5 Notes from the Marketing Analytics Summit 2024 in Phoenix

Running the Marketing Analytics Summit (MAS) is one of my favorite things, right along with raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. (h/t Julie Andrews)

For me, MAS is a steady whirlwind of wrangling speakers, engaging with the audience and ensuring that the people responsible for ensuring that everything runs smoothly are running smoothly.

Nevertheless, I did jot down some truly valuable takeaways worth sharing, gleaned from the brilliant minds of speakers and random conversations. There are things I thought but needed confirmation, things I knew but have forgotten, and things that had just never occurred to me before.

(Apologies in advance for not attributing every bon mot to the right speakers. )

1. Building and Branding Your Analytics Team

Kate Bartkiewicz showed off a wonderful Knime workflow to report on anomalies, triggering alerts when certain metrics went above or below set thresholds. I have always felt that "Dashboards are where data goes to die" and Kate's workflow gave me exactly the confirmation bias buzz I was after.

Then, she emphasized the importance of not only doing excellent analytical work but also ensuring the rest of the organization knows about it. That means internal marketing, creating a strong team brand through newsletters, PowerPoints, videos, and blogs. Repeatedly showcase your team's value and contributions because one-and-done ain't the case. This is classic branding, never ending.

Work assiduously on creating a psychologically safe and collaborative team culture. Invest time in creating an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas and concerns and where speaking your mind is welcome and encouraged. Hot tip: Set aside a specific time for brainstorming sessions (try 1:00 PM on Thursdays). Everybody knows that's going to be a break in the routine to ponder, conjecture, spitball, and wool gather. Ask people to jot down notes all week in preparation.

Kate also discussed the importance of putting your team in front of management without hogging the spotlight. This involves ensuring that team achievements are visible to higher-ups while promoting a collaborative environment. Further, she stressed automating the mundane as much as possible as it allows the team to focus on foundational knowledge and strategic tasks.

2. Understanding and Communicating with Stakeholders

Christopher Berry advised using intake questionnaires before the first meeting about a particular request. This approach helps filter out ad hoc queries and sets a solid foundation for understanding the actual goals and needs of stakeholders - on both sides. Make them think! They will get used to the process of filling out a form once they realize it's a conversation starter rather than painful administrivia.

Jeffrey Strome highlighted the need to create personas for stakeholders to tailor the delivery of information in ways they can easily understand and act upon. He suggested asking stakeholders what keeps them awake at night and how they prefer to receive information, drawing on examples like knowing what a Walmart Week is and that the New York Times' analytics crew couldn't get anybody to look at their charts until they adopted gray charts used in the financial section.

Abbas Arslan underscored the importance of emotional intelligence (EQ) in understanding that what is said is not always what is meant. High EQ individuals can bridge the gap between analytical insights and stakeholder expectations. It's real time, simultaneous translation from data speak to business speak and every stakeholder has a different accent.

3. Data Storytelling and Presentation Techniques

Delivering reports is soul-killing. Giving killer presentations is electrifying. Learning how is existential. Lea Pica (as always) provided golden insights into data storytelling.

She emphasized the need to:

• Set expectations of excitement to keep the audience engaged.
• Open to story loops to maintain interest and close them at different points in time.
• Use movie trailers as a model for crafting compelling executive summaries.
• Ensure a clear transformation path in your story, highlighting what is at stake and how success can be achieved.

 4. Leveraging Advanced Analytics and AI

 One of the standout sessions - the MASS Ingenuity Session - produced innovative ideas such as:

• Neural implants translating executive speak to analytics speak for better communication.
• Creating a hive mind with a GPT for each team member to consolidate notes and insights.
• Proposing an AI Bill of Rights to ensure transparency and understanding when AI is utilized.
• And (see above) several GPTs to improve insights delivery!

John Lovett also spoke about the importance of strategy in analytics, describing it as the "why" rather than the "what" or the "how." He advised engaging in feedback loops about dashboards, ensuring they evolve and improve rather than being static reports.

5. Creating Personalized GPTs for Continuous Learning

The concept of creating personalized GPTs (Generative Pre-trained Transformers) was discussed, highlighting the potential for continuous training and compounding intelligence within given agents. (Give that some space in your head: " compounding intelligence".) This approach allows for more tailored and intelligent interactions, significantly enhancing the utility and efficiency of analytical tools. It's an intellectual flywheel.

Bonus: Direct quote from John Lovett's post:

And of course, the Analytics Power Hour live was amazing. Audience members were asked to determine which of the co-hosts' answers to tough Analytics questions were real, and which were generated by the bots. Overall we as an audience did pretty well, and it was highly entertaining. Give it a listen if you’re into podcasts.

 Hat's off to Michael Helbling , Tim Wilson , Valerie Kroll , and Julie (Shallman) Hoyer for that.

And - there's just no understanding the musical talent, amazing parody lyrics, and raw Chutzpah of Josh Silverbauer and his amazing musical intros.

Thanks to all!!

And now, it's time to turn my attention to the Marketing Analytics Summit in London in October https://marketinganalyticssummit.co.uk and the Marketing Analytics Summit in Munich in November https://marketinganalyticssummit.de

Hope to see you there!