So what is year 2007 going to look like for Web Analytics? Here are my predictions for 2007:
1. A Great Career Field- There will be a lot more jobs in this field in 2007. A great year for those who are planning to enter this field or looking to move into better jobs in this field. Most marketing jobs will have web analytics as a requirement. Currently there are 1024 open jobs on Indeed.com but I expect this number to rise as there will be a lot more openings than qualified candidates.
2. A Lot more new writers – There will be a lot more bloggers and writers in this field. Can somebody count how many blogs on Web Analytics there are currently? This will help me set the baseline.
3. Web Analytics won’t be standing alone – Marketers will want a 360 view of the customers. Integration of various data sources and tools will be expected from web analytics and other supporting tool vendors. Omniture started the trend with Omniture Genesis and this will continue and we will see more acquisitions and partnerships similar to Omnitures.
4. Web Analytics will be about taking actions – More and more marketers would like to take actions and not just report the findings. It just won’t be about what happened, it will be about taking action to drive sales, user satisfaction, lead generation etc. Incentives and bonuses will be tied to the online KPIs. Optimization and Behavioral Targeting will become common terms used by marketers.
5. Behavioral Targeting – Only a few main behavioral network players will be left and some of the existing ones with poor networks will either go out of business or be sold. See my previous article on why size of network matter. Behavioral Targeting won’t exist in isolation. Web Analytics tools will have to support behavioral targeting and visa versa. Also, on-site behavioral targeting will become very common.
Agree? Disagree? I would love to hear your comments.
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Anil has over 10 years of experience in Consulting, Business Intelligence, Web Analytics, Online Advertising and Behavioral Targeting. Anil helps companies use Web channel data to improve online business results (lead generation, conversion, retention and self-help metrics). Anil has helped several fortune 500 customers effectively use web analytics and increase their ROI on the web. Anil has worked with customers such as Microsoft, SmartMoney.com, ESPN, T-Mobile, Hoovers, Realnetworks, Starbucks, and TheStreet.com
Anil holds a B. Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering from India and an MBA from University of Washington, Seattle.
