. Other things like the quality of the data, selecting attribution models, having the knowledge and experience to understand the data and its patterns, and making the necessary correlations are the major challenges in analyzing marketing data.

Fortunately, companies with highly experienced principals like Peak Innovation offer marketing data analytics service engagements to help companies, from start-ups to Fortune 500s, answer their toughest marketplace questions.


Peak Innovation operates with a flexible, scalable staffing model leveraging subject matter experts as needed. We enable clients to generate profitable growth through the practical use of research, innovation, and technology. Please, visit our services page to learn more about what Peak Innovation has to offer. Call us at (844) 300-7325 or fill out the form on this website for questions about our services or to schedule a time to speak.