Garage for digital analytics

The Measurement Plan - The Digital Marketing Playbook We need to talk about your marketing budget. If you’re a busy SME owner or decision-maker , you’re likely tired of hearing the word "analytics". It sounds like something only a 24-year-old techie with too much free time can handle. You value technology, sure, but you don't love the jargon. You just want to know one thing: Is this spending generating profit? If your answer involves shrugging, squinting at a complex dashboard, or hoping for the best, you don’t have a strategy—you have a wishlist. And that’s costing you money. The fix isn't another software tool or a new social media platform. The fix is a piece of paper, or maybe a simple spreadsheet, that I call the Digital Measurement Playbook . Getting Your Fingers Dirty: What the Playbook Does The Measurement Playbook is your non-technical blueprint . It’s the simple, practical document that connect...

The Silent Tax: Why Your Marketing Data Rots The Silent Tax: Rotting Data And 3 Lean Fixes for Your ROI Let's talk about the single biggest threat to your marketing spend. It’s not the platform change, or the latest AI hype. It’s the data you already own. As an SME decision-maker, your time is gold. You invested in the tech—the CRM, the analytics platform—to get better ROI. You value what technology does , but you don't want to live inside the code. You want the results. That's the smart play. But here’s the harsh reality: Marketing data quality degrades year by year. It’s not a static, one-time asset; it’s a living mess. Every new lead, every system update, every manual entry introduces friction. That friction is a hidden tax on your analytics, and it’s inflating your marketing costs every single day. You can’t optimize ROI with bad ingredients. Let's get our fingers dirty and look at why your data is going bad and the...

STOP WORRYING, START EARNING: THE 7 GDPR RULES THAT ACTUALLY BOOST YOUR MARKETING ROI PRIVACY RULES THAT BOOST YOUR MARKETING ROI Look, you didn't get into this business to become an expert on EU privacy rules. You've got a tight schedule, a bottom line to hit, and frankly, dealing with The Regulation feels like wading through cement. The fines? They’re just noise until the headache gets real. The actual cost to a busy owner isn't the penalty—it's the massive distraction. It’s the constant worry that your digital marketing analytics platform is a ticking time bomb, filled with data you shouldn’t even have. My advice, from the trenches? Stop thinking of GDPR as a lawyer's problem. Think of it as a data clean-up exercise that forces you to build a better, leaner business. When you clean up the data you collect, your analysis gets sharper, your budget gets tighter, and your ROI goes...

The clock is ticking on third-party cookies. If you're running a small to medium-sized business ( SME ), this isn't just a headache for the big guys—it's a direct threat to your ROI and a hidden opportunity for those who move fast. You value tech, but you're not a "techie." You want results, not jargon. So let's cut to the chase and get our fingers dirty. The Problem: Lost Data is Lost Money Right now, your website relies heavily on browser-side tagging . That's code (like Google Analytics or Facebook Pixel) running directly in your visitor's web browser. It's slow, easily blocked by privacy tools (ad-blockers, ITP, ETP), and getting less accurate every day. This data leakage isn't theoretical; it's a measurable crisis. Marketing leaders confirm key functions are heavily compromised, with Audience Segmentation (82%) and Conversion Tracking (64%) being the most affected areas (Gartner Peer Communi...

Stop Measuring Pageviews: GA4’s 7 Core ROI Levers for the SME Owner Look, I get it. You run a business, not a code shop. When Google Analytics 4 (GA4) came along and hammered the final nail into the Universal Analytics (UA) coffin, the reaction from every SME owner I know was the same: Another. Damn. Project. You see "analytics platform migration," and all you hear is "billable hours" and "steep learning curve." Your priority is closing the next deal, not wrestling with a new dashboard. But here’s the harsh truth from the garage floor: The old way of tracking is dead, and the new way is built to protect your wallet and your business. UA tracked "sessions" and "pageviews"—that’s like grading a sales rep purely on how many offices they visit. GA4 tracks events —the handshake, the signed contract, the second follow-up email. This isn’t about being a techie. It's about being an owner who demands clea...

Web Analytics Specialist: When to Hire (B2C vs. B2B) Web Analytics Specialist: When to Hire (B2C vs. B2B) The decision to hire a dedicated Web Analytics Specialist hinges on your business model. Do you prioritize volume and speed (B2C) or quality and high-value pipeline (B2B)? Here are the criteria for each scenario. 🛍️ B2C / Consumer Goods: The Volume & Speed Model In this model, the specialist focuses on scaling traffic, optimizing funnels , and maximizing immediate revenue from a large customer base. ✅ When to Hire (Focus: Volume & ROAS) Scaling Ad Spend: You spend heavily on PPC, social, or display ads and need to optimize Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) by perfecting funnel tracking and attribution across channels. High Traffic, Unclear Profit: You have millions of sessions but are unsure which segments (e.g., mobile users) are truly profitable or where the major drop-offs occur. Complex E-comme...

The GDPR GORILLA: Dating App Edition The GDPR GORILLA : Dating App Edition Facing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can feel like dealing with a huge, undeniable problem in the room—your GDPR GORILLA . For dating apps, this challenge is especially complex due to the highly sensitive nature of the information processed. The Scale of the Monster: Volume: Over 50,000 words in the core regulatory text. Structure: Consists of 99 Articles and 173 Recitals for interpretation. Punch-power: Fines up to €20 million or 4% of global annual turnover. This GDPR GORILLA is uniquely dangerous in your sector because it is created by two major, interconnected risks that often lead to severe penalties: The Special Category Data Trap: Dating apps inherently process Special Categories of Personal Data (e.g., information on sexual orientation, roma...