InnovaBuzz Episode #31 – Jim Sterne of the Digital Analytics Association

Image courtesy of Big Data Examiner
In this episode number 31  of the InnovaBuzz podcast, Jim Sterne of the Digital Analytics Association and founder of the eMetrics Summit shared with us his insights into all things data and analysis, in a way that was both very informative and highly entertaining.  Jim is known as the “Godfather of Analytics” and you will learn why as you listen to this episode.
Today's competition prize has been generously donated by Jim who is providing a copy of his latest book “Devils Data Dictionary”, a less than serious look at Analytics, so stick around for details on how you can enter the draw to win that competition prize later on in the interview.

Listen to the Podcast



Data without goals is pure narcissism!

Jim Sterne

Show Highlights



Jim Sterne of the Digital Analytics Association


Some of the highlights of this episode include:

* The Google Analytics generic dashboard is unlikely to be useful for most people. You should start with “What am I trying to accomplish?” and “How do I measure success?” The build your reports and dashboard accordingly. 
* There is NO single number that identifies if you are doing a good job with your website, you need to track things that give you insights into what you are trying to accomplish.
* Curiosity is the most important trait any data analyst can have. The data leads to a bunch of questions and hypotheses, that can be tested.
* The three critical steps to start an analytics project are 1. Install the proper tags so that you are confident to have good data; 2. In the data, look for anomalies, which can give valuable insights; 3. Segment your site visitors into groups that represent different behaviours.
* It’s important as analysts to keep your eyes on the four business reasons, the four goals that an organization has. If you can relate whatever your nugget of insight is to those four, then people will listen. They are increased revenue, decreased cost, increased customer satisfaction, and increased capabilities.
* One of the biggest challenges of most websites, is that the number of visitors are relatively small (thousands) and the data may well be statistically insignificant. So we are trying to draw conclusions and insights from insufficient data.

If there was a number one thing, you could do to differentiate yourself then we would all be the same!

Jim Sterne

The Buzz - Our Innovation Round


Here are Jim's answers to the questions of our Innovation round. Watch the interview to get the full scoop.

#1 thing to be more innovative – Bring together a diverse points of view. Don't have a meeting of people who are made up entirely of people like you. Find people who have different experiences and different points of view and different ages to really mix it up.
Best thing for new ideas – Take some serious time off of working and let your minds relax and big ideas can form out of that.
Favourite tool for innovation – Caffeine!
Keep project / client on track – Reminders with short deadlines, break things up into small bits.
Differentiate – I think the best thing you can do is work as hard as possible to get into the mind of your customer. Because you are not the target audience. Your customer is. 


To Be More Innovative and Productive


Try stuff. Throw the spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. Be willing to take a risk.

Reach Out


You can reach out and thank Jim via