Falling In Love With Analytics
It’s been 5 weeks since we first met, but it feels like we’ve known each other for as long as I can remember. My life has changed from the moment I caught a glimpse of its perfect curves and learned of its realistic outlook on events. I am not sure if I am quoting a line from ABC’s The Bachelor or the potential sequel to Joaquin Phoenix’s Her when I say that, at this point, I am falling in love with analytics.
Analytics doesn’t get mad at me. The first day – the first week, I had no idea how to navigate Adwords Editor. I wanted to explore every corner and know how to operate every function, but I was hesitant to start. What if I accidentally click the wrong button? Easy – I retrace my steps and/or ask Tim. Either way, analytics and I never fight. Okay – maybe not in public.
Analytics remembers my preferences. I’m not talking about the kind of tea I like or my favorite color. I’m talking about the dashboards I save, the reports I automate, the views I prefer. Whether I’m in Google Analytics, Adwords, Bing, or Wordstream, I know that I can rely on their advanced features to never have amnesia while remaining flexible enough for me to edit a dimension or two. The best part? Analytics doesn’t brag about remembering.
Analytics makes me smile. When I’m staring helplessly at an endless column of numbers, I need only to reach to the top and sort them with one click, or hover over that eternal beacon of a question mark to get help, or add a column or filter that would provide a better sense of the data. And, if you’re one for visuals like me, the instantaneous reflection of the bog of numbers in a colored graph comes as a much-welcomed magical antidote. It’s the little things. It’s always the little things with analytics.
You see, it’s easy to fall for a perceptively perfect system. You may be just as in love with it as I am. Don’t worry. I’m not the jealous type. I am just glad that, in a world of information overload and marketing noise, the loving light of analytics shines through. A love you too can enjoy, and it starts with a simple spark of Flint.
