Web Analytics and Social Media Monitoring in Industrial Marketing: Tools for Improving Marketing Communication Measurement

Abstract

This study investigates how the online environment allows industrial companies to overcome traditional marketing communication measurement challenges. Specifically, it examines the perceived benefits of web analytics (WA) and social media monitoring (SMM) with regard to solving the measurement difficulties in three global industrial companies. In order to illustrate the challenging operational environment encountered by industrial businesses, we compare the results with experiences from within the financial services industry. As a result of this explorative case study, we discover that WA and SMM have enabled industrial companies to improve their marketing communication measurement ability, although some problems remain unsolved.