The use of data and analytics is far from perfect, but there are ways to use more information to effectively plan and track your marketing efforts.
If you’re a data wonk in pursuit of answers to the above riddle, Data Smart: Using Data Science to Transform Information into Insight by John Foreman might be the book for you.
I was hoping for a more conversational approach here, but Foreman–the Chief Data Scientist for MailChimp–is appealing more to Excel lovers and formula geeks who want to get deep into the data to create programs that better illuminate their marketing effectiveness.
The author does a thorough job of walking readers through his sample formulas and spreadsheets, tying them to real-world examples in retail and other businesses. But this book is not written for account planners or strategically-focused creatives and account execs–only if you’re a real math or data enthusiast will you find Data Smart to be a worthwhile read.
Special thanks to Wiley for providing me with a review copy.
