Prateek Mehta completed his under graduation from University of Houston, Texas. After this, he started working as a business consultant in a business and management consulting firm in the US. After 2.5 years of experience there, Prateek moved back to India, and here he has worked for companies like Adobe, Jabong and goIbibo. He has also completed his graduation from IIM-Lucknow. Currently, Prateek is working as a product manager in Snapdeal.
Since web analytics is a critical part of business, Prateek has always been attached with it. He has conducted many trainings and talks related to analytics.
How did you get into Web Analytics?
Prateek: I started my career as a business consultant, and analytics is the spinal cord of consulting. In only a little period of time, it was easy to see how analytics-driven decisions could lead to much higher growth. This is when I decided that I wanted to get deeper into this field.
What makes Web Analytics an essential subject for Entrepreneurs, Marketing Professionals and Students? Please share separately for each of these profiles.
Prateek: Web Analytics is fascinating and also an essential part of businesses these days. We have experienced a remarkable growth in online businesses in last few years, and the competition is only growing stiffer. Web analytics, in today’s world, is the only way to succeed because at the very core it helps us understand our customers—and that is what it’s all about.
And the best thing is that it is for everybody. An entrepreneur can use it to understand his customer’s needs to create a better product. A marketer can use it’s insights to understand the true ROI and use marketing channels that will be most attractive to their customers. Also, the students can use these skills to jumpstart their career. The market really needs skilled people in this domain as it is very rich and growing at a very high pace.
Please share top 3 mistakes committed by organizations in leveraging Web Analytics.
Prateek: Top 3 mistakes I have seen organization make are:
- Lack of focus in data collection. Web Analytics start with data collection and lack of focus there means ‘garbage in garbage out.’ By this, I meant that if the data you are analyzing is of poor quality, then the inferences would also be poor.
- Trying to analyze without any business question in mind. If you are looking into the data without any hypothesis just waiting for the data to tell you something in your ear—that is not going to happen. It is best to have a clear understanding of what are you trying to solve and then find a solution for it.
- Using Web Analytics only as a skill/technique. I think analytics is more of a culture. It is not something you just do on a tool, but it is how you think and make decisions. An organization must find a way to ask the right questions and make decisions based on data rather than gut instinct even though the latter may “feel” the right thing to do.
What are the key Web Analytics topics you cover in the training program that you lead at Digital Vidya?
Prateek: We cover web analytics quite extensively in our program. We cover measurement plans, Google analytics tracking, data collection, custom dimensions, events, metrics, reporting, funnels, goals, and much more. This program is hands on for everybody and inclusive of important case studies also.
List top 5 takeaways of the Web Analytics course you lead at Digital Vidya.
Prateek:
- Hands on practice
- How to use tools like Google Analytics
- How to understand your customer
- How to improve conversions of your business no matter what type of business
- How to turn data into actionable insights
In your experience, what are the key advantages of ‘instructor-led, online’ delivery format?
Prateek: This is a truly revolutionary way of learning. It has best of both worlds. Now students can be at the comfort of their homes, and also get personalized attention by an instructor. Finally, now you can have your cake and eat it too.
What challenges do you face and how do you overcome them while delivering an online course?
Prateek: This format of delivery is tried and tested, so any major challenges don’t occur, however if there are some issues still, we have an expert team of delivery managers who are always there to help the students when they need help.
What are the top 3-5 trends you foresee for Web Analytics in 2016?
Prateek:
2016 is going to be the biggest year for analytics yet.
- We are going to see web analytics used by many small and medium businesses also.
- Trends around mobile usage would be a hot topic this year.
- For providing a better customer experience, bigger organization will use web analytics for omnichannel marketing.
- And of course, to meet all such demands, there would be record high recruiting in the field of web analytics—so hooray for people who are exploring this field.
Are you inspired by the opportunity of Web Analytics? Start your journey by enrolling for our Web Analytics Certification.
