Quantitative Assessment
In the previous TA on cost, we compared the variable, implementation, and fixed costs of either investing in Google Analytics Freemium or Google Analytics 360 (G360 - Premium) versions. Through our analysis we found that based on our company goals, our budget priorities that skew heavily towards R&D investments, the high technology costs of our rocket ships, technical expertise, and our operations, we were hesitant to shell out 150k for G360 because we were so focused on the cost and not seeing clearly the value we would gain from our investment. When we dive into the quantitative estimations of the tangible gains we expect to see from our investment in GA360, we find that the decision is in line with our company vision and ambitious goals of “saving Earth by leaving it behind” through affordable intergalactic space travel, which we expect will drive a lot of increased traffic to our site.
Helping us make our decision to spend the 150k a year and go with G360 was the ROI analysis and quantitative projections showing that if we could gain a even just a 1% increase in sales a year as a result of our enhanced customer engagement and targeting capabilities, we would see the tangible gains of our investment in the form of increased sales (passengers on our rocket ships), increased visitors to our website, and increase in stock value due to the boost in our brand awareness. We also expect to see a 39% increase in the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns as a result of our customer targeting capabilities (Flanagan, 2017). When it comes to increasing our visibility on Google search rankings, we are particularly excited about the possibility of becoming the #1 link on Google when users do a keyword search for “space travel."
Discussion
Qualitative Assessment
The decision to buy the premium Google Analytics 360 has benefits that are harder to measure. First, premium customers own their own data. This means that the raw data will be accessible to users and that they will not be cornered into using only the tools provided in the suite. This could mean the difference between noticing idiosyncrasies in the data that lead to finding a billionaire financial backer or not, which could ultimately make or break the company.
Next, the Google 360 Analytics Suite includes help from expert teams who specialize in data analysis. This ultimately saves money for the company by not having develop their own teams for this analysis, which is helpful to the business but is outside of the main function of the company. It eliminates the risks around choosing the right candidates to hire and saves time from onboarding and training.
Finally, the purchase of the 360 platform gives NZG the ability to grow its capacity as the need for more analysis is needed. Attracting users and spreading the idea of carbon neutral space travel and Mars colonization is part of the core mission of NZG, so having the freedom to collect all user data without hitting limits will be key. It is difficult to measure these benefits, but they are essential to the company’s future growth.
Each of the benefits that were described above were not taken lightly. There was a lot of discussion amongst the team about whether the purchase of Google Analytics should be purchased or not. As you know the decision to purchase was made and here we will discuss the pros and cons for the system. Owning our data was what we ultimately want. The world of marketing has changed dramatically in recent years, especially online marketing. By maintaining control of our data and having full use of the entire Google Analytic platform there we are freely able to question the numbers we are getting and how they really be used to our advantage; essentially there is transparency where we would inherently have it if we hired our own professional. In an interview with Lorraine Twohill, Google’s senior vice president of global marketing, she states that with the amount of data that is being collected we are able understand the customers with greater detail and therefore create more value and really show the return that the data is creating (Gordon, 2015).
The second side of the discussion was on the price. Because there is a large amount that we would have to pay annually to keep the subscription to the program we were faced with the question of hiring our own team with that money and doing it all in house or if we should save the time, money and avoid the risks associated with possibly getting the wrong people or to purchase the program and only have to train employees on the program with trainings that are included in the price of the subscription. Again, the latter decision was the easier of the two and we are now able to focus time, attention and resources to programs that are going to further the company along.
The scope that we are given from the premium package lends us great capacity to grow. This is our firm’s highest priority at the moment. All of data and information that we are able to collect and own is a great asset in that we are able to increase our understanding of what our current, new and potential clientele are looking for. As mentioned above, the value of this is difficult to define and surmise and with all of the information that we are able to derive from Google Analytics the values overwhelmingly outweighed any doubts or concerns that we may have had.
References
Flanagan, P. (2017) The Benefits of Using Google Analytics 360 versus Google Analytics. Retrieved from: http://www.seerinteractive.com/blog/google-analytics-360-benefits/
Gordon, J. (2015, February 1). How Google breaks through.Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/how-google-breaks-through
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