Expert Strategies from Happy Marketers – Darcy Cooke, Measurement Analyst

An interview with Darcy Cooke – Measurement Analyst

If you’re as nosy as we are about people and what makes them tick, this content series is for you. Members of our award-winning team give us a little peep behind the curtain of their working practices – what kind of snacks power their performance marketing prowess? What systems do they have in place to collaborate smoothly with clients and get marketing shizzle done brilliantly?

In this instalment, the brilliant Darcy has kindly offered up her tips for working life.

Before we start, mind telling us what your job is all about?

I have the pleasure of working with lots of lovely clients, from charities like Help For Heroes to renowned airlines like Icelandair, each with unique challenges and rewarding collaborations.

I like to believe that my role is essentially the data detectives of the advertising world, using analytical skills to uncover insights that drive better results.

My daily work involves leveraging Google’s powerful suite of tools, including Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics, to implement website tracking, troubleshoot data discrepancies, and build customised reports that provide valuable insights into website and campaign performance.

A client presents you with a challenge: what are three key things you’ll do to set about tackling it?

1. Ask lots of questions. I need to know everything to properly understand and tackle the issue.
2. Troubleshoot / Investigate: To prevent unintended consequences while troubleshooting, I always create a backup of any setup before investigating and implementing changes.
3. Utilise my team: I have a team of great minds, sharing a problem, insight or update is key as it may help tackle the issue quicker.

When we experiment, things don’t always go as planned! Ever tried something that went wonky? What did it teach you?

I was creating some custom tracking to capture specific actions on a client’s website, such as clicks on different elements and form submits, using custom event parameters in GA4. We configured the GA4 event tag in GTM, carefully mapping the relevant parameters to capture the data we needed. After testing the new tracking in the GTM preview mode, and everything seemed to be working perfectly and I published.

However, when checking the client’s GA4 reports a few days later, we were scratching our heads, as we saw the parameter data was missing! We could see the events firing, but the valuable details about user interactions were nowhere to be found. After re-examining our GTM setup, we finally discovered a subtle mismatch in the parameter names between GTM and GA4.

This highlighted to us that we had used different naming conventions in the two platforms, causing the data to be lost in translation. – not ideal when you want to report on website analytics! It taught me to cross-check naming conventions when doing tasks like this.

What’s the achievement you’re most proud of at work and what helped you achieve it?

My strong client relationships are something I am most proud of. This allows me to truly understand their needs as we can have exciting discussions around data strategies, manage expectations, and explain complex data and strategies in a clear and concise way. And, as a result, I’ve been able to secure major projects, ensure successful delivery, and even helped clients benefit from investing in an ongoing data retainer which is so important as they receive priority support, ensuring their issues are addressed quickly and efficiently.

What are your go to sources of digital marketing information – think podcasts, influencers, emails etc

There is a fabulous Blogger, and YouTuber called Julius Fedorovicius, who founded Analytics Mania. Julius seems to have the answer to any complex data problems, he shares vital knowledge, experiments, and learnings related to web analytics, mainly Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics.

Anything that helps you at work that other people might not expect? Do you listen to prog rock, burn a Christmas candle, chew on a toothpick?!?

When facing a particularly challenging day or a mounting workload, I find that a refreshing beverage like a Diet Coke can provide a helpful boost to help me regain focus and tackle my tasks with renewed energy. I don’t recommend one every day, but a Diet Coke is my secret weapon for conquering those tough days.

Last but definitely not least… what’s your ideal snack lineup to power the working day?

Truly, an almond croissant reigns supreme as the ideal snack, no matter the time of day—breakfast, brunch, a midday pick-me-up, or to go alongside my afternoon cuppa tea. It’s simply unparalleled.

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