Have BtoB Brands Truly Democratized Data?

By Rob Keenan, Keenan Media

OK, let me start with a preface. The statement I'm about to make does not apply to all BtoB media brands and publishers. But it will apply to many. So, with the hope of not having too many rotten tomatoes thrown my way, here we go. BtoB media brands and publishers have not gone far enough to make data accessible within their own company, let alone with customers. In fact, I'd argue, brands are falling woefully short in this area and, if it doesn't change, could lead to the long-term success or failure of a media brand.

OK, I said it and I haven't seen any tomatoes flying through my MacBook screen yet. Whew!

So why am I making that claim. Many brands have implemented better analytics tools and many are using these tools to make better decisions on the content they deliver through their digital channels. Definitely a positive move! Many BtoB players are also taking steps to bring together disparate sources of data into some sort of database structure. Yet another positive move forward! And some have even started to figure out how to take their data and turn it into a business. Yes!

When you really dig in, however, you're going to find a major miss in data approach taken by BtoB brands. The miss isn't in bringing data together. With tools like Snowflake , Domo and others in market, I'm confident that media brands have taken the steps toward bringing data together. And, with the help of a 3rd party or tools like Google Looker, PowerBI, or Tableau, I'm confident that reports and dashboards on key data points are starting to make their way around a media brands offices.

But, ask yourself these questions:

1. How easy is it for the editorial team to see the habits of a user or cohort of users?
2. Can the sales team dive in on their own to find information about site usage that can help close a sale?
3. Can business executives without a technical background build custom dashboards for themselves?
4. Can you really see what an event registrant is doing in other places on your site?

As you can see, the real miss is that, despite the talk and the work, we haven't truly democratized data in our organizations. What does that mean? Well, to truly unlock the power of data, we have to make sure that data can be used by everyone. It can no longer be that a few people, such as data scientists and IT execs, serve as the data gatekeepers. We also cannot rely solely on tools like PowerBI and Tableau. Both are good products. But, if you don't have a tech background (and likely some SQL knowledge), these tools are cumbersome and overwhelming for the average user in a BtoB brand.

Are There Solutions?

That's a really good question for everyone in BtoB to be asking right now. Not to be on the fence, but the answer is yes and no.

What do I mean by that? Well for starters, there are some vendors in market that have started to help here. I've seen a number of solutions that allow data and IT executives in media brands to offer dashboards that provide a window into the data a media brand has in its stable.

These tools, however, have their limitations. The dashboard solutions in market are reliant on a brand knowing what it wants to report on. There's some flexibility in these dashboards, but not a ton. That being said, they can help and start making data more easily accessible. But, it's just a start.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is the hope that AI tools can help. The idea would be to have a chatbot that can read your data and allow any one in your organization to ask natural questions about their data and get answers. Then, using prompts, users could navigate their way to dive deeper into the data.

Here's the problem. At the start, the AI bots, like the generative AI tools, will likely give some wonky answers. And that could frustrate business users. So, if you go the AI route, you have to be prepared to train the bot and set expectations that things will get better as the bot continues to learn.

There's likely going to be some middle ground as well. When I was still at Adweek, a number of vendors started approaching us with "no-code" solutions for BI. Some had potential while others were way off track. But this shows that solutions are coming that can help.

What do I do today?

Another good question for a media brand to ask. When advising a media brand, I'd suggest starting with the dashboard approach. It's by far, not a perfect solution. But it does open the door to get everyone feeling more comfortable with data.

But you also have to look at investing. I know that's a tough word in a challenging business environment. That being said, we have to find a way to invest here. Maybe it's AI? Maybe it's a SaaS solution? Maybe it's another option? No matter what the solution, BtoB media brands and publishers need to work now to make data more available for their own teams. If not, how can we truly reach the promise of running a data-driven organization that leverage data to better serve our audiences and customers?

About the Author

Rob Keenan is the President/Owner of Keenan Media LLC , a digital consultancy working with media brands on product, digital, and technology initiatives. Rob has run Keenan Media since 2016. He has also worked at Adweek, CMP Media, Edgell Communications, Penton Media, and VerticalNet. You can email Rob at rkeenan@keenandigitalconsult.com or call him at 973-219-9508.