The Best Marketing Report Tool to Grow Your Business: 3 Popular Choices
The Best Marketing Report Tool to Grow Your Business: 3 Popular Choices
The Best Marketing Report Tool to Grow Your Business: 3 Popular Choices
When you’ve got an important decision to make, there’s an old saying:
"Go with your gut."
Now, this advice is perfect for choosing movies, restaurants, and lifepartners. But when it comes to making decisions about your business…
It’s probably best to stick with the data.
In fact, companies that use data-driven marketing strategies have a huge advantage over their competition. And, those companies are six times more likely to be profitableyear-after-year.
It’s no wonder why 20% of the $1.3 trillion spent annually on marketing is allocated toward collecting and using data to reach customers. Butthat leads to an interesting question:
If collecting and understanding data about your clients yields so many tangible benefits, why aren’t all companies doing it?
The answer is simple: It usually takes a lot of time.
Fortunately, it doesn’t have to. So, in this article, I’m going tocover:
What is data-driven marketing?
Why data-driven marketing is necessary for running a business?
How to choose between three companies who gather your data and makedetailed marketing reports so you don’t have to?
My goal for this article is to simply get you thinking about why you’remaking marketing decisions and how you can make them better. Let’s divein!
What is data-driven marketing?
Data-driven marketing is a term that has been getting a lot moreattention lately, and for good reason. That said, the definition ofdata-driven marketing tends to become over complicated which is a shamebecause, at its core, it’s incredibly simple:
Collecting and analyzing data to make better marketing decisions.
Obviously, there’s a lot more to it than that when put into practice,but at a theoretical level, this definition is spot on.
When you have precise metrics on your audience and what they respond to,you’re able to identify trends and make predictions about futurebehaviors to increase your revenue.
Like I said, it’s not too complicated.
Let’s look at just one example of how data-driven marketing works in thereal world:
DirectTV is a popular television provider in the U.S., but theycertainly aren’t the only ones. They have some competition. And theproblem with this business (installing satellite television) is thatonce someone chooses your competitor, they’re much less likely to switchover to you.
Why? Because it’s a huge hassle.
You have to call the service provider, set up an appointment, havesomeone come out to your home, hope they’re on time (they never are),pay a fee to cancel your old contract, and… well… you get the idea.
DirectTV decided to start using another tactic to find new customers.They took some USPS data and looked for people who had recently gonethrough the process of changing their address.
Once they had this information, they were able to create personalizedcampaigns to target homeowners in the process of moving because they’d have to go through the hassle described above anyway if they wanted satellite TV.
Guess what happened after DirectTV shaped their strategy from that smallamount of USPS data? They saw a "double-digit increase in conversion rate."
And they aren’t the only ones. In fact, a simple Google search willquickly take you to 6 incredible real-life examples of data-driven marketing(it’s a killer article, by the way).
Before we get to our review, let’s take a minute to look at whydata-driven marketing has been upgraded from a luxury to a necessitywhen it comes to your marketing strategy.
Why data-driven marketing is necessary to run
a successful business
The cool thing about technology is that it’s always changing. But here’sthe tough part about technology:
It’s always changing.
Think about it. When Facebook first hit the scene back in 2004, it wasjust a goofy little platform for college kids to keep in touch. No onecould have predicted how large an impact it would have on the businessworld.
If you’re trying to reach clients in 2020 and Facebook isn’t a part ofyour strategy, you’re likely leaving tons of money on the table.
But that’s not all.
Today you also need to have Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok(ok, truth be told, you really don’t need that last one...yet).The point is that these technologies started as one thing(entertainment) and evolved into integral marketing tools almostovernight.
And who saw the most benefits from that change? Early adopters.
It was the same with smartphones; it was the same with email; it waseven the same with sticks and stones. Technology moves tools forward,and it’s the people who learn to use them most effectively who see thebest results.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Data-driven marketing is not a new concept.Far from it. What IS new, however, is how data-driven marketing isdone.
Every day, analytical tools are getting sharper, faster, and moreprecise.
The great thing about this is that it allows smart marketers to do abetter job and increase their company’s profits. The hard part, though,is that it can be hard to keep up.
Knowing what data is essential, how to gather data from differentplatforms, and figuring out what any of it means is the tricky part.
Large companies have entire departments dedicated to this type of work.But what about the small/medium-sized companies? How can they use dataeffectively to make decisions that are just as precise as the bigguys?
Many of them rely on 3rd party companies who specialize in creatingmarketing reports. In other words, they turn to services that will spendtime creating valuable reports on their data so they can spend timerunning their business.
In this article, let’s turn our attention to three such companies andlook at their advantages, drawbacks, and pricing.
Three Marketing Report Agencies You Should Know
1. DashThis
DashThis is one of the larger Marketing Reporting tools on the market.They have an easily accessible dashboard that creates automatedmarketing reports depending on your needs.
They even segment your needs on their homepage as they get you starteddepending on what type of business you’re in (marketing team, marketingagency, small business, freelancer, etc.).
They have loads of helpful integrations so you can gather all themetrics you need in one convenient location. That means you can gatherreports from Google Analytics, Social Media, PPC Ads, SEO, Google MyBusiness, and so on.
Benefits:
A large company with a lot of options to choose from when it comesto collecting the data that you need.
Reports can be exported to a PDF to be shared with the company orduring presentations.
Drawbacks:
The benefit of DashThis is also its drawback: Many of its optionswould be overkill for small/medium-sized businesses, but pricing doesn’tchange depending on which ones you need.
All the reports are located on the site’s dashboard and are not, to myknowledge, able to be emailed directly to the client without using aseparate PDF attachment or link to a web page.
There are no features to set up quick-response alerts for when datashows some problem or issue.
Price: Pricing ranges from $45/month for individuals to $630/monthfor enterprises with a few options in between. The price drops to$38/month and $539/month (respectively) if you take the annualsubscription.
Here is a breakdown of their pricing and features.
AgencyAnalytics is another big player in this space. They have over 40integrations, a customizable dashboard, and some cool SEO tools. Youalso have the ability to send reports to clients via email in a PDFformat.
I am impressed with the number of their integrations, and they seem tohave struck the balance between keeping things simple while alsooffering an extensive amount of tools.
Benefits:
Lots of integrations
Has some cool SEO capabilities included in their pricing plan
Drawbacks:
Packages are somewhat limited. If you don’t need SEO or Site PageAudits, you’ll still be paying for them
Related to the last point, most of the features offered would be overkill for small/medium-sized business
Like DashThis (again, as far as I know) there are no features to setup quick-response alerts for when data shows some problem or issue
Price: A "Freelance" account starts at $49/month and moves towardthe largest package at $400/month. Annual subscriptions bring those downto $39/month and $319/month, respectively.
Here is a breakdown of their pricing and what is included inthe packages.
Obviously, I’m a bit biased here. I built Metrics Watch because it wasthe kind of product I would want to use. That said, I will try to be asobjective as possible.
Metrics Watch works in the same manner as both DashThis andAgencyAnalytics in terms of reports. We have some great integrations forall of your needs (Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram…all the usual suspects) but we send them via email.
I like the idea of a dashboard, but felt like it was simpler to send myclient’s information directly to them. Plus, it would allow my clientsto customize their email presentation so the brand Metrics Watch doesn’tneed to appear at all. That way, if my clients share their results withcolleagues, I don’t feel like I’m hijacking their brand.
Finally, I’ve worked to strike the perfect balance between price andfeatures for small/medium-sized businesses. The goal is to get peoplethe data they need, when they need it, directly in my clients’ inboxwith ZERO redirects or PDF attachments.
Benefits:
The reports are emailed, and the data is in the body of the email;it's not a PDF or a link to some web page
We can tie in the process of marketers and they can receive apreview, add a message/note and then (and only then) send it to theirclient
Reports include most major integrations with morecoming
Alert systemto quickly stop any major problems with your site
Customer support is personal, and I take a lot of pride in speaking with my clients (and potential clients) in person via chat and/or video
Pricing is more competitive
Disadvantages:
We are continually adding integration. While we have most of the major players, we’ll be adding more soon. Here is a full list of our integrations for Reports.
Customer support is personalized, but we have a much smaller team. Sometimes it can take a couple of hours to respond to general inquiries.
Price: This needs to be broken down into two categories:
i) Reports: Our Reports packages range from $29/month for our starter package and $100/month for the premium plan (we also have enterprise plans with more reports and an API to create reports. If you sign up for the yearly subscription, you get two months free (dropping the monthly fee down to $24,17)
ii) Alerts: Our real-time Google Analytics Alerts packages are priced at around the same as our Reports. Smaller plans start at $29/month and top out at $225/month (which includes SMS alerts with faster real-time checking). Again, yearly subscriptions can be purchased which gives you two months free!
Let Me Leave You With This…
Honestly, all three of these companies have their good and their bad.What’s important, though, is that you start making your marketingdecisions from data, not your "gut."
So no matter which marketing report tool you finally decide to go with,I certainly hope this article inspired you to improve your data-drivenmarketing efforts.
If you have any questions, you can contact me at hi@metrics.watch orsign up for a live demo(I’m not big on sharing the pre-recorded stuff because it doesn’t allowme to address your unique questions!).
Finally, if you liked this article, feel free to pass it along to anyoneyou think would find it valuable. I’m always here to help and superappreciative of anyone who takes the time to read about how to improvetheir marketing flow!
When you’ve got an important decision to make, there’s an old saying:
"Go with your gut."
Now, this advice is perfect for choosing movies, restaurants, and lifepartners. But when it comes to making decisions about your business…
It’s probably best to stick with the data.
In fact, companies that use data-driven marketing strategies have a huge advantage over their competition. And, those companies are six times more likely to be profitableyear-after-year.
It’s no wonder why 20% of the $1.3 trillion spent annually on marketing is allocated toward collecting and using data to reach customers. Butthat leads to an interesting question:
If collecting and understanding data about your clients yields so many tangible benefits, why aren’t all companies doing it?
The answer is simple: It usually takes a lot of time.
Fortunately, it doesn’t have to. So, in this article, I’m going tocover:
What is data-driven marketing?
Why data-driven marketing is necessary for running a business?
How to choose between three companies who gather your data and makedetailed marketing reports so you don’t have to?
My goal for this article is to simply get you thinking about why you’remaking marketing decisions and how you can make them better. Let’s divein!
What is data-driven marketing?
Data-driven marketing is a term that has been getting a lot moreattention lately, and for good reason. That said, the definition ofdata-driven marketing tends to become over complicated which is a shamebecause, at its core, it’s incredibly simple:
Collecting and analyzing data to make better marketing decisions.
Obviously, there’s a lot more to it than that when put into practice,but at a theoretical level, this definition is spot on.
When you have precise metrics on your audience and what they respond to,you’re able to identify trends and make predictions about futurebehaviors to increase your revenue.
Like I said, it’s not too complicated.
Let’s look at just one example of how data-driven marketing works in thereal world:
DirectTV is a popular television provider in the U.S., but theycertainly aren’t the only ones. They have some competition. And theproblem with this business (installing satellite television) is thatonce someone chooses your competitor, they’re much less likely to switchover to you.
Why? Because it’s a huge hassle.
You have to call the service provider, set up an appointment, havesomeone come out to your home, hope they’re on time (they never are),pay a fee to cancel your old contract, and… well… you get the idea.
DirectTV decided to start using another tactic to find new customers.They took some USPS data and looked for people who had recently gonethrough the process of changing their address.
Once they had this information, they were able to create personalizedcampaigns to target homeowners in the process of moving because they’d have to go through the hassle described above anyway if they wanted satellite TV.
Guess what happened after DirectTV shaped their strategy from that smallamount of USPS data? They saw a "double-digit increase in conversion rate."
And they aren’t the only ones. In fact, a simple Google search willquickly take you to 6 incredible real-life examples of data-driven marketing(it’s a killer article, by the way).
Before we get to our review, let’s take a minute to look at whydata-driven marketing has been upgraded from a luxury to a necessitywhen it comes to your marketing strategy.
Why data-driven marketing is necessary to run
a successful business
The cool thing about technology is that it’s always changing. But here’sthe tough part about technology:
It’s always changing.
Think about it. When Facebook first hit the scene back in 2004, it wasjust a goofy little platform for college kids to keep in touch. No onecould have predicted how large an impact it would have on the businessworld.
If you’re trying to reach clients in 2020 and Facebook isn’t a part ofyour strategy, you’re likely leaving tons of money on the table.
But that’s not all.
Today you also need to have Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok(ok, truth be told, you really don’t need that last one...yet).The point is that these technologies started as one thing(entertainment) and evolved into integral marketing tools almostovernight.
And who saw the most benefits from that change? Early adopters.
It was the same with smartphones; it was the same with email; it waseven the same with sticks and stones. Technology moves tools forward,and it’s the people who learn to use them most effectively who see thebest results.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Data-driven marketing is not a new concept.Far from it. What IS new, however, is how data-driven marketing isdone.
Every day, analytical tools are getting sharper, faster, and moreprecise.
The great thing about this is that it allows smart marketers to do abetter job and increase their company’s profits. The hard part, though,is that it can be hard to keep up.
Knowing what data is essential, how to gather data from differentplatforms, and figuring out what any of it means is the tricky part.
Large companies have entire departments dedicated to this type of work.But what about the small/medium-sized companies? How can they use dataeffectively to make decisions that are just as precise as the bigguys?
Many of them rely on 3rd party companies who specialize in creatingmarketing reports. In other words, they turn to services that will spendtime creating valuable reports on their data so they can spend timerunning their business.
In this article, let’s turn our attention to three such companies andlook at their advantages, drawbacks, and pricing.
Three Marketing Report Agencies You Should Know
1. DashThis
DashThis is one of the larger Marketing Reporting tools on the market.They have an easily accessible dashboard that creates automatedmarketing reports depending on your needs.
They even segment your needs on their homepage as they get you starteddepending on what type of business you’re in (marketing team, marketingagency, small business, freelancer, etc.).
They have loads of helpful integrations so you can gather all themetrics you need in one convenient location. That means you can gatherreports from Google Analytics, Social Media, PPC Ads, SEO, Google MyBusiness, and so on.
Benefits:
A large company with a lot of options to choose from when it comesto collecting the data that you need.
Reports can be exported to a PDF to be shared with the company orduring presentations.
Drawbacks:
The benefit of DashThis is also its drawback: Many of its optionswould be overkill for small/medium-sized businesses, but pricing doesn’tchange depending on which ones you need.
All the reports are located on the site’s dashboard and are not, to myknowledge, able to be emailed directly to the client without using aseparate PDF attachment or link to a web page.
There are no features to set up quick-response alerts for when datashows some problem or issue.
Price: Pricing ranges from $45/month for individuals to $630/monthfor enterprises with a few options in between. The price drops to$38/month and $539/month (respectively) if you take the annualsubscription.
Here is a breakdown of their pricing and features.
AgencyAnalytics is another big player in this space. They have over 40integrations, a customizable dashboard, and some cool SEO tools. Youalso have the ability to send reports to clients via email in a PDFformat.
I am impressed with the number of their integrations, and they seem tohave struck the balance between keeping things simple while alsooffering an extensive amount of tools.
Benefits:
Lots of integrations
Has some cool SEO capabilities included in their pricing plan
Drawbacks:
Packages are somewhat limited. If you don’t need SEO or Site PageAudits, you’ll still be paying for them
Related to the last point, most of the features offered would be overkill for small/medium-sized business
Like DashThis (again, as far as I know) there are no features to setup quick-response alerts for when data shows some problem or issue
Price: A "Freelance" account starts at $49/month and moves towardthe largest package at $400/month. Annual subscriptions bring those downto $39/month and $319/month, respectively.
Here is a breakdown of their pricing and what is included inthe packages.
Obviously, I’m a bit biased here. I built Metrics Watch because it wasthe kind of product I would want to use. That said, I will try to be asobjective as possible.
Metrics Watch works in the same manner as both DashThis andAgencyAnalytics in terms of reports. We have some great integrations forall of your needs (Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram…all the usual suspects) but we send them via email.
I like the idea of a dashboard, but felt like it was simpler to send myclient’s information directly to them. Plus, it would allow my clientsto customize their email presentation so the brand Metrics Watch doesn’tneed to appear at all. That way, if my clients share their results withcolleagues, I don’t feel like I’m hijacking their brand.
Finally, I’ve worked to strike the perfect balance between price andfeatures for small/medium-sized businesses. The goal is to get peoplethe data they need, when they need it, directly in my clients’ inboxwith ZERO redirects or PDF attachments.
Benefits:
The reports are emailed, and the data is in the body of the email;it's not a PDF or a link to some web page
We can tie in the process of marketers and they can receive apreview, add a message/note and then (and only then) send it to theirclient
Reports include most major integrations with morecoming
Alert systemto quickly stop any major problems with your site
Customer support is personal, and I take a lot of pride in speaking with my clients (and potential clients) in person via chat and/or video
Pricing is more competitive
Disadvantages:
We are continually adding integration. While we have most of the major players, we’ll be adding more soon. Here is a full list of our integrations for Reports.
Customer support is personalized, but we have a much smaller team. Sometimes it can take a couple of hours to respond to general inquiries.
Price: This needs to be broken down into two categories:
i) Reports: Our Reports packages range from $29/month for our starter package and $100/month for the premium plan (we also have enterprise plans with more reports and an API to create reports. If you sign up for the yearly subscription, you get two months free (dropping the monthly fee down to $24,17)
ii) Alerts: Our real-time Google Analytics Alerts packages are priced at around the same as our Reports. Smaller plans start at $29/month and top out at $225/month (which includes SMS alerts with faster real-time checking). Again, yearly subscriptions can be purchased which gives you two months free!
Let Me Leave You With This…
Honestly, all three of these companies have their good and their bad.What’s important, though, is that you start making your marketingdecisions from data, not your "gut."
So no matter which marketing report tool you finally decide to go with,I certainly hope this article inspired you to improve your data-drivenmarketing efforts.
If you have any questions, you can contact me at hi@metrics.watch orsign up for a live demo(I’m not big on sharing the pre-recorded stuff because it doesn’t allowme to address your unique questions!).
Finally, if you liked this article, feel free to pass it along to anyoneyou think would find it valuable. I’m always here to help and superappreciative of anyone who takes the time to read about how to improvetheir marketing flow!
When you’ve got an important decision to make, there’s an old saying:
"Go with your gut."
Now, this advice is perfect for choosing movies, restaurants, and lifepartners. But when it comes to making decisions about your business…
It’s probably best to stick with the data.
In fact, companies that use data-driven marketing strategies have a huge advantage over their competition. And, those companies are six times more likely to be profitableyear-after-year.
It’s no wonder why 20% of the $1.3 trillion spent annually on marketing is allocated toward collecting and using data to reach customers. Butthat leads to an interesting question:
If collecting and understanding data about your clients yields so many tangible benefits, why aren’t all companies doing it?
The answer is simple: It usually takes a lot of time.
Fortunately, it doesn’t have to. So, in this article, I’m going tocover:
What is data-driven marketing?
Why data-driven marketing is necessary for running a business?
How to choose between three companies who gather your data and makedetailed marketing reports so you don’t have to?
My goal for this article is to simply get you thinking about why you’remaking marketing decisions and how you can make them better. Let’s divein!
What is data-driven marketing?
Data-driven marketing is a term that has been getting a lot moreattention lately, and for good reason. That said, the definition ofdata-driven marketing tends to become over complicated which is a shamebecause, at its core, it’s incredibly simple:
Collecting and analyzing data to make better marketing decisions.
Obviously, there’s a lot more to it than that when put into practice,but at a theoretical level, this definition is spot on.
When you have precise metrics on your audience and what they respond to,you’re able to identify trends and make predictions about futurebehaviors to increase your revenue.
Like I said, it’s not too complicated.
Let’s look at just one example of how data-driven marketing works in thereal world:
DirectTV is a popular television provider in the U.S., but theycertainly aren’t the only ones. They have some competition. And theproblem with this business (installing satellite television) is thatonce someone chooses your competitor, they’re much less likely to switchover to you.
Why? Because it’s a huge hassle.
You have to call the service provider, set up an appointment, havesomeone come out to your home, hope they’re on time (they never are),pay a fee to cancel your old contract, and… well… you get the idea.
DirectTV decided to start using another tactic to find new customers.They took some USPS data and looked for people who had recently gonethrough the process of changing their address.
Once they had this information, they were able to create personalizedcampaigns to target homeowners in the process of moving because they’d have to go through the hassle described above anyway if they wanted satellite TV.
Guess what happened after DirectTV shaped their strategy from that smallamount of USPS data? They saw a "double-digit increase in conversion rate."
And they aren’t the only ones. In fact, a simple Google search willquickly take you to 6 incredible real-life examples of data-driven marketing(it’s a killer article, by the way).
Before we get to our review, let’s take a minute to look at whydata-driven marketing has been upgraded from a luxury to a necessitywhen it comes to your marketing strategy.
Why data-driven marketing is necessary to run
a successful business
The cool thing about technology is that it’s always changing. But here’sthe tough part about technology:
It’s always changing.
Think about it. When Facebook first hit the scene back in 2004, it wasjust a goofy little platform for college kids to keep in touch. No onecould have predicted how large an impact it would have on the businessworld.
If you’re trying to reach clients in 2020 and Facebook isn’t a part ofyour strategy, you’re likely leaving tons of money on the table.
But that’s not all.
Today you also need to have Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok(ok, truth be told, you really don’t need that last one...yet).The point is that these technologies started as one thing(entertainment) and evolved into integral marketing tools almostovernight.
And who saw the most benefits from that change? Early adopters.
It was the same with smartphones; it was the same with email; it waseven the same with sticks and stones. Technology moves tools forward,and it’s the people who learn to use them most effectively who see thebest results.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Data-driven marketing is not a new concept.Far from it. What IS new, however, is how data-driven marketing isdone.
Every day, analytical tools are getting sharper, faster, and moreprecise.
The great thing about this is that it allows smart marketers to do abetter job and increase their company’s profits. The hard part, though,is that it can be hard to keep up.
Knowing what data is essential, how to gather data from differentplatforms, and figuring out what any of it means is the tricky part.
Large companies have entire departments dedicated to this type of work.But what about the small/medium-sized companies? How can they use dataeffectively to make decisions that are just as precise as the bigguys?
Many of them rely on 3rd party companies who specialize in creatingmarketing reports. In other words, they turn to services that will spendtime creating valuable reports on their data so they can spend timerunning their business.
In this article, let’s turn our attention to three such companies andlook at their advantages, drawbacks, and pricing.
Three Marketing Report Agencies You Should Know
1. DashThis
DashThis is one of the larger Marketing Reporting tools on the market.They have an easily accessible dashboard that creates automatedmarketing reports depending on your needs.
They even segment your needs on their homepage as they get you starteddepending on what type of business you’re in (marketing team, marketingagency, small business, freelancer, etc.).
They have loads of helpful integrations so you can gather all themetrics you need in one convenient location. That means you can gatherreports from Google Analytics, Social Media, PPC Ads, SEO, Google MyBusiness, and so on.
Benefits:
A large company with a lot of options to choose from when it comesto collecting the data that you need.
Reports can be exported to a PDF to be shared with the company orduring presentations.
Drawbacks:
The benefit of DashThis is also its drawback: Many of its optionswould be overkill for small/medium-sized businesses, but pricing doesn’tchange depending on which ones you need.
All the reports are located on the site’s dashboard and are not, to myknowledge, able to be emailed directly to the client without using aseparate PDF attachment or link to a web page.
There are no features to set up quick-response alerts for when datashows some problem or issue.
Price: Pricing ranges from $45/month for individuals to $630/monthfor enterprises with a few options in between. The price drops to$38/month and $539/month (respectively) if you take the annualsubscription.
Here is a breakdown of their pricing and features.
AgencyAnalytics is another big player in this space. They have over 40integrations, a customizable dashboard, and some cool SEO tools. Youalso have the ability to send reports to clients via email in a PDFformat.
I am impressed with the number of their integrations, and they seem tohave struck the balance between keeping things simple while alsooffering an extensive amount of tools.
Benefits:
Lots of integrations
Has some cool SEO capabilities included in their pricing plan
Drawbacks:
Packages are somewhat limited. If you don’t need SEO or Site PageAudits, you’ll still be paying for them
Related to the last point, most of the features offered would be overkill for small/medium-sized business
Like DashThis (again, as far as I know) there are no features to setup quick-response alerts for when data shows some problem or issue
Price: A "Freelance" account starts at $49/month and moves towardthe largest package at $400/month. Annual subscriptions bring those downto $39/month and $319/month, respectively.
Here is a breakdown of their pricing and what is included inthe packages.
Obviously, I’m a bit biased here. I built Metrics Watch because it wasthe kind of product I would want to use. That said, I will try to be asobjective as possible.
Metrics Watch works in the same manner as both DashThis andAgencyAnalytics in terms of reports. We have some great integrations forall of your needs (Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram…all the usual suspects) but we send them via email.
I like the idea of a dashboard, but felt like it was simpler to send myclient’s information directly to them. Plus, it would allow my clientsto customize their email presentation so the brand Metrics Watch doesn’tneed to appear at all. That way, if my clients share their results withcolleagues, I don’t feel like I’m hijacking their brand.
Finally, I’ve worked to strike the perfect balance between price andfeatures for small/medium-sized businesses. The goal is to get peoplethe data they need, when they need it, directly in my clients’ inboxwith ZERO redirects or PDF attachments.
Benefits:
The reports are emailed, and the data is in the body of the email;it's not a PDF or a link to some web page
We can tie in the process of marketers and they can receive apreview, add a message/note and then (and only then) send it to theirclient
Reports include most major integrations with morecoming
Alert systemto quickly stop any major problems with your site
Customer support is personal, and I take a lot of pride in speaking with my clients (and potential clients) in person via chat and/or video
Pricing is more competitive
Disadvantages:
We are continually adding integration. While we have most of the major players, we’ll be adding more soon. Here is a full list of our integrations for Reports.
Customer support is personalized, but we have a much smaller team. Sometimes it can take a couple of hours to respond to general inquiries.
Price: This needs to be broken down into two categories:
i) Reports: Our Reports packages range from $29/month for our starter package and $100/month for the premium plan (we also have enterprise plans with more reports and an API to create reports. If you sign up for the yearly subscription, you get two months free (dropping the monthly fee down to $24,17)
ii) Alerts: Our real-time Google Analytics Alerts packages are priced at around the same as our Reports. Smaller plans start at $29/month and top out at $225/month (which includes SMS alerts with faster real-time checking). Again, yearly subscriptions can be purchased which gives you two months free!
Let Me Leave You With This…
Honestly, all three of these companies have their good and their bad.What’s important, though, is that you start making your marketingdecisions from data, not your "gut."
So no matter which marketing report tool you finally decide to go with,I certainly hope this article inspired you to improve your data-drivenmarketing efforts.
If you have any questions, you can contact me at hi@metrics.watch orsign up for a live demo(I’m not big on sharing the pre-recorded stuff because it doesn’t allowme to address your unique questions!).
Finally, if you liked this article, feel free to pass it along to anyoneyou think would find it valuable. I’m always here to help and superappreciative of anyone who takes the time to read about how to improvetheir marketing flow!
When you’ve got an important decision to make, there’s an old saying:
"Go with your gut."
Now, this advice is perfect for choosing movies, restaurants, and lifepartners. But when it comes to making decisions about your business…
It’s probably best to stick with the data.
In fact, companies that use data-driven marketing strategies have a huge advantage over their competition. And, those companies are six times more likely to be profitableyear-after-year.
It’s no wonder why 20% of the $1.3 trillion spent annually on marketing is allocated toward collecting and using data to reach customers. Butthat leads to an interesting question:
If collecting and understanding data about your clients yields so many tangible benefits, why aren’t all companies doing it?
The answer is simple: It usually takes a lot of time.
Fortunately, it doesn’t have to. So, in this article, I’m going tocover:
What is data-driven marketing?
Why data-driven marketing is necessary for running a business?
How to choose between three companies who gather your data and makedetailed marketing reports so you don’t have to?
My goal for this article is to simply get you thinking about why you’remaking marketing decisions and how you can make them better. Let’s divein!
What is data-driven marketing?
Data-driven marketing is a term that has been getting a lot moreattention lately, and for good reason. That said, the definition ofdata-driven marketing tends to become over complicated which is a shamebecause, at its core, it’s incredibly simple:
Collecting and analyzing data to make better marketing decisions.
Obviously, there’s a lot more to it than that when put into practice,but at a theoretical level, this definition is spot on.
When you have precise metrics on your audience and what they respond to,you’re able to identify trends and make predictions about futurebehaviors to increase your revenue.
Like I said, it’s not too complicated.
Let’s look at just one example of how data-driven marketing works in thereal world:
DirectTV is a popular television provider in the U.S., but theycertainly aren’t the only ones. They have some competition. And theproblem with this business (installing satellite television) is thatonce someone chooses your competitor, they’re much less likely to switchover to you.
Why? Because it’s a huge hassle.
You have to call the service provider, set up an appointment, havesomeone come out to your home, hope they’re on time (they never are),pay a fee to cancel your old contract, and… well… you get the idea.
DirectTV decided to start using another tactic to find new customers.They took some USPS data and looked for people who had recently gonethrough the process of changing their address.
Once they had this information, they were able to create personalizedcampaigns to target homeowners in the process of moving because they’d have to go through the hassle described above anyway if they wanted satellite TV.
Guess what happened after DirectTV shaped their strategy from that smallamount of USPS data? They saw a "double-digit increase in conversion rate."
And they aren’t the only ones. In fact, a simple Google search willquickly take you to 6 incredible real-life examples of data-driven marketing(it’s a killer article, by the way).
Before we get to our review, let’s take a minute to look at whydata-driven marketing has been upgraded from a luxury to a necessitywhen it comes to your marketing strategy.
Why data-driven marketing is necessary to run
a successful business
The cool thing about technology is that it’s always changing. But here’sthe tough part about technology:
It’s always changing.
Think about it. When Facebook first hit the scene back in 2004, it wasjust a goofy little platform for college kids to keep in touch. No onecould have predicted how large an impact it would have on the businessworld.
If you’re trying to reach clients in 2020 and Facebook isn’t a part ofyour strategy, you’re likely leaving tons of money on the table.
But that’s not all.
Today you also need to have Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok(ok, truth be told, you really don’t need that last one...yet).The point is that these technologies started as one thing(entertainment) and evolved into integral marketing tools almostovernight.
And who saw the most benefits from that change? Early adopters.
It was the same with smartphones; it was the same with email; it waseven the same with sticks and stones. Technology moves tools forward,and it’s the people who learn to use them most effectively who see thebest results.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Data-driven marketing is not a new concept.Far from it. What IS new, however, is how data-driven marketing isdone.
Every day, analytical tools are getting sharper, faster, and moreprecise.
The great thing about this is that it allows smart marketers to do abetter job and increase their company’s profits. The hard part, though,is that it can be hard to keep up.
Knowing what data is essential, how to gather data from differentplatforms, and figuring out what any of it means is the tricky part.
Large companies have entire departments dedicated to this type of work.But what about the small/medium-sized companies? How can they use dataeffectively to make decisions that are just as precise as the bigguys?
Many of them rely on 3rd party companies who specialize in creatingmarketing reports. In other words, they turn to services that will spendtime creating valuable reports on their data so they can spend timerunning their business.
In this article, let’s turn our attention to three such companies andlook at their advantages, drawbacks, and pricing.
Three Marketing Report Agencies You Should Know
1. DashThis
DashThis is one of the larger Marketing Reporting tools on the market.They have an easily accessible dashboard that creates automatedmarketing reports depending on your needs.
They even segment your needs on their homepage as they get you starteddepending on what type of business you’re in (marketing team, marketingagency, small business, freelancer, etc.).
They have loads of helpful integrations so you can gather all themetrics you need in one convenient location. That means you can gatherreports from Google Analytics, Social Media, PPC Ads, SEO, Google MyBusiness, and so on.
Benefits:
A large company with a lot of options to choose from when it comesto collecting the data that you need.
Reports can be exported to a PDF to be shared with the company orduring presentations.
Drawbacks:
The benefit of DashThis is also its drawback: Many of its optionswould be overkill for small/medium-sized businesses, but pricing doesn’tchange depending on which ones you need.
All the reports are located on the site’s dashboard and are not, to myknowledge, able to be emailed directly to the client without using aseparate PDF attachment or link to a web page.
There are no features to set up quick-response alerts for when datashows some problem or issue.
Price: Pricing ranges from $45/month for individuals to $630/monthfor enterprises with a few options in between. The price drops to$38/month and $539/month (respectively) if you take the annualsubscription.
Here is a breakdown of their pricing and features.
AgencyAnalytics is another big player in this space. They have over 40integrations, a customizable dashboard, and some cool SEO tools. Youalso have the ability to send reports to clients via email in a PDFformat.
I am impressed with the number of their integrations, and they seem tohave struck the balance between keeping things simple while alsooffering an extensive amount of tools.
Benefits:
Lots of integrations
Has some cool SEO capabilities included in their pricing plan
Drawbacks:
Packages are somewhat limited. If you don’t need SEO or Site PageAudits, you’ll still be paying for them
Related to the last point, most of the features offered would be overkill for small/medium-sized business
Like DashThis (again, as far as I know) there are no features to setup quick-response alerts for when data shows some problem or issue
Price: A "Freelance" account starts at $49/month and moves towardthe largest package at $400/month. Annual subscriptions bring those downto $39/month and $319/month, respectively.
Here is a breakdown of their pricing and what is included inthe packages.
Obviously, I’m a bit biased here. I built Metrics Watch because it wasthe kind of product I would want to use. That said, I will try to be asobjective as possible.
Metrics Watch works in the same manner as both DashThis andAgencyAnalytics in terms of reports. We have some great integrations forall of your needs (Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram…all the usual suspects) but we send them via email.
I like the idea of a dashboard, but felt like it was simpler to send myclient’s information directly to them. Plus, it would allow my clientsto customize their email presentation so the brand Metrics Watch doesn’tneed to appear at all. That way, if my clients share their results withcolleagues, I don’t feel like I’m hijacking their brand.
Finally, I’ve worked to strike the perfect balance between price andfeatures for small/medium-sized businesses. The goal is to get peoplethe data they need, when they need it, directly in my clients’ inboxwith ZERO redirects or PDF attachments.
Benefits:
The reports are emailed, and the data is in the body of the email;it's not a PDF or a link to some web page
We can tie in the process of marketers and they can receive apreview, add a message/note and then (and only then) send it to theirclient
Reports include most major integrations with morecoming
Alert systemto quickly stop any major problems with your site
Customer support is personal, and I take a lot of pride in speaking with my clients (and potential clients) in person via chat and/or video
Pricing is more competitive
Disadvantages:
We are continually adding integration. While we have most of the major players, we’ll be adding more soon. Here is a full list of our integrations for Reports.
Customer support is personalized, but we have a much smaller team. Sometimes it can take a couple of hours to respond to general inquiries.
Price: This needs to be broken down into two categories:
i) Reports: Our Reports packages range from $29/month for our starter package and $100/month for the premium plan (we also have enterprise plans with more reports and an API to create reports. If you sign up for the yearly subscription, you get two months free (dropping the monthly fee down to $24,17)
ii) Alerts: Our real-time Google Analytics Alerts packages are priced at around the same as our Reports. Smaller plans start at $29/month and top out at $225/month (which includes SMS alerts with faster real-time checking). Again, yearly subscriptions can be purchased which gives you two months free!
Let Me Leave You With This…
Honestly, all three of these companies have their good and their bad.What’s important, though, is that you start making your marketingdecisions from data, not your "gut."
So no matter which marketing report tool you finally decide to go with,I certainly hope this article inspired you to improve your data-drivenmarketing efforts.
If you have any questions, you can contact me at hi@metrics.watch orsign up for a live demo(I’m not big on sharing the pre-recorded stuff because it doesn’t allowme to address your unique questions!).
Finally, if you liked this article, feel free to pass it along to anyoneyou think would find it valuable. I’m always here to help and superappreciative of anyone who takes the time to read about how to improvetheir marketing flow!
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Start sending automated reports today
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Start your free trial, no credit card required!
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