How does WebFusion compare to Google Analytics Premium and Adobe?

 

WebFusion was originally designed for eCommerce companies as a more affordable alternative to Google Analytics’ (GA) free version or premium (x360) and Adobe. We did this because, as consultants, we were constantly restricted by the current tech’s limitations. Many of our clients would have free GA, but there were limitations to the level of data your could extract, the volume, and the capability to include PII data. This meant that if we built a tool to extract data from GA, after a while Google could deny access and block the API, so we could not access the raw GA data to put into models or forecast. It meant we could not integrate GA the data with other systems such as CRM.

Our plan was simple, capture the same sort of data as Google in its raw format but in a way that could integrate directly into a customer Single Customer View for consultants and analysts to easily use. The solution needed to ensure there were no restrictions by external technologies when capturing data.

Initial reactions to our approach were split into two distinct groups:

1. Those clients that had GA basic who would say “why would I pay for something that I get for free”, and
2. Those with a paid for product who would say “why would I switch”.

This prompted us to further refine the product to exceed the quality and usability of our rivals.

As good and as great as the likes of Adobe are Google are, they have their short comings.

At first our main challenges were technical ones, there were gaps in the current data capture, limitations on how to access the data. It was not enough just to enable access to the data for a given project, we needed to deal with some of the current issues with existing tools and data quality.

Technical achievements

Here is a summary of some of the technical challenges we have had to overcome:

Requirement	How we did
Capture the equivalent data that GA has; device, operation system, browser settings, session, source of traffic, urls, time of each action, session time, bespoke events	Same
Allow the historic data to be manipulated to update reporting views and segments etc retrospectively	Better
Improve the ability to report across multiple sites without having a huge number of reporting views	Better
Track browsers across domains	Better
Capture adverting impressions on; emails, social media, display networks and affiliates	Better
Identify individuals on the site, so that we can see what a person is doing online	Better
Track a person back to the first point of entry onto the site	Better
Cross stitch devices, so that we can see the mix of devices a user has	Better
Send the raw data directly to the SCV database, near real time or in batch	Better
Provide the ability to run reports or extract analysis data sets directly from the WebFusion database	Alternate
Integrate the data with CRM and ESP tools	Better
Auto tagging	Alternate

In each of the cases above we were also able to understand and apply specific client requirements. This enabled us to formulate a solution that pushed the existing status quo, often achieving what was previously thought impossible, whilst also understanding that there are some things beyond our control. That said the real benefit clients gained was the quality of our service.

How does our service compare?

Google and Adobe are huge companies and they have some really clever guys and do great things. But if you are a small or medium sized business, you may face some real challenges:

1. Cost of the software – this will be a hefty solution with an ongoing licence fee that needs to be at a manageable level.
2. Cost of support – some of the technical challenges can be overcome with tools like GA premium or Adobe, however the costly implementation often prohibits doing them
3. Quality of support – have fun on those automated support lines! Did you say “Cross Domain Fracking?”
4. Digital measurement only – Google is a web browser, so their focus is pure-play digital. But an organisation’s marketing is often more complex and also needs measuring.  Consider in store, out of home, inserts, door drops, DM, TM or TV
5. Business application -you may get the software, but are you interpreting the results correctly? Is there a better method and how do you translate that into business value?

 

Our team are experts in bridging between online and offline analytics. We work with technicians, developers, analysts, data scientists, econometricians, CRM managers, agencies and many more people. That said, we do not have the huge overheads of a multi-national; so we can provide Webfusion at an affordable price.

 

How do our skills compare?

1. We have improved on giants like Google & Adobe
2. We go beyond digital, and work across channels
3. Our analysts, statisticians and econometricians have better algorithms and better data (thank you Peter Norvig)
4. Forecasting, propensity  modelling, segmentation, reporting, and so much more 

 

If you would like to learn more about what we can do for you, please email us at info@fusion-analytics.co.uk or call 0203 287 5 387