From Spreadsheets to strategic insights: How ChatterBlast Media cut reporting time by 70% and saw a 5x ROI using Supermetrics.

ChatterBlast Media is a digital agency founded in 2009. They combine social media, advertising, and video services with deep analytics and their team works heavily with data to deliver impactful results to all their clients.

In 2018, Joe Mineo joined ChatterBlast Media as Associate Director of Ads and Analytics. Back then he inherited a reporting process that relied on manual data extraction from various platforms. This time-consuming and error-prone approach limited ChatterBlast Media's ability to scale and deliver insightful reports and recommendations to clients.

The Challenge - Drowning in data

Like many other agencies at the time, data management at ChatterBlast Media prior to Supermetrics relied heavily on manual work and lacked the scalability needed for a growing data-driven agency.

“We didn't have standardized processes,” says Joe. "Comments in spreadsheets were a nightmare. I needed a way to talk to my account managers and create scalable reporting as our business grew. I was stuck in the weeds, frustrated, pulling data from everywhere. There had to be a better way. How do I get data from point A to point B without constant exports?" he adds.

Supermetrics to the rescue

Recognizing the need for a more efficient system, Joe discovered Supermetrics to facilitate automated data extraction and transformation.

Interactive dashboards, empowered teams and clients

Supermetrics seamlessly connected to all the marketing platforms they used, eliminating the need for manual data manipulation. By integrating Supermetrics with Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio), ChatterBlast Media transformed their reporting capabilities. They could now create Interactive dashboards instead of static reports, empowering their clients to explore their data independently, leading to more informed decision-making.

Joe adds, “I went from spending a week on reports to focusing on scalable templating. Pre-built dashboards for recurring reports seemed efficient initially. But as the business boomed, API limitations became apparent. That's what led me to explore BigQuery – a solution for handling the vast amount of data we now generate.”

BigQuery: Scaling up for deeper insights

As their data needs grew, Joe realized ChatterBlast Media would need a marketing data infrastructure that went beyond Looker Studio's dashboarding capabilities. To handle larger datasets and perform more complex analyses, ChatterBlast Media transitioned to BigQuery, a cloud data warehouse from Google, with data flows being handled by Supermetrics.

With Supermetrics, ChatterBlast Media can effortlessly transfer data from multiple platforms into BigQuery enabling:

• Advanced analytics: Performing complex analyses and uncovering deeper insights from historical data and comparing it with the current data.
• Custom data models: Creating custom data models for each client, further enhancing reporting accuracy and efficiency.

“Our client’s have all the ownership of their data. We house it but if they ever want it we can export it and send it over to them and we can delete it on our side. So being able to provide that as a service and allow them to not be vendor locked is huge for them and again builds that trust helps them stay with us.” Joe explains.

Daily, weekly, monthly: Data-driven decisions

Supermetrics and BigQuery powered dashboard have enabled ChatterBlast Media to establish a data-driven workflow on daily, weekly and monthly levels.

• Daily: Monitoring campaign spend, results, and identifying potential issues to keep budget on track.
• Weekly: Analyzing keyword and creative performance, optimizing A/B tests, and ensuring campaigns meet benchmarks.
• Monthly: Analyzing website sessions and click-through rates to set client expectations and identify areas for improvement.

The Impact: Efficiency, insights, and client retention

Having centralized marketing data has significantly impacted ChatterBlast Media's operations and business, including:

• Increased efficiency: Reporting time was reduced by almost 70%. This freed up Joe’s time to focus on strategic analysis, client consultations, and providing deeper insights. This translates to more than a 5X return of investment using Supermetrics, a substantial financial return on investment.
• Empowering account managers: Having centralized data empowered account managers to access data and reports independently, reducing their reliance on Joe, answering client queries quickly, and identifying and addressing potential campaign issues faster, leading to better performance.
• Deeper client insights: Access to historical data allowed ChatterBlast Media to identify trends and optimize campaigns for better performance. A/B testing of creatives became a more efficient process, leading to data-driven decisions that resonated with target audiences.
• Improved internal communication: Streamlined data access fostered better communication and collaboration across teams.

Business Impacts:

• Stronger client relationships: Transparency in data ownership and access has built trust, fueling retention. Clients feel empowered and see the value ChatterBlast Media brings beyond campaign management.
• Strategic advantage: ChatterBlast Media's data-driven approach is their leading competitive edge for client acquisition. Clients value their ability to access historical data and collaborate on campaign optimization using in-depth insights. This fosters a true partnership where ChatterBlast Media acts as an in-house extension of the client's team, optimizing campaigns, and building brand strategy together.
• Expanding client offerings: The 70% reduction in reporting time has freed up at least 2 additional headcounts. This allows ChatterBlast Media to focus on unlocking other client offerings and expanding their services beyond reporting. With their team less bogged down by reports, they can delve deeper into strategic initiatives.

ChatterBlast Media's data transformation journey demonstrates the power of data automation and cloud-based analytics. They're now able to deliver faster reports, deeper insights, and a more personalized experience for their clients. This has led to increased efficiency, higher client retention, and a strategic advantage in the competitive marketing landscape for client acquisition.

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If you want to listen to how ChatterBlast leverage data to navigate the evolving marketing landscape, with a focus on building brand awareness and fostering client trust. Check out our full conversation with Joe Mineo in the Marketing Intelligence Show.