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VIDHYA SRINIVASAN: Marketers really need to listen like never before,
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especially because the situation is really fast evolving.
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And it really boils down to having a finger on the pulse.
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MARIE GULIN-MERLE: In this episode of The Update, I sat down with Vidhya Srinivasan,
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who leads measurement and analytics for Google’s advertising products,
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to talk about the importance of measurement in the current moment.
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So, Vidhya, as you said,
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understanding this current moment comes down to insights or metrics
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for so many leaders, including marketers.
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How has the current moment challenged marketers when it comes to measurement?
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VIDHYA: So measurement is complex in the best of times,
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and for marketers especially during these difficult times, the stakes are very real.
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Now this is true of our big customers, but it is especially true for smaller businesses.
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This is because they’re trying to identify where to invest perhaps limited resources
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and trying to get the most out of their dollar.
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So the main challenges for marketers really are around
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how to collect and assess data as close to real time as possible, as things are changing,
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how to sort through the data for insights,
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how to use those insights to make the right changes,
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and how we do all of this while also fully protecting user privacy.
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MARIE: How are you thinking of your priorities,
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and how did you and your team build the right tools to enable marketers right now?
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VIDHYA: So overall, Marie, I would say our priorities have not really changed.
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We have three main priorities:
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number one, really, is to help marketers understand
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the impact of their marketing spend—that remains.
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The second one is, how do we help marketers understand their user sentiment?
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Number three is to help marketers to really understand
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how their users are interacting with their ads,
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as well as with the digital world, be it on the website or mobile apps.
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MARIE: So, Vidhya, you know, I’m a former client,
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and I remember it was always quite difficult to find the right balance between
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precise, accurate measurement, and at the same time getting the job done.
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So for you, is there a compromise, what's the compromise, and how do you solve this?
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VIDHYA: So I’m a big believer in actionable metrics.
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So when you talk about accuracy, I think it’s really all about the marketer’s context and use case.
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Now, simple fast reads on a situation can miss the nuance.
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At the same time, over analysis or the pursuit of unattainable precision
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can also really hold teams back from taking action.
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So the ideal balance really has to do with getting the precision needed for actionability.
