Andrew Edwards | April 8, 2013

On Tuesday, March 26, 2013 we launched “The Dawn of Convergence Analytics” to a packed house. Thanks to ClickZ, Efectyv, my co-Author Rand Schulman, editor Melanie White, and our research associate Ron Labau, the 40-page report was released during our lively session at the SES New York show at the Marriott Marquis.

We were honored to have been joined by Google Analytics executives Adam Singer and Justin Cutroni on our panel. Additional notes of serendipity were piped by the announcement just days earlier of Google’s Universal Analytics tool, which, by all available evidence, is a convergence analytics tool extraordinaire.

The report is sponsored by Anametrix, Tealium, and Rio SEO. All three vendors offer powerful digital measurement tools applicable to a converged environment.

For those who didn’t seen the link at the bottom of every ClickZ article last week, you can download the free Convergence Analytics report here.

1. What is convergence analytics? Convergence analytics is both a class of vendor applications and holistic approach to digital measurement.

The tools combine cloud computing, big data, agile data connectors, sophisticated algorithms, and elegant display layers in order to help marketers gain new insights into the effectiveness of their digital content.

The approach comes from the marketer: wanting to know more about her customers, sooner, and with more dimensions than ever before.

Convergence analytics tools in the market today (many are listed in the report) allow the marketer to make use of this information in ways never before possible.

2. How does convergence analytics affect me? If you are a digital marketer or a vendor to digital marketers, then convergence analytics will change everything. No longer will a single silo of data suffice to say you’ve done the job of analytics. In the new convergence analytics paradigm, “everybody is measuring everything” (so says the report); and that means the inclusion of multiple streams of data formerly kept dark in rather useless silos deep inside the organization.

3. Attribution and lifetime value. During the session last Tuesday, Justin Cutroni said, “Attribution will get a huge lift because of convergence analytics”; and this is indeed the case. One of the most likely outcomes of convergence analytics may be the enhanced ability to trace the customer journey from campaign through conversion and beyond. The “beyond” is often referred to as “lifetime value” or “LTV” and is one of the important metrics tied to convergence.

4. Practices are as important as applications. One of the most important topics at the session was the ways in which convergence analytics applications will be best put to use for the customer. There was clear consensus that success would not be achieved just by signing up for a SaaS application. More than one panelist (myself included) stressed that having a method for deploying convergence analytics applications, and taking action on the data, is as important as having the tools themselves.

For instance, a dashboard is just a display layer. The marketer has to command content changes based on what the data in the dashboard is suggesting. In fact, process is so important that building a proper practice around these tools may be the next opportunity in analytics professional services.

Finally, it’s fair to ask what is the key element in convergence analytics. It’s you. It’s me. It’s us. The people who have to make decisions. Google is working on a self-driving car, but it’s still got some kinks. And analytics doesn’t drive itself either. At least not yet. So slide in behind the wheel and keep your eyes on the road (and the dashboard!).

ClickZ’s Melanie White catches up with Andrew Edwards from Efectyv Digital to discuss the concept of convergence analytics.

Edwards gives his thoughts on what is driving convergence analytics. He also discusses some of the key findings from the joint report, Convergence Analytics: Digital Measurement and Transition, that was released at SES New York last week.

WATCH

ClickZ and Efectyv Digital have created industry-first report of Convergence Analytics for digital marketers.

Overview:

The new paradigm in marketing is “everybody is measuring everything”. The report will show you how this major refocus of digital analytics will affect and challenge you as a practitioner, vendor or investor.

You’ll find out how a combination of…

• big data
• cloud computing
• powerful algorithms
• custom data connectors
• sophisticated display layers

…has launched a new phase of marketing analytics with hundreds of vendors rapidly innovating as they compete in an unmapped new marketing terrain.

Based on our extensive survey, you’ll find out:

• how many practitioners are measuring multi-channel and how they define it
• whether there’s agreement on what “real-time” means in analytics
• what mix of tools are currently used to measure multi-channel
• how many vendors add professional services to their offering

Convergence Analytics: the confluence of digital marketing, big data, cloud computing, data connectors and sophisticated presentation-layer capabilities. You’ll also discover the impact of connected data streams, the key capabilities of Convergence Analytics tools, the changing role of the analytics purchaser, plus survey findings, conclusions, recommendations and more.

Who Should Read This Report

The world’s first Convergence Analytics report is a must-have for any vendor, practitioner or investor interested in this evolving market.