When it comes to digital marketing, measuring performance is critical to achieving the best bang for your buck. Despite its importance, questions surrounding analytics persist. Here are the answers to some common queries.

Why Is Data Measurement Necessary?

The statistics your marketing generates shows what you are doing right and where you have gone wrong. Observing what activities drive the most customer action will guide you regarding which measures deserve the most attention. Letting facts influence your decision-making process is always better than random guessing. For any business owner wanting to optimize promotional endeavors, the information these programs provide is invaluable.

Which Tools Should I Use?

Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn, provide free performance measurement functionality. Google Analytics is a similarly no-cost aid that tells you where your website traffic is originating. Social Mention, which helps identify keywords, is likewise complimentary. The number of tools you utilize is entirely personal, but having more arrows in your quiver will always remain preferable to fewer.

How Much Time Should This Take?

Although data analysis is a complex topic, reviewing your stats only takes a few minutes per day. Installing and learning the necessary programs requires several hours, but daily statistical monitoring typically takes no more than a half-hour. Tasks such as enhancing search engine optimization, determining the optimal program configuration and researching new tools or trends mandate additional time. Thankfully, these duties do not demand constant attention.

Why Pay?

While free tools are great, they will never match the quality offered by paid services. Companies that charge also make life easier by gathering diverse information sources into one place. Having every metric within a single window makes spotting trends far easier. Certain social media management tools, such as Sprout Social, can even be integrated naturally with web monitoring programs.

Are All These Tools Necessary?

Unfortunately, no single program does everything. Some are better at evaluating email marketing or website performance, whereas others are built to handle matters like campaign research. It takes time to determine the right combination of services that meets your needs. Once you are comfortable with a particular mix, however, the stress of having to understand multiple programs will disappear.

Knowing how to access and read information pertaining to online advertising efforts is the ultimate path toward improving overall effectiveness. Figure out what set of programs suits you and use them to identify the smartest moves for your media campaign.