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Full-Service vs. SaaS: Deciding on the right marketing analytics model


In today’s rapidly evolving media and marketing landscape, businesses face increasing challenges in optimizing their marketing budgets and maximizing their return on investment (ROI). As a result, marketing analytics has emerged as a crucial tool to help companies make data driven decisions and drive more effective marketing campaigns. Two commonly available approaches that companies can consider for their marketing analytics solutions are full-service solutions and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models. Each has its unique strengths and advantages, and understanding the model that is best suited for your company’s needs is an essential first step in setting up a robust marketing analytics program

Growing importance of marketing analytics

With consumer behavior continually evolving, marketing has become more complex and fragmented than ever before. Marketing teams now have access to vast amounts of data from various sources, making it challenging to gain meaningful insights and decide on the most effective strategies. This has put marketing budgets under increased scrutiny, leading businesses to seek ways to optimize their spending. Marketing analytics has emerged as a powerful solution to this problem, providing the means to measure marketing effectiveness, track performance, and respond quickly to changes in customer behavior.

Marketing analytics has emerged as a powerful tool for companies, providing the means to measure marketing effectiveness, track performance, and respond quickly to changes in customer behavior.

Appeal of full-service marketing analytics solutions

Full-service marketing analytics solutions offer complete outsourcing of analytics to specialized firms following a “consulting” approach. Such solutions are particularly attractive to companies that have limited in-house data science or statistical expertise and lack the time and resources to perform their own marketing analytics. By leveraging the expertise of analytics specialists, businesses can access industry benchmarks and data and gain valuable insights and recommendations. However, the benefits come at a cost.While full-service models provide comprehensive support, they can be expensive, difficult and costly to scale, and may not always deliver real-time results. Additionally, outsourcing the process often leads to delays in obtaining insights, which may hinder timely decision-making in a fast-paced marketing landscape.

Full-service solutions are attractive to companies that have limited in-house data science expertise and lack resources to run their own marketing analytics

Advantages of SaaS marketing analytics solutions

SaaS-based marketing analytics solutions, on the other hand, offer a more cost effective and flexible approach. These platforms allow companies to access analytical tools and capabilities through a subscription based model. SaaS solutions are particularly suitable for companies with multiple brands and markets that require frequent updates and analytics. With SaaS, businesses can build their own Marketing Mix Models (MMMs) and conduct analytics and insight generation in-house. All they need are in house resources with an affinity for numbers, basic statistics skills and some depth of industry domain knowledge.The ease of scalability across multiple brands and markets is another compelling feature of SaaS solutions. This enables companies to streamline their marketing analytics program to cover a larger proportion of their overall marketing budget, resulting in improved marketing effectiveness, efficiency and ROI. Given their flexibility and ease of-use, SaaS solutions also deliver more real-time analytics, , allowing for quick data-driven decisions.

SaaS solutions offer a cost-effective and flexible approach through subscription-based models.

Selecting the right model for your company

So, how do you determine which type of marketing analytics model is right for your company? Here are some important criteria to consider to help you arrive at a decision

The hybrid approach: SaaS + FTE

Recognizing that each company’s needs may vary, analytics firms such as Analytic Edge now offer a hybrid approach that combines the benefits of both full-service and SaaS models. This “SaaS + FTE” model allows businesses to license the solution to run marketing analytics in-house while also receiving dedicated resources (or Full Time Equivalents) from Analytic Edge. These FTE resources help with building and updating Marketing Mix Models, providing expert advice, interpreting insights and making marketing recommendations. This hybrid approach provides businesses with the best of both worlds – delivering the advantages of full-service support alongside the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of a SaaS solution.

Analytic Edge offers a hybrid ‘SaaS + FTE’ approach that combines the benefits of both full-service and SaaS models

Summary

Choosing the right marketing analytics solution depends on your company’s specific requirements, resources, and goals. Full-service marketing analytics solutions are wellsuited for companies with limited in-house expertise and resources seeking comprehensive support and industry insights. On the other hand, SaaS-based solutions are more suitable for organizations with multiple brands, markets, and in-house analytics capabilities, looking for scalability and real-time data analysis. For those seeking the best of both worlds, the hybrid SaaS + FTE model offers a balanced approach that meets varying needs and preferences. Applying these criteria and selecting the appropriate model will empower your business to harness the power of data-driven marketing, optimize budgets, and make strategic decisions to thrive in the current competitive landscape

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