ANA Sales Marketing Analytics Benchmark Report

SALES & MARKETING
ANALYTICS
GAUGING AND OPTIMIZING PERFORMANCE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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7 28
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INTRODUCTION
Without the right

tools, technologies, data and processes, organizations are flying blind.
In other words, we shouldn’t have an analytics process just to stay out of trouble, but to help our sales
and marketing teams perform at their highest level.
This study’s
focus is to understand the tools, technologies, data and processes that organizations are using to do sales and
marketing analytics.
It is hoped that the benchmarks this study provides will help advance the state of sales and marketing analytics.
No matter how robust an organization’s analytics prowess, if there is little or no collaboration and sharing of results,
the good that can come from the process is significantly hindered.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 For those organizations that have a sales and marketing analytics process, 81% report that its importance is
moderate to significant to the organization.
 Overall satisfaction with the tools used for analytics is low, with 68% of the study sample reporting satisfaction
levels of “Neutral”, “Dissatisfied” or “Very dissatisfied”.
 54% of study participates share that their analytics process is moderately to very effective at influencing or enabling
better decision-making.
 The top motives for analytics efforts are driving revenue, tracking or maximizing the performance of marketing and
to demonstrate the value of marketing.
 Collaboration during the analytics process and sharing the results both have strong relationships to influencing or
enabling better decision-making.
5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Annual Revenues: Primary Role of Respondent:
 
 
 
 
 

Type of Organization:



6
STATE OF THE ANALYTICS PROCESS
Of the 329 study participants answering this question,

Sales & Marketing Analytics Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, December 2013, n=300 only a single person chose “I don’t know” as a
response.
7
However, the data this report will share about the

effectiveness of using analytics results to influence or
enable better decision-making will have value in
helping organizations understand the benefits of
having an analytics process.
Sales & Marketing Analytics Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, December 2013, n=300
8
Far more organizations (86%) do have some kind of
analytics process
A very healthy majority (81%) reports that the

importance of analytics is moderate or significant
9
CURRENT ANALYTICS TOOLS & DATA SOURCES
10
Using that grouping with this set of data reveals that

68% of study participants don’t have a level of
satisfaction with their tools that inspires confidence.
In fact, certain tool choices do influence satisfaction.
11
Spreadsheets – the most frequently used tool –

negatively impacted satisfaction. Spreadsheets were
the only tool in the study where participants who did
not use them were more satisfied with their tool
choices than those who did use them.
Organizations that are doing sales and marketing

analytics will begin using new tools in 2014 as
summarized in the chart to the left.
12
13
MOTIVATION FOR ANALYTICS
Whether the goal of an analytics effort is to keep all the sales and marketing gauges “in the green” or to model the
probable outcome of an action, the result is the same: to enable a better decision.
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15
It’s not difficult to make the argument that most of the motives listed after the first one in the graph on the previous
page are secondary, with the primary motive being: drive revenue.
The motivations certainly affect the choice of tools.
16
EFFECTIVENESS OF ANALYTICS PROCESSES
This effectiveness data, while interesting in and of

itself, will have greater value by providing a view into
other areas examined in this study, such as types of
analytics processes in use, collaboration and sharing
Sales & Marketing Analytics Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, December 2013, n=300 of results.
17
TYPES OF ANALYTICS PROCESSES
Even within the narrower realm of sales and marketing,

there is a broad range of analytical processes
organizations can employ.
18
Regarding the types(s) of analytics in use by an organization, there is another relationship that bears examination: The
effectiveness of the results of these analytic processes at influencing or enabling better decision-making.
19
However, five of the eight types of analytics did have a statistically significant relationship to decision-making
effectiveness, presented here in rank order:
With the exception of marketing analytics, the types of analytics that are most influential and
the best enablers of better decision-making are the least frequently employed.
They are more advanced. The top three – predictive, geospatial and attribution analytics – are more
complex, typically requiring specialized data and more advanced skills.
The top two analytics types that organizations report

they plan to start using in 2014 are also on the list of
most influential/best enablers of better decision-
making.
21
ROLES
However, these technical roles reveal the nature of the

analytics process and the skills required.
22
ROLES
To have a robust analytics capability, an organization needs skills in each of these areas:
However, to perform the types of analytics that this study has already revealed are most impactful, organizations need
the technical ability referenced in the first two skill areas listed above.
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ROLES
Two of these three roles were predictors of effectiveness,

meaning their involvement in the analytics process increased the likelihood that the results influenced or enabled
better decision-making. These roles were Statistician and Executive.
One role was a negative predictor of effectiveness: Marketing team member, the most common role involved in sales
and marketing analytics.
This finding, if anything is a self-indictment, perhaps an unwitting one, as 63% of this

study’s participants identified themselves as members of the marketing organization.
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COLLABORATION
The variety of roles involved in sales and marketing

analytics processes imply that some level of
collaboration must exist.
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COLLABORATION
It seems intuitive that greater collaboration in the
analytics process should lead to more effective
decision-making, and it does as depicted in the chart
to the left.
But the two lines quickly cross,

Sales & Marketing Analytics Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, December 2013, n=300 and virtually everyone who reports “Extensive”
collaboration also enjoys moderate to very effective
decision-making enabled by their analytics process.
26
COLLABORATION
An analysis of this collaboration data and the tools in use data revealed that some tool choices do predict collaboration:
There was also one tool choice whose use actually lowered collaboration: spreadsheets.
This same negative effect extends to collaboration: spreadsheets are an inhibitor.
27
SHARING
It is through sharing that the results have the power to

effect change.
Less than one-third of study participants indicated that

sharing their analysis was easy.
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SHARING
The results confirm our intuition: Sharing is a critical

Sales & Marketing Analytics Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, December 2013, n=300 success factor in the analytics process.
29
SHARING
Communication must also

occur, and those communications need to reach the
right people in a timely fashion.
Knowing the importance of sharing, it’s important for

each organization to determine how widely to
disseminate analytics results.
30
SHARING
However, organizations that use analytics most effectively have developed transparency around the results, having
learned how to use them to gain agility in making strategic decisions, and not use them to punish people or
departments.
The analysis reveals that no single tool in current use provides a statistically significant advantage over another when it
comes to sharing, with one very notable exception: spreadsheets.
Organizations that rely on spreadsheets for analytics must have awareness of these limitations and either replace
spreadsheets or supplement their use with other tools that facilitate sharing.
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ANALYST BOTTOM LINE
Many sales and marketing leaders are intimidated by analytics.
Sales and marketing analytics are considered important and

when the analytics process works, it enables better decision-making.
 Motives: understand what you’re trying to get out of the analytics process.
 Types: match the type of analytics approach to the motive.
 Tools: select the tools that best help you perform the type of analytics you are pursuing.
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ANALYST BOTTOM LINE
 Collaboration and Sharing: recognize that the analytics process is more than bean counting and crunching numbers.
Quite simply, a sound analytics process will amplify sales and marketing’s voice in the organizations they serve.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
About Tableau Software
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ABOUT DEMAND METRIC
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Benchmark Report
© 2013 Demand
© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. Metric Reserved.
All Rights Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

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SALES & MARKETING

Without the right

Annual Revenues: Primary Role of Respondent:

Of the 329 study participants answering this question,

However, the data this report will share about the

A very healthy majority (81%) reports that the

Using that grouping with this set of data reveals that

In fact, certain tool choices do influence satisfaction.

Spreadsheets – the most frequently used tool –

Organizations that are doing sales and marketing

The motivations certainly affect the choice of tools.

This effectiveness data, while interesting in and of

Even within the narrower realm of sales and marketing,

The top two analytics types that organizations report

However, these technical roles reveal the nature of the

Two of these three roles were predictors of effectiveness,

This finding, if anything is a self-indictment, perhaps an unwitting one, as 63% of this

The variety of roles involved in sales and marketing

But the two lines quickly cross,

This same negative effect extends to collaboration: spreadsheets are an inhibitor.

It is through sharing that the results have the power to

Less than one-third of study participants indicated that

The results confirm our intuition: Sharing is a critical

Communication must also

Knowing the importance of sharing, it’s important for

Sales and marketing analytics are considered important and

 Types: match the type of analytics approach to the motive.

About Tableau Software

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