We are thrilled Olivier Silvestre has joined Anametrix as VP of client success. Like many members of the Anametrix team, his marketing analytics career began at web-analytics pioneer WebSideStory, where he created one of the industry’s first Conversion Optimization Programs and led a team with a 100-percent success rate helping clients increase their online revenue – some by as much as 300 percent. After serving as WebSideStory’s director of web analytics and optimization consulting for nine years, he co-founded Tealium, a leading universal tag management company that has been profitable since its inception. He retains a seat on the company’s Advisory Board. Today, Anametrix CEO Pelin Thorogood talks with the company’s newest addition.
Welcome aboard, Olivier! For almost 15 years now you’ve been involved in helping clients increase their return on marketing investment (ROMI). What ignited your passion for this profession?
This passion really started at WebSideStory. I fell in love with testing and the ability to understand what people were doing, where they were spending their time, how they arrived at a website, and what was working and what was not.
At WebSideStory we developed the web analytics product, Hitbox, and I suggested we use the product on ourselves. Basically we would be the client of our own technology and improve marketing and revenue-per-visitor on our own site. We went so far as to hold a contest for the new WebSideStory homepage. Each of eight web designers created a new design, and we tested each design for an hour on the site. Using our Hitbox real-time tracking technology, we had a clear winner at the end of the day with our new homepage. Now try to imagine attempting to do this for a window layout at a physical store. It would be impractical to try out eight window layouts, not to mention expensive. You have to go with your gut and guess. With the web you get the ability to test and know what is working and what is not, almost in real-time. It is all based on empirical data, and THAT is really exciting.
Marketing analytics has changed dramatically over the past five years. What excites you most about the future of the industry? Any predictions?
During the past five years, the number of marketing venues and channels has increased dramatically. There is a tremendous amount of data being collected. The downside is marketers are overwhelmed and confused. There is a sense of “data overload” and “analysis paralysis,” which has always existed on the web, but is becoming more and more obvious.
My prediction is that there will be an emphasis and focus on the foundation and basics of the business. What is the focus of decisions and actions one has to make as part of the job? How does one filter back to the metrics that will support those decisions and actions? What are the most relevant and accurate reports to create to display these metrics? Finally, what data sources need to be collected to fuel the reports? I believe you will lose the game if you look at things from the top down. You’ll most likely waste a lot of time trying to figure out what to do with all the data. You should look at the data from the bottom up. It really comes down to determining the most important metrics to support your day-to-day job and then working your way up to identifying the relevant data sources.
What brought you to Anametrix?
A big factor was the people – reuniting with my colleagues from WebSideStory. Through my other business ventures, I realized I am very much in love with marketing analytics, optimization and this effort to solve the multichannel marketing analytics challenge. I knew it would feel really good to go back to my roots and my first passion. While WebSideStory was very web-centric, Anametrix goes above and beyond to look at all channels. Solving the multichannel marketing challenge is one that has tremendous positive financial repercussions for our clients.
Through co-founding Tealium and VinoMatch I learned a lot about what it means to run a business. As I head back to the corporate world as an executive, this experience is invaluable in how I look at things now. I appreciate more what needs to be done and how – as an executive – I can help.
Tell us about what you’ll be doing at Anametrix as the VP of client success.
The position was actually called VP of client services, but I didn’t like the title. To me, client services resonates as “reactive support.” I prefer being proactive and getting ahead. I am someone who wants to make sure our clients are successful and are focusing on the right metrics, actions and decisions that produce results. I asked that my title be changed to VP of client success because it provides the right tone for the direction of the department. We are in the business of making our clients successful using the Anametrix platform.
And what does it mean for a client to be successful? It is simple:
To provide quantifiable success, we will be watching the agreed-upon key performance indicators (KPI) like hawks.
I am building a department with three components – implementation and account management teams, as well as data scientists and other specialized experts in the professional services team. As a department, we will strive to make our clients successful by partnering with them to focus on their objectives and act upon the information and insight that Anametrix provides.
If a client had time to execute only ONE change to improve its return on marketing investment (ROMI), what do you advise would make the biggest impact?
That’s a tough one! Every business is so different and unique. But if I had to pick one change, it would be a change in perspective – a commitment to look at data differently. You have all of this data, but what does it mean? What can you do with it? It is difficult and overwhelming, and there are many layers. As I mentioned earlier, you need to view data from the other side by looking at how you can use data in direct correlation with your job responsibilities. Whether you are an advertising manager, search-engine marketer, social-marketing manager, call-center manager or direct-marketing manager, what are the actions and decisions you must make on a daily or weekly basis? What kind of information would help you make better-informed decisions? What data do you need to bring into the system? How should that data be displayed to help you make these decisions easier and faster?
The ocean of data is growing every day. As I ran a business, I quickly learned I didn’t have time to try to make sense of everything. My job was to identify and focus on the most important business levers and make the appropriate decisions. Understanding what data I needed to make those decisions was essential.
Anything our readers should know about you before we wrap up?
I love sports and am a huge tennis fan. But I absolutely hate to lose (even though you can learn a lot from losses). This competitive spirit is translated into the way I approach things. I love the taste of winning and achieving success. Nothing is more rewarding than experiencing success through your clients. It is the best feeling ever!
Thanks, Olivier, for bringing this passion for analytics and client success to Anametrix. I’m sure we’ll be talking with you again soon about the results you’re helping Anametrix customers achieve.