Data has become marketing’s lifeblood. It’s the oxygen that powers the engines we all use to turn prospects into leads, and 
those leads into customers. It also shows us which campaigns and tactics are the most effective, allowing us to make better strategic decisions. However, acquiring that data – and ensuring that we can get it when we want to, in the format we prefer, and take it where we choose – is where we sometimes run into problems. In addition, we need the right data analysis tools to look backward and understand which campaigns worked and which didn’t, and to look ahead and predict what customers and prospects are likely to want next.
Many marketers already have business intelligence (BI) and analysis tools that they prefer to use to gain this kind of insight. For some, it’s as simple as a series of Microsoft Excel or Google spreadsheets. For others, it may be a BI tool like Domo, SiSense, or Tableau. Many more depend on their marketing automation solution for their reporting needs. But what’s clear is that the best way to get your data – and your analysis – is on your own terms. With current technologies, that’s not always possible. And that’s why we’ve developed Act-On Data Studio.
Data Studio makes it easy to gain insight into the performance of your marketing campaigns using your own data analysis and business intelligence tools. So whether you want to view and visualize the information, instantly download or export it, or get it automatically delivered to a secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) directory, you have the controls to make it happen.
As we all become increasingly reliant on data to fuel, drive, and evaluate personalized campaigns and communications, marketers have run headlong into some intractable issues:
- Siloed situations: For many organizations, data comes in via (and is stored in) multiple separate systems, which makes it difficult to connect the dots, get a complete view of leads, and draw conclusions trustworthy enough to act on.
- Information overload: Data that’s difficult to digest and report on is extremely hard to take advantage of, especially for people who don’t have advanced degrees in business analytics. Trying to draw conclusions from mass data dumped into a spreadsheet can easily lead to the wrong conclusions.
- Inflexible models: Some companies are stuck with data that is locked in a single solution that has limited functionality. This can severely limit their ability to get to the data, analyze it, and derive the insights that matter to them.
Now let’s explore some of the ways Act-On Data Studio can solve these issues.
1. From Siloed Situations to Integrated Solutions
In the past, companies had almost unlimited access to their data because it was installed on hardware that was on-premise within their organization. With the rise in cloud technologies, data portability has become one of the biggest challenges for technology vendors as well as the customers they serve. Today’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) users want the freedom to access and transport their data, just like they could when the data was installed on in-house solutions.
The solution to this issue is the extreme flexibility Act-On’s Data Studio provides. You can instantly filter, aggregate, and export data to your own in-house experts. You can analyze it with your own BI tools, and connect it to data from other sources to amplify understanding. Data Studio provides the data you need, where you need it, in the format you need it in. It’s all the data-movement freedom of an on-premise solution – available in a flexible SaaS platform. It’s the best of both worlds.
2. From Information Overload to Instant Insight
Ever feel like you’re drowning in data? It happens to all of us at one time or another: we’re faced with too much information, in too many formats. It gets harder and harder to sift through it all in order to gain any valuable insights. Many companies are running hundreds of marketing campaigns simultaneously, which mean the problem is ever-more compounded by ever-increasing data volume. In order to mine the nuggets of wisdom from the mountains of raw numbers, marketers need easy-to-use tools that get to help them zero in on the results that matter most to them.
The simple yet powerful data visualization tools in Data Studio make it possible to start making breakthroughs right away. You can instantly create a variety of charts, heatmaps, and tables, and export them to use in your own custom reports. For example, you can create a heatmap, like this one, to see which days of the week and hours of the day an email campaign has been opened or clicked. Data tells a story. Visuals can make that story clear and obvious, and speed comprehension. It’s a particularly effective way to summarize and report bigger data.
3. From Inflexible Models to an Open Ecosystem
Nobody wants to give up a tool that makes their work easier. Sometimes a company adopts a new marketing platform that comes with tools already in place, making it difficult for marketers to keep using the ones they already trust. Such a closed system may force you into a single BI solution: the one the marketing technology vendor has a deal with, or built themselves. Act-On’s Data Studio exemplifies our design philosophy of an open marketing ecosystem. You have the power to export data into the tool of your choice, whether that be a BI tool or a Google spreadsheet or anything inbetween. You can either pull data into or push data out of Data Studio, depending on the needs of your business.
Act-On’s Data Studio helps you take full advantage of the latest tools and services through an integrated, flexible, open marketing platform. It works the way you do, so you can focus on your results, not your technology. In fact, it’s a philosophy that drives our entire organization, and it’s one of the ways we help our customers to become better marketers.
Tell Us What You Think
We created Act-On Data Studio because we listened to our customers and turned their ideas and feature requests into reality. Helping our customers succeed is our top priority, and making sure everyone has the data they need to drive successful campaigns is a big part of achieving that goal. Take a moment to watch our video below and learn about Act-On Data Studio, and be sure to let us know what you think as you get familiar with all the great features it has in store. We look forward to hearing your feedback, and to continuing to make our solutions the best they can be.