Marketing Research Chart: Use of analytics to inform customer theory

SUMMARY: In this week's chart, we look back to the MarketingSherpa 2012 Website Optimization Benchmark Report to discover how marketers used analytics to learn more about their customers. Be sure to share your own analysis of this chart in the MarketingSherpa LinkedIn Group for a chance to be published in a future blog post.

After establishing website optimization as a crucial tool for measuring and assessing effectiveness of overall marketing programs, we needed to address the most productive methods marketers implement to design new customer theory.

We wanted to know the most popular testing and analytics tools currently in use, so we asked …

Q: Which of the following does your company employ to learn about customers? Check all that apply.

View Chart Online

Click here to see a printable version of this chart

As the chart shows, nearly 69% of firms use some form of internal metric analysis to better understand its customer base. Another 43% deploy more traditional methods of conducting focus groups and developing customer surveys to learn about audience preferences.

Testing was a significant customer development strategy, as well. We see 59% of respondents have used some form of single-factorial (split or A/B) testing to learn about customers.

Sequential (back-to-back A/B) tests, and multifactorial testing trailed the field with just 30% and 27% adoption rates, respectively.

Points to Consider

Is your organization currently using analytics to inform customer theory? Does your organization employ more complicated testing methods? If so, have you seen better results above simple A/B split testing? How do more traditional analytics, such as focus groups, factor into your future planning?

For more information about website optimization, download the free excerpt from the 2012 Website Optimization Benchmark Report. And, be sure to share your own analysis of this chart in the MarketingSherpa LinkedIn Group for a chance to be published in a future blog post.

Useful links related to this research

Online Marketing: 4 sources of customer insight on your website

Infographic: Customer experience in the digital age

Marketing Research Chart: Marketers' goals for website strategy

Digital Marketing: Understanding customer sentiment

Marketing Research Chart: Use of analytics to inform customer theory

Points to Consider

Useful links related to this research

Improve Your Marketing