Episode 533 Analytics With Jeff Greenfield

Show Summary

This podcast episode of the SDM Show, hosted by Rob Cairns, features a discussion with Jeff Greenfield about the complexities of analytics in the modern marketing landscape. Greenfield shares his journey into analytics and highlights the limitations of relying solely on click-based metrics like Google Analytics. They explore the importance of understanding broader marketing concepts, including impressions and multi-touch attribution, and the challenges marketers face with evolving privacy regulations and the rise of non-clickable advertising channels. The conversation touches on the need for a unified source of marketing truth and the role of intelligent automation in providing actionable insights for businesses.

Show Notes

Show Notes

• Introduction:
  • Rob Cairns and Jeff Greenfield discuss analytics.
  • Jeff Greenfield expresses his enthusiasm for analytics in the marketing space.
• The Importance of Analytics:
  • The discussion emphasizes that businesses need to understand their numbers to improve.
  • Many businesses, even large ones, lack a grasp of fundamental numbers.
• Challenges in Marketing:
  • Many marketers lack a foundational understanding of how marketing functions.
  • Marketers often rely too heavily on click-based analytics (e.g., Google Analytics).
  • There’s a tendency to overlook the importance of impressions and the overall marketing funnel.
  • The need for multiple “touches” (8-15) to influence a purchase is highlighted.
• Jeff Greenfield’s Background:
  • Jeff Greenfield’s experience in branded entertainment and product placement led him into analytics.¹
  • He identified issues with ad agency numbers and developed solutions for tracking and attribution.
  • His company, C3 Metrics, was an early provider of enterprise MTA (Multi-Touch Attribution).
• Current Challenges in Analytics:
  • Privacy regulations and changes (e.g., iOS updates, cookie restrictions) have impacted attribution.²
  • “Walled gardens” (e.g., Amazon, Walmart) make data collection difficult.³
  • Marketers are being forced to adapt to a changing landscape.⁴
• Provalytics:
  • Jeff Greenfield’s current company, Provalytics, offers a privacy-centric analytics solution.⁵
  • Provalytics focuses on providing a single source of truth for clients, deduplicating data, and predicting ROI.⁶
  • Clients are typically large companies with significant ad spending.
• Google Analytics (GA4):
  • GA4 is seen as a good web analytics product but has limitations in measuring non-click-based channels.
  • There are concerns about data accuracy and conflicts of interest due to Google’s other products.⁷
• AI in Analytics:
  • AI is being used in analytics platforms for intelligent automation.⁸
  • There are some concerns about marketers having unrealistic expectations of AI.
  • Privacy concerns related to uploading data to AI platforms are raised.
• The Impact of Removing Cookies:
  • The removal of third-party cookies is seen as potentially positive for marketers.
  • It forces marketers to move away from hyper-targeting and focus on broader reach and creative messaging.
  • The importance of creative and emotional messaging is emphasized.
• Advertising Challenges:
  • The quality of many ads is criticized.
  • The decline in the use of focus groups is mentioned.
  • Brands may not be testing different versions of their creatives enough.
  • The importance of messaging over platform is stressed.
  • Challenges with advertising on platforms like Facebook and TikTok are noted.
• Effective Advertising Networks:
  • X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit are identified as surprisingly effective platforms for building awareness.
  • Connected TV and video are also performing well.
• Limitations of Analytics:
  • Analytics don’t always tell the whole story.
  • Factors like job title targeting (e.g., on LinkedIn), seasonality, and competitor activity can influence results.
  • The concept of incrementality (measuring the actual impact of ads) is discussed.
• The Challenge for Large Companies:
  • Large companies often struggle to adapt to change quickly, giving startups a competitive advantage.⁹
• Economic Factors:
  • Economic factors like tariffs significantly impact industries like retail and food.¹⁰
• Measuring Third-Party Ad Networks:
  • Provalytics measures all ad spending, including third-party networks.¹¹
  • The platform aims to be a single source of truth, incorporating data from various sources (e.g., organic social, CRM, PR).
• Reporting:
  • Provalytics delivers data in customized dashboards.
  • Dashboards are tailored to different stakeholders (e.g., internal marketing teams, agencies, executives).¹²
  • The importance of actionable insights over voluminous reports is emphasized.
• Finding More Information:
  • Provolytics.com and Jeff Greenfield’s LinkedIn profile are provided as resources.

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