One of the major advantages of digital marketing is that it is highly trackable and measurable. Once, the only trackable marketing pieces were coupons and similar direct mail offers. If a customer used the coupon, you knew the message resonated.

Today, analytics allow marketers to track user behavior at a highly detailed level: how many times they click on a link, how much time they spend on a web page, how often they open emails, and much more. But the vast amount of information available about digital marketing performance can feel like drinking from a fire hose, and marketers must be able to truly understand what the data mean and how they should inform strategy.

Not only does this allow marketers to learn what is successful with consumers and adapt their marketing messages moving forward. It also means they can demonstrate their value to the company. Understanding all of this data and using it to make strategic decisions is an important part of a digital marketer’s work, and one that sets them apart from their traditional counterparts.

Analytics Tools

There are many tools available for measuring the success of digital marketing campaigns, and many marketers will use some combination of these tools, depending on their needs and their audience. Fortune magazine reported that many marketers are using over 100 applications in their total marketing process. One of the most used tools for marketing analytics is Google Analytics, which can be customized in nearly endless ways to measure how your site is performing, which keywords are bringing users to your site, how users are navigating through your website, and much more.

Having good, accurate analytics and the know-how to interpret them can help marketers “fail fast,” quickly cutting campaigns that aren’t working and building better campaigns around concepts that have a proven track record of success. Over time, you won’t just be using analytics to measure your campaigns – the analytics will also inform and improve your campaigns.