Episode 270 / Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez / HP / Digital Marketing Manager
The In-House Marketer’s Guide to Data & Analytics
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez is the Digital Marketing Manager at HP Mexico. After working on the agency side as well as the brand side, he's come to see the immense potential of data and analytics to drive better decision-making, especially for in-house marketing teams.
"If you have the analytics, the data, I think you can take better decisions." The key, according to Luis, is developing a solid methodology for analysing and acting on that data. But it's not enough to just have the data - in-house teams also need to be open to integrating different sources and technologies to get a holistic view. "You have to be open to use different technologies and take data from there," he advises.
One area Luis sees as particularly crucial is attribution modelling. "When you have the attribution model, the different players in the team can work together to improve the outcomes." With the right methodology and data integration in place, Luis believes in-house teams can unlock powerful insights to drive better business decisions. But he also cautions against getting too caught up in the numbers, emphasising the importance of imagination and staying positive even when the data doesn't paint the rosiest picture. "Sometimes the answers are in some books, but sometimes not. You have to analyse all the time and think about what is happening, you know, and you have to be open.”
Marketers should not let themselves get frustrated by data - just keep digging into the insights to get to the core of why customers are behaving in a particular way.
It's that balance of data-driven insights and creative problem-solving that makes marketing analytics such a "shiny new object" for in-house teams, according to Luis. Find out more about it on the podcast.
Transcript
The following gives you a good idea of what was said, but it’s not 100% accurate.
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 0:00
Don't feel frustrated and try to analyze no matter if the situation is not the best. Don't feel bad if the things are going bad.
Speaker 1 0:13
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Tom Ollerton 0:46
Hello and welcome to the shiny new object podcast. My name is Tom Ollerton. I'm the founder of automated creative, the creative effectiveness ad tech platform, and I am here in Mexico City today at HP's office. And I am interviewing Luis Gonzalez, who is a digital marketing manager here at HP, and we're going to be talking about the future of data driven marketing, as we do every week on this podcast. So Luis, for anyone who doesn't know who you are and what you do, can you give the audience a bit of background?
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 1:18
Hi, how are you? Thanks for having me.
Tom Ollerton 1:20
My pleasure.
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 1:22
Yeah, well, actually, my background is, well, at the beginning it was more about, it was more about in the agency side, in the media, agency side, and then I have the opportunity to move to the brand side, that I have the opportunity to work in Scotiabank, and now I'm working Hewlett Packard in the in house team. Very great experience.
Tom Ollerton 1:49
So in your career today, so far, what new belief or behavior has had the biggest impact on your work life?
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 1:59
Well, the thing has changed a lot in the in the last years, especially what I think is pretty important for me is, is, is, is the time. I think that the time is the most important resource we have. And right now I, what I try to do is invest my time in the in the best way possible, not only to have a balanced life. I mean, I try to, I try to use when I'm working, and I think it's it, it has a very good impact in in me, is try to invest my time in the best way possible, not only learning or, for example, when I'm working, I try to do it in in a better way possible, but very focused in what I'm doing. I think that the time I have, it should be with a very with, with a very good quality.
Tom Ollerton 2:59
But how would you do that? So that's quite subjective. Say best, best use of time is, yeah, that makes sense. But how do you do that? How do you make sure that every minute you're spending on your your work and your career, how do you make sure you're doing the right thing? Because we're all lazy, all ambitious, we all get distracted. So how do you make sure that you, you're, you know you're doing the right thing?
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 3:19
Well, I think to be better, you have to live better. I think what is pretty important is to be more effective. And the only way to be more effective is is learning and and when you have, when you start to learn and learn about what you like, is is really easy to have a better performance, because you are possible. You are capable to give better solution for your team, not only that, not only that, other, other thing that is that is pretty important, not only learning is try to be great, to be very focused and understand that your time is pretty valuable, and the only way to make your time valuable is, you know, go to try to solve what, what is important, you Know. And the way to do that is giving. Give, giving, giving to your team the best option possible, you know. I mean, you have, you, you have you need to share a good methodology and and then try to solve the thing, the thinking a better way possible. You know.
Tom Ollerton 4:48
Could you give me an example of some point in your career where you've done that? So you're talking in a fairly abstract way, which is, which is great. But can you help me understand, was there a project, maybe at a different company, or. When your agency side where, where you learned that you had to put your focus on the right things?
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 5:06
Yeah, sure. For example, when I was working in, in the media agencies, I have to open a trading desk. I'm talking about like, like, 10 years ago, you know, and the things were a little bit complicated, because everything was pretty new. And what I discovered in that moment is that I could be invest a lot of time sit in my chair, running the campaigns, but, you know, I wasn't very effective. What I what I start to do is, well, I have to be a bit more focused in what is important, in the numbers, you know, and I have to read different books and try to develop some methodology and and what I think was pretty important for me, was analyzing the information. And analyzing the information is the in that moment was the best way to have a good impact in my team, you know, because I was capable to give better insights to my team and solve different situations. And, you know, and my perception about time changed a lot, you know, because in that moment, to me, wasn't necessary to be seen there frustrating about the things or or about the or about the or about the outcomes. Now in that moment, I I understood that I have the proper solution that was running the reports and and giving the the correct analysis for for for that information. And it makes a difference, because in that moment, when I sit with my boss. I was giving him the the correct the correct feedback, you know, the correct impact, about the all the data I was analyzing, you know, because for me, was pretty clear. My boss didn't need me just sit and and running the campaigns, or what, what my boss really need was my was a good analysis about what I was doing, you know.
Tom Ollerton 7:29
So moving on from that really important experience that you had, what is your best bit of advice you have that you give to your teams to help them become a better data driven marketer. What is that silver bullet great bit of advice that you find yourself sharing all of the time?
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 7:48
Yeah, I think there's the best advice I can give is, first of all, don't feel frustrated, you know, because sometimes you can analyze the data and and, and you don't see the proper solution, or didn't see the outcome there, but you know, you have to analyze and and think and think. And you have, you have to think a lot, you know, and you and, and the second option I give is, for sure, read a book about analytics, or there are many books, but are not the books. I think the best advice is, never feel frustrated if the if the things are not going well. You have to think in the possible solutions. You know. You have to think in in a different in a different scenarios and with the parts of the time, possibly all the things you analyze are not correct, but usually you get a good insight, you know, and that insight can give you a better perception about what you're giving or about the business. And the recommendation I always give is don't feel frustrated, and try to analyze, no matter if the situation is not the best, try to think the the reason they are, the things are not going and sometimes it's about imagination, sometimes it's about feel good. You know, feel good about what you are doing. Don't feel bad if the if the things are are going bad.
Tom Ollerton 9:33
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so we're now going to move on to your shiny new object, which is marketing analytics for in house teams. So why have you chosen that as your shiny new object?
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 10:22
Well, I think there is a good opportunity there, you know, because, for example, I have been working in an in house team for many years. For example, when I was working in Scotiabank, I was in an inside team, and now in Hewlett Packard, I'm working in in an in house team. And I think what, what I think is pretty important is, if you have the analytics, the data, I think you can take better decisions. And you know when you are, when you are in an inside team, in an in house team, the teams usually are like 12 or 20 persons. And if they are open to analyze, to check the analytics, the data sources, they can take different they can take very good decisions, or better decisions, you know, and I mean, I will repeat something I said, like a minute ago. But if they can have the imagination or to analyze and analyze and analyze the data they have, eventually they will have a better decision, because if they check the data many times, they will have they will create different questions, and possibly one of those questions can can give you a good answer for what you are looking but what is pretty important is that the inside the in house teams, they have the they have the analytics like, like adaily option, you know, to improve their their performance.
Tom Ollerton 12:03
So what, what are the key analytics that an in house team needs to have to make great data driven marketing decisions?
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 12:11
Well, first of all, I think the methodology is pretty important. You know, how to develop a good how to develop a good methodology? Well, it depends, you know, you have to you. There are many ways, you know, you can ask, you can learn, you can take courses, you can read books, but you have to develop a methodology. And the second, you have to be open to different data sources. I mean, you have to be open to create, to create, to use different technologies and take data from from there, and I don't know right now, there are many options.
Tom Ollerton 12:51
But for you, what are the crucial data points that an in house team needs?
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 12:59
Well, for me, I think it's pretty important, the the attribution you need to have an attribution model. Because when you have the attribution model, you know the different the different players in in the team can work together to improve the to improve the outcomes. I think, for example, if you have the search guy and the social guy and the programmatic guy, if they know how the attribution works, they can work together to improve the to improve the outcomes, because they will know how they impact each part of the funnel or each part of the business.
Tom Ollerton 13:39
And so, what are the specific differences and challenges that this market has? Obviously, you're responsible for a number of different markets across the region. What are the challenges that in house teams have with marketing analytics and where do you see the future? How do you think the business can do it better?
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 14:00
Well, I think the biggest challenge is unify the things. I mean, have this, this perception about the business, when we have to be totally integrated, to focus the same goal, you know, and, and the truth is, to get that, I mean, to try to be involved the different the different players. Sometimes it's with sometimes it's with data. You know, with, for example, to be you have the in our in house team. We have different operators. We but we have to report to to a marketing team member, and we have to work with with different players in the company. And I think that part is eventually, because the in house teams are pretty new, eventually they will be very unified. And they will work together in a better way, but in this moment, I think is pretty new, and it's new for the company, and the best way to do it is first, first of all, with a good methodology. But how will you justify the methodology? You will justify with numbers, and that's and that's the reason that the data and the data and analytics is pretty important, because when you have those numbers almost immediately, and you have talked about those numbers and how those numbers impact your business, I think it's a it's a very positive it's a very positive thing for for your company, in this case, not only for the in house team, for the rest of team, marketing, finance, all the teams and eventually will be unified. But right now, we have been very focused in the analytics sources we have, you know, and we have to integrate them to have the to try to make a difference.
Tom Ollerton 16:08
So the data that the marketing analytics team can use can tell you what happened, right? So you have your attribution model. You've got the data from Search, Display, social, and all of those teams will have a dashboard, a spreadsheet or something, and that is telling you what happened. Yeah, right, we ran this ad. This had a click through rate, or a conversion rate, or whatever it is, but it doesn't tell you why things happened. So how are you how do you balance Marketing Analytics, which is very much the practice of what with helping the business understand why something happened?
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 16:51
Well, that is a tough question.
Tom Ollerton 16:53
It's a tough podcast.
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 16:56
Yeah, well, I think, for example, you have the dashboard, like you mentioned. You have the data there, but you need to be open to to analyze, to think about that, and you have to use your imagination and try to understand what exactly happened In what moment. And sometimes you can be correct, sometimes not. But I think you have to be open to imagine the reason, the reason behind the things. You know this is happening, or we're stuck in that part, and we have to imagine the reason that is happening there. Sometimes the answers are in in some books, but sometimes not you know. You have to to analyze all the time and to think about what is happening, you know, and you have to be open. And like I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast, you should not feel frustrated if the things are go, if this, if the things are not good, you have to, you have to to analyze, you know, to think and think and think, and eventually you are going to have a better perception about what is happening. It's not a simple it's not a simple question, you know, because you can have all these platforms, all these technologies and all these dashboards, and they can tell you something, but sometimes it's not the answer that you are looking for, and that's a reason that you have to to imagine, you know, to think about more, more options.
Tom Ollerton 18:35
So unfortunately, we're at the end of the podcast now. Oh, sorry, no, no, it's it. But I would love to carry on talking, but you've got a call. I know you've got a call to get on. So let's, let's move on. So Luis, if someone wants to get in touch with you, where would you like them to get in touch with you? And if they did write you a message, what would make you reply to that message?
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 18:56
Well, I mean, if you need any contact with me, you have me on LinkedIn, like Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez, and, yeah, you know. I mean, this part is, analytics is part of my passion when I work, and I'm totally open to talk someday, wherever you need brilliant
Tom Ollerton 19:20
Luis, thank you so much.
Luis Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez 19:21
Thank you.
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