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Analytics
Google Analytics

Automating analytics creates more time for Globus family of brands to work on what really matters

About the client

Globus (Group Voyagers Inc, a group of travel companies otherwise known as Globus family of brands) is the largest tour operator in the world. Specialising in river cruises, and escorted and independent holidays; they provide services to almost 500,000 passengers each year. Offering more than 500 different itineraries, across 30 businesses, Globus has been a leader in travel for over 90 years.

Despite their long history and success in the market, Globus was still using processes that were slowing them down. Data extraction and reporting were manually processed, taking almost a day per week of a marketing resource’s time to deliver, and it still wasn’t providing the insights or visibility the team needed to be their best.

Industry

Travel

Location

International

Website

globus.com.au

Challenge

Create a more efficient cross-channel reporting process to save the Globus team time and money, while freeing up headspace

Create automated reporting that is easy to understand

The Globus team had been using a complex – difficult to populate and understand – spreadsheet to track all of their marketing activity. This was a time-consuming task that took resources away from other important work and didn’t provide a clear picture of where the businesses were at – no charting or comparisons were being created which impeded decision-making.

Reporting was difficult to replicate across brands (Globus has 4 key brands), which needed to be updated frequently throughout the month, and human error was prone to occur due to the amount of time people spent on the task. Globus desperately needed some automated processes to ensure their reporting was simple, easy to understand, and free from errors.

Save money while doing so

In addition to process improvements that would lead to better reporting that could provide insights to help drive business decisions, Globus also needed to reduce the cost of creating reporting each month. Removing the need for multiple team members to dive into Facebook Ads reports and Google Analytics would free up resource hours which could then be used on revenue-generating activity.

Solution

A multi-channel dashboard with well-visualised analytics for Globus family of brands leads to improved reporting

Our process was simple, yet effective:

Scope client requirements and review previous documentation
Determine the right tech stack (the tools and systems used to build the solution)
Design the minimum viable product (MVP)
Present the solution internally for validation and improvements
Present the solution to the client for approval
Build out the solution and educate the client on how to get the most from it

After consulting with the Globus team, it was clear that a multi-channel dashboard, focusing on the 4 brands, Globus, Cosmos, Avalon, and Monograms should be created to provide the automation and insights that were so desperately needed.

Using Google Data Studio we developed dashboards that provided information in a clean, easy-to-understand format. We also set up live connectors that ensured up-to-date reporting was only a click away for the marketing teams.

The addition of time series and scorecard visualisations meant the client was now able to compare the results across all channels and capture seasonal trends and historical performance from the two years prior.

Our solution covered:

A fully automated data extraction process that replaced manual extraction and mitigated data quality risks
Improved data visualisation that allowed more efficient comparisons between channels
Scheduled automatic forwarding of the dashboard in PDF format via email
Low tech stack cost
No data storage costs

Scalability is crucial for businesses that need to replicate success standards across a group of brands. When reporting is automated, teams can focus their minds on analysis and strategy rather than on mundane tasks such as data extraction.

Results

Automation of analytics leads to time savings, cost reductions, increased visibility for the marketing team, and improved mental load

Tangible savings on time, money, and mental load

The creation of automated data extraction and reporting saves Globus $72,0000 per year in resourcing costs. That’s 32 hours per month (almost a full week) or 386 hours each year that can now be redirected to other tasks.

Not only did we create significant time and cost savings, we were also able to give back something that you cannot put a price on – headspace. Reducing the mental burden on Globus’ marketing teams has allowed them to focus more on strategy, execution of marketing planning, and using the automated reporting and insights to inform decision-making into the future.

This solution has demonstrated huge potential in supporting decision-making and allowing the Globus team to adjust their strategy and plans with more confidence.

Increased visibility for the marketing team

Another benefit of this project was the increased visibility of the marketing team within Globus family of brands, specifically their efforts with digital marketing. The new tool highlights results in an easy to consume way, favours information sharing in other parts of the business, and has increased satisfaction overall from our client.

$72,000

saved per year

32hrs

of resourcing saved each month

One

single source of truth created

As a global agency that specialises in analytics and making the most out of digital marketing activities, we understand the importance of robust reporting. We also believe that if something can be automated, it often should be. Resourcing is finite and often better utilised by analysing data, rather than manually extracting it and then entering it into spreadsheets that often go unread by anyone outside of the marketing team.

Creating visibility within a business often allows marketing to take a seat at the table when it comes to senior management and business decisions, can influence budget increases and new project approval, and helps make judgments that move businesses in the right direction.