Lessons Learned from 197 Metrics, 150 Studies, and 12 Essays: A Field Guide to Digital Metrics

Editor’s Note: As the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) prepares to come off press with The Digital Metrics Field Guide—The Definitive Reference for Brands Using the Web, Social Media, Mobile Media, or Email, the Journal asked author Stephen D.

Lessons Learned from 197 Metrics, 150 Studies, and 12 Essays: A Field Guide to Digital Metrics

Stephen D. Rappaport

Stephen D. Rappaport Consulting LLC

SIX LESSONS

Lesson 1: Don’t Bite the Apple of Vanity Metrics

As Max Kilger, Experian’s chief behavioral scientist, warns, “Far too often, metrics are selected because they... may look good, but may not mean much of anything.” (Please see “Putting Big Data—and Big Data Metrics—in Perspective,” on page 114).

Most likely reports crossing marketers’ and researchers’ desks list one or more brand objectives—broad-based goals such as “Generate 10 percent increase in sales leads over the next 90...

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