Event Recap: Simon Data & Heap Analytics Data-Driven Marketing Series
“Analytics helps us make better decisions faster.” — Michael Kaminsky, Harry’s Director of Analytics
We, along with our friends at Heap, kicked off our first data-driven series event of the summer last month over at Projective’s intimate event space in the Lower East Side. The main attraction of the event — besides the ever-flowing beer and wine, of course — was the all-star panel of data and analytics experts, including:
- Scott Breitenother, VP of Data at Casper
- Michael Kaminsky, Director of Analytics at Harry’s
- Joshua Neckes, President of Simon Data (moderator)
The panel focused on the growth and increasing importance of data and analytics teams within organizations across all industries, and how their roles have evolved and shifted. It was only a few years ago that such teams were not seen as a revenue-driving function; however, they’ve since proven themselves to be an increasingly powerful driving force behind every successful organization in their ability to directly generate revenue. In today’s big data world, data and analytics teams are crucial to the growth and profitability of any business.
The discussion began with this transition experienced by data and analytics team — from a siloed group to one that is incredibly integrated with teams across a business, especially within the marketing domain. On this note, Michael mentioned that the technical bar now for being a data analyst is getting higher and higher: “The job of a data analyst has become more about doing a lot of software engineering and getting the data into the hands of other people.”
Both Scott and Michael work closely with their respective marketing teams at Casper and Harry’s to help marketers not only think about their KPIs, but also think about ways to measure things and calculate cost per acquisition (CPA). Scott and Michael wire up the way marketers report on their data into their email platform to target different customer segments, making sure the right message is going to the right customer at the right time. This cohesion between the two teams is extremely essential when driving ROI within the email marketing context.
When it came to the topic of reporting, the panel faced a bit of tension. “Reporting — when managed properly — can be a really great element for managing a relationship with another team and building trust,” stated Scott. Michael ardently disagreed, feeling very “[strongly] that an analytics team should not be doing any reporting”.
The two data and analytics buffs did agree on one thing: helping people understand how they can use data to do their jobs better and giving them tools that will help them be more successful will always be appreciated. However, when it comes to considering which tools and platforms to buy and integrate with, it’s always more expensive than you think to build something in-house, and further, it’s not worth building your own integrations.
With the worlds of data and marketing becoming increasingly intertwined , it’s no surprise that — as the panel’s moderator, Josh Neckes commented — companies, such as Casper and Airbnb, are embracing, in a very fundamental way, the destruction of silos. This breaking of barriers makes sense in the context of one of Scott’s last points of the night: in today’s day in age at the end of the day, “99% of people that buy something in a retail store had begun their journey digitally, somewhere online”.
It’s thus imperative as once separated disciplines continue to collide, previously siloed teams — from the marketing team to the data team to the operations team, and so on — come and work together to solve difficult problems businesses face everyday, embracing not only the creative, but also the calculated.
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If you’re in San Francisco tomorrow evening, join us for our second event of the summer with Heap! Our panelists from Heap, Betabrand, Vivino, and Twilio will be discussing how companies leverage data and insights in order to implement effective customer communication. The panel discussion will be sandwiched between networking and free drinks — this event is not to be missed! RSVP here.
