Best of the web – August 2012

1. How much would you pay for personal Twitter analytics?

Twittertakemymoney.com is encouraging Tweeters to say how much they’d pay to be able to crunch their own Twitter data.

2. 33 stats on the future of marketing

HubSpot’s Anum Hussain gathers a whole bunch of figures on what marketers are yearning for.

3. The state of customer analytics 2012

Forrester’s latest ‘state of the nation’ survey finds easy-to-track marketing metrics proliferate at the expense of deeper engagement measures.

4. Do web analytics infographics help decision making?

Econsultancy finds “no discernible difference” in the ability of digital marketing professionals to make a decision using data in tabular form or as an infographic.

5. How to make good use of big data

Thom Craver over at Search Engine Watch offers tips for marketers dissatisfied by the usefulness of their web analytics information.

6. Big analytics: the reason big data matters

Big data without analytics is like a flashlight without batteries, says IBM’s Tim Powers. “Big analytics powers the business and shines the light on where to go next.”

7. Recruiter unpacks employment trend portent

Marc Dresner interviews recruiter Karen Morgan to discuss the “dramatic fits and starts” seen recently in the research job market.

8. Information is free. Insight is expensive. Action is priceless

Jason Anderson offers his thoughts on how market research can position itself in the age of technological disintermediation.

9. The influence of Amazon on consumers’ buying journey

Amazon is affecting everyone – both retailers and consumers, says Forrester’s Reineke Reitsma. For many shoppers it is the first stop on the path to purchase.

10. Can MR clients recognise quality when they see it?

Edward Appleton challenges the notion that “clients will buy cheap data over good data every time”.

_{Best of the Web is a roundup of the most-shared links on Twitter, based on analysis of tweets generated by MR and related communities. Analysis by Dollywagon. Data was collected in the four weeks to 31 August.}