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Anda Gansca, CEO and Co-Founder of Knotch, is one of those people who has a real passion for data. In 2012, she founded Knotch -- an independent provider of real-time intelligence for marketers that analyses the impact of branded content.
For Anda Gansca, data is an important tool in marketing, but it is not always used in the proper way. We asked her why she is such a believer in data and what she sees as the biggest mistake when using data in marketing. Ganscha was an official speaker at Native Adversiting DAYS17.
We can make the internet a better experience by using the right data to really listen to our audiences.
According to you, why is data such an important tool for success in marketing?
Data, when used correctly, is one of the most valuable assets a marketer can have.
Together, marketers, agencies, distribution channels and data companies - we can make the internet a better experience by using the right data to really listen to our audiences and make sure we are catering to their true interests.
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In your opinion, what are the biggest mistakes marketers make when using data?
The biggest mistake that marketers make is that they don’t demand data transparency or ownership when they’re investing their media dollars.
Regardless of whether you are buying traditional advertising or native advertising, as a marketer, you should demand that a 3rd party who is independent measures the ROI of your efforts but also that any audience data collected by this party is owned by you - the brand.
Ultimately your data is only as good as those collecting it.
Why is it so difficult for marketers to use and trust data? What is the solution?
It’s not the “data’s fault” that it cannot be used and trusted. Ultimately your data is only as good as those collecting it.
If the collection of the data is done by those who are invested in data telling a particular story, then the data will be moulded to tell that story.
The benefit of a 3rd party is not just the transparency and unbiased nature of the data set. It is also the fact that one collecting party means that all the data collected from all of your distribution channels will be in the same format and therefore - simple to use and analyze for insights.
There’s no shortage of data yet everyone seems lost on how to best use and action the data they have.
This is a statement I hear a lot from the marketers I meet with.
There’s no shortage of data, yet everyone seems lost on how to best use and action the data they have.
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So it’s been a big priority for me to share with marketers that the solution is less about trying to make sense of current 3rd party data sets that they get from all sorts of partners -- who they don’t know they can trust -- and more with putting data collection in their hands. Then they can transform their media dollars into a chance to streamline the collection of 1st party data which is the most valuable data about an audience and the most actionable one.
I also want to talk about the responsibility that data companies have in going beyond the tables and the dashboard and working closely with marketers to get to the insights.
I’m going to challenge marketers not to view the current state of the industry as the status quo, but rather one that requires boldness and action.
We are at a really pivotal time in the marketing world, where brands will take control to demand a transparency standard and enforce that they already have the power to make this change.
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