How to decide on the correct analytics company

In our modern, digitally expanded world, data and information support all of our activities.

But are you making your data work for you, or don't you need to take full advantage of it just yet?

For many business owners and marketers, analyzing and providing data can be an intimidating prospect.

Because of this, analytics agencies have emerged whose goal is to help companies use their data for better decisions and better results.

If you're looking to hire an analytics agency, here's everything you need to know.

Know your goals and desired results

As with working with an agency partner, you first need to consider your current situation and goals.

The reason for this is that not every analytics agency is built the same way.

Some agencies work with specific industries or companies at different levels of maturity.

Other agencies specialize in certain areas of analytics, e.g. B. Marketing vs. Operations.

There are also differences in execution. For example, an agency can rely heavily on technology to generate its insights. While others can rely more on their years of experience and human intuition.

When thinking about your goals, keep the following in mind:

Your existing data – Think about the datasets you are about to create. This can include, for example, marketing channels (search, PPC, content), processes or product data.
The role of data in your company – Next, you need to think about the role data plays in your business. For example, do you need to use data to predict and manage your inventory? Or you may need to leverage data to scale an existing marketing channel.
Your Büdget – Of course, there are different service fees depending on the agency you work with. Depending on what you want to achieve, you need to consider how much budget you can allocate to an analytics service.
Business priorities – Ultimately, you need to think about what is a priority for your company right now. This is where you should spend most of your time thinking about how to sync data and analytics with your top priority. You may need to optimize your processes in order to reduce costs. Or you need to discover new market segments by leveraging customer data.

Before hiring an analytics agency, take the time to do a complete review of where you are today and where you want to be, and understand how data can get you there.

6 characteristics that make a great analytics agency

Choosing the right analytics agency can be tricky if you don't know a lot about analytics yourself.

In addition to a partner who can provide all the technical basics of analytics, you need someone to guide you and help you understand what is going on with your data.

And ideally a partner who can help you implement your new data-informed strategy, especially when it comes to marketing.

When evaluating an analytics agency, be sure to review these characteristics.

Thought guidance

Thought guidance describes the appreciation and authority that a company has in a particular industry.

This position is typically achieved by the company that produces content, provides education, solves industry problems, and demonstrates superior expertise.

Take a look at the type of content a particular analytics agency creates.

Do they even create content?

Is the content insightful and communicated clearly and concisely (this will also affect how it communicates with you)?

An analytics agency that creates good thought leadership content also indicates if that company is up to date with the latest trends required in rapidly evolving areas.

Powerful technology

Your partner in an analytics agency must have the appropriate technology to aggregate and understand your data.

Your technology must be able to integrate with your data sources such as Google Analytics or Shopify, depending on the platforms you use.

You should also have a platform where you can view and understand this data in a way that provides an intuitive user experience – for example, the ability to visualize data with graphs or simply download reports.

Ideally, your analytics agency has more advanced technologies, such as machine learning algorithms, that can be used to process and manipulate data for further analysis.

A well-rounded team

Analytics is at the interface between the world of numbers and the world of words.

There's no point in gathering data if you can't turn that data into actionable insights and strategies.

Because of this, the analytics agency you work with needs to have different team members who are both analytical and creative.

These can be team members such as data scientists, psychologists, and digital marketers.

Bonus points for analysis agencies with strong founders, as the founder's insight and disposition are often impressed on the corporate culture – which affects their thinking and actions.

A solid list of customers

Sometimes you can simply measure a company's worth by who it has worked with in the past.

If the analytics agency you are considering has an impressive track record of working with big names like Google or Intuit, chances are they are knowledgeable.

One caveat: even if the agency has worked with impressive brand names, that doesn't mean they'll necessarily suit you.

First of all, you may not even be able to afford their fees. And even if you could, they could be optimized to work with larger clients or clients with different needs.

You should therefore also take into account the relevance of the customer list in relation to your particular situation.

Clear communication

When you work with an analytics agency, you want a partner who can tell you the story behind your data.

The first way to do this is through their technology, which allows you to visualize your data through graphs, charts, and other meaningful methods.

The second way to do this is through how they convey actionable insights through storytelling and, ideally, strategy development.

Remember that while data is objective, it does not guarantee that the interpretation of that data will be objective.

For this reason, your partner should always have a strong, clearly communicated, and logical argument for their analysis. That way, you can know that you are making informed decisions.

Sync with your team

Working with an analytics agency requires synchronization between your technology and your teams.

Your development team must be able to integrate and set up easily with your partners.

Your marketing team needs to feel confident and informed enough to adjust their strategies based on your partners' insights.

In order to work successfully with an analytics agency, both teams need to be on the same wavelength. Strategy, expectations, and skills need to be well coordinated for the best results.

How to work with an analytics agency

Each analytics agency you work with has a slightly different process. In general, however, there is an overarching structure that is the same from company to company.

Typically, to get a successful result when working with an analytics agency, you should follow these steps.

1) Share your goals – Your agency partner should have a thorough understanding of your goals, including services, schedule, and results. You need to be as transparent as possible at the beginning of your relationship to make sure that both of you have appropriate expectations for the future. For example, if you actually need help with marketing execution but have partnered with a technology-focused agency, then you likely have a problem later.

2) manage expectations – It is important to meet clear expectations early on about what is possible. Some agencies offer a variety of additional services such as: B. Support with strategy or machine-generated analysis. Others may just offer a simple dashboard. It is also important to understand the role of analytics in general and its uses and limitations.

3) Plan your wealth – Your data sets represent the existing methods with which you collect and store data in your company. You need to map all of your existing resources like marketing channels (Google Analytics etc), operations (inventory management etc) and technology. These are then used by your analysis agency for integration and analysis.

4) Integration – When your assets are in place, you need to integrate them with your analytics partner. In the best case scenario, your partner has its own platform and works with your development team to connect your data. However, if you work with a smaller agency, they can access your data directly. If so, you would need to provide them with the credentials for the software you are using.

5) reporting – Once everything is connected, your analytics agency will conduct a review of your existing data. When they have a platform, you can access and view all of your data in one place. With the best agencies, you can easily view and manipulate your data in graphs, charts, and reports. They may also have machine learning technology that makes your data meaningful without human input.

6) Analysis – Using technology, the human eye, or a combination of both, your analytics agency will help you understand your data by telling you the story behind the numbers. They should then help you gain actionable insights that will influence your future strategy.

7) strategy – Now that your existing data has been fully analyzed, you need to update your strategy based on what you learned. For example, you can choose to duplicate a particular sales channel or realize that you need to remove a bottleneck in your operation.

8) Execution – Some analytics agencies offer services that go beyond analytics, such as: B. the marketing execution. Your data may mean you lack the human capital to get results with your existing or new strategy. This is where your agency partner can possibly help by taking over the business of government wherever you come up short.

9) Monitoring – Your agency partner will work with you on an ongoing basis to ensure that your data, strategy and execution are in sync. You should hold analysis and strategy meetings with them at least once a month, but also have access to your data and any computer-generated insights when needed.

How to find the right analytics agency for you

In order to find the right analytics agency, there are certain things you need to look out for and check out. We've talked about some traits to look out for here and what to expect when working with an analytics partner.

Here is a quick recap of the things to look for in order to find the best analytics agency (LINK HERE):

Properties:

Full Stack Marketers – When analyzing your marketing data, it is very helpful if your analytics agency is a marketer itself. That way, they can help transform your data into strategies that actually produce results.
Strong technology – An analytics platform is the bare minimum your agency partner should have. If they have machine learning and data processing algorithms in place, this is even better.
An all-star team – Your analytics agency needs to have diverse team members who understand both numbers and marketing psychology. A strong founding team is also something to look out for.
A strong customer list – Agencies that have worked with big brands are always a good sign. When you do your research, try to find out if they have worked with brands similar to yours in terms of size and industry.
A great style of communication – It is one thing to understand data, but it is another to explain it clearly and precisely. An analytics agency that can tell stories in meaningful ways will help you make use of your data.
You take a holistic approach – There are numerous sources of data that you are likely to collect. The more data sources you can integrate and analyze, the better.

What to Expect:

Onboarding and integration – The first thing your agency partner should do is integrate you on their platform and walk you through the process. This includes, for example, synchronizing your technology and managing expectations about the results.
Audit of assets – Next, they need to conduct a review of your existing data and provide actionable insights that translate into strategy and then execution.
Set up marketing channels – If your analytics agency offers services beyond analytics, they'll work with you to execute your marketing strategy, including channels like SEO, PPC, and social media.
Data management – You can continuously access and display your data via your agency partner. You can download reports and visualize your data.
Actionable insights and results – The best analytics agencies really excel when it comes to turning your data into insights, strategy, and execution. You should work with your agency to make sure your data is influencing decision making and outcomes.

The top 3 analytic agencies

There are hundreds of good analytics companies out there that cater to all kinds of needs.

However, it is unlikely that you will have the time to review them all. So we've filtered out the top three analytics agencies based on the various criteria we've discussed in this article.

The three agencies listed here have different strengths and weaknesses. So you have to decide which one suits you best.

1) NP Digital – Best for marketing execution

If you feel you need to help put the lessons learned from your data into practice, then you should partner with NP Digital. The agency was founded by Neil Patel, one of the most influential digital marketers in the world. In addition to the analytics services they offer, they can also help you set up and run a results-oriented marketing strategy. You've worked with big brand names like companies like Google and Intuit.

2) Artifact – best for technology

Perhaps you are in an industry where you have a lot of data to analyze, or data is critical to being competitive in the marketplace. In that case, consider Artefact, an agency with a robust technology stack that uses artificial intelligence to really get the most from your data. They have a strong and diverse team, ranging from social scientists to statisticians, and have worked with companies like Greenpeace and Carrefour.

3) Adverity – Best for smaller businesses

For smaller businesses that may not be able to afford high-end agency fees, Adverity might be a better choice. While Adverity is more of a technology platform than an agency partner, you can expand your analytics strategy at a fraction of the cost. With the platform, you can integrate data sources from operations to marketing. The downside, of course, is that you don't have the human-level insight and execution that consulting agencies provide. Adverity currently has a 4.5/5 star rating with over 100 reviews on the G2 website.

Conclusion

By this point, you should have a good idea of how to choose an analytics agency.

Remember that everything that has been written is from our point of view and there may be other things to consider when evaluating an agency.

Before you finally hit the trigger and sign a contract, make sure that the analytics agency you want to work with has worked with similar companies like you and has some results.