On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Dan McGaw, Founder and CEO of McGaw.io, an analytics and marketing technology consultancy. Dan is considered one of the original growth hackers, having led teams at Kissmetrics, CodeSchool, UTM.io and more.

We are currently living in a “gold rush” period of Martech. There are new tools popping up almost everyday. Many of these are great standalone tools, and almost all of them are super cool. It’s no surprise that many marketers fall for the shiny object syndrome. We buy tools without fully understanding how best to use them and more importantly, how to make them work with other tools we use. Sound familiar?

What we’re left with is a bunch of systems that don’t talk to each other. The result? We miss out on the golden nuggets that unified data can provide. That being said, just being deliberate about the tools we use is not enough. The ever shifting marketing landscape must also be accounted for. Stricter privacy laws, and the shift to 1st party data are going to have a massive impact on how you market. This is where expects like Dan come into the picture.

In this episode, Kunle and Dan talk about building a future-ready Martech Stack that utilizes 1st party data. You will get to hear about why everything is moving towards 1st party data, how you can do it and which tools work best. This is a great episode for marketers and business owners alike!

Here is a summary of some of the most important points made,

• • Customer data is a business’ most valuable asset
  • Data collected on your shopify website is 1st party data
  • Customer data platforms (CDP) make integrations easy and quick
  • Everyone needs to start with first-touch (FT) and last-touch (LT) attribution
  • All-in-one suites are never optimal solutions
  • Facebook has already come up with a short-term workaround for ATT
  • UTMs are here to stay

Covered Topics:

On today’s interview Kunle and Dan discuss,

• Customer-centric focus
• Using latest Martech in DTC
• 1st party vs 3rd party Data
• Alternative to using Google Analytics
• Setting up your Martech stack
• Cutting the fluff from your stack
• Solving attribution
• Tools for tracking Multi-touch attribution
• Effects of ATT
• Using UTMs
• Getting a copy of Dan’s book (It’s free!)

Timestamp:

• 06:55 – Meet Dan:
  • Replaced Neil Patel at Kissmetrics
  • Started his business in 2015
  • 20-year Marketing veteran
  • His mantra is to be totally customer centric
• 10:05 – Using latest Martech in DTC
  • It is the company’s Revenue Infrastructure
  • All your systems have to be tightly integrated and pass data smoothly
  • “First-party data is where everything is going”
  • “Customer data is a business’ most valuable asset”
• 12:20 – 1st party vs 3rd party Data:
  • All your Facebook data is 3rd party
  • Any information received from lead companies is 3rd party
  • Google analytics data is considered 1st party data even though it’s stored on Google servers
  • Any data collected from and stored on your platform/systems is considered 1st party data
• 14:40 – How eCom brands can collect 1st Party data:
  • When visitors fill out forms on your website
  • Checkout information
  • Data collected on your shopify website is 1st party data
• 17:40 – Any alternatives to Google analytics?
  • “The world is your oyster in terms of what you want to track”
• 20:40 – The kind of data you can get from a single email id:
  • Lifestyle habits
  • Cars owned
  • Multiple attributes
• 22:25 – Setting up your Martech stack:
  • Start with your business objectives
  • Avoid shiny object syndrome
  • Shopify has robust tracking system built in
  • Customer data platforms (CDP) make integrations easy and quick
  • Segment is one of the biggest CDPs with over 300 integrations
• 32:45 – McGaw’s offerings:
  • Helping companies build their entire tech stack
• 34:20 – Cutting the fluff from your stack:
  • Try McGaw.io’s stack builder tool
  • Many websites have 2 tools that do the same thing
  • Many times it comes down to lack of knowledge
  • Look for duplication
  • “Don’t go for the all-in suite”
  • “The Best-of-breed stacks always win”
• 37:20 – Solving attribution:
  • Everyone needs to start with first-touch (FT) and last-touch (LT)
  • Last-touch attribution is often overemphasised
  • Mixpanel can help see FT and LT easily
• 40:40 – Tools for tracking Multi-touch attribution:
  • Winzer.ai
  • Supermetrics
  • Rockerbox
  • Attribution App (DTC subscription)
• 44:50 – Effects of ATT:
  • Apple is using it as a competitive advantage
  • It will hurt small businesses
  • Facebook has already come up with a short-term workaround
• 49:35 – Using UTMs:
  • Make sure your UTM conventions are consistent
  • Measure campaigns on FT
  • UTMs are going to be around
• 52:40 – Dan’s book:
  • Available for free using a text bot – 415-915-9011
  • Type “Martech”
  • 2 hour-read with actionable points

Takeaways:

• Data collected on your shopify website is 1st party data
• Customer data platforms (CDP) make integrations easy and quick
• Best-of-breed stacks always beat all-in-one suites
• Facebook has already come up with a short-term workaround for ATT

Links & Resources

• Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One’s Looking
• Segment
• Webinar: How do UTMs & UTM conventions actually work?
• Tech stack builder
• Dan on LinkedIn

Tweetable Quotes:

“The world is your oyster in terms of what you want to track.”

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