The Wise Men of Panoply

At Panoply we have the Three Wise Men - Yotam Kramer, CMO, Yoav Ron, CFO, and Yoni Levy, Software Architect (Y’s, wise, get it??). Since we just wrapped up the holidata, we had an epiphany: let’s collect Y’s Men Wisdom on how Panoply helps them in their roles. They offered a feast of insights. 

Yotam Kramer, CMO:

Q: How does Panoply help you, as a marketing leader, determine the company’s ROI and campaign attribution for 2023?

A: Panoply was a game changer for these two metrics in 2023, and I truly believe we wouldn’t have nearly the clarity on attribution or ROI without it. Panoply especially helped with things like: 

• A single source of truth for all data: Before Panoply, our data was scattered everywhere, coming in from disparate sources. Panoply consolidated everything into one central hub, which is a lifesaver. Now, I can quickly see how each campaign contributes to our bottom line.
• User-friendliness: I’m not a tech wizard, so luckily I don’t need to be with Panoply. It’s pretty much plug-and-play, and I can get the data I need without bugging our IT folks. It's all about dragging, dropping, and getting the insights.
• Automation & time savings: Panoply automates the manual (read: boring) stuff. Data collection and reporting happen like clockwork, which means more time for my team to focus on what matters - making sense of the data and tweaking our strategies.
• BI tool integration: We use a couple of different BI tools, and Panoply integrates with them seamlessly in just a few clicks. It’s like having a universal remote for all our data tools. This makes tracking campaign performance and customer engagement a breeze.
• Real-time data for real-time decisions: Timing is critical in the marketing world. With Panoply I can get real-time, accurate data, which helps us make decisions on the fly. If a campaign is underperforming, we see it instantly and can pivot before it’s too late.
  
• Insights galore: The amount of insights we've been able to pull is insane. We're understanding our market and customers better than ever. Panoply is our x-ray vision lens into what our audience wants and how they respond to our campaigns.
• Support that’s actually supportive: Whenever I’ve hit a snag or just needed some advice, Panoply’s support team has been there immediately. It’s not just about having a tool; it’s about having a team behind it that really knows their stuff.

Q: How can you use Panoply to decide resource allocation in 2024?

A: First off, we're going to consolidate and sync all our marketing data into Panoply – social media stats, website analytics, email campaign results, the works. It's quick and easy, and the best part is that we don't need an army of data scientists (or any data scientists) to use the platform and get insights. Panoply's all-in-one solution is perfect for us because it's designed for teams who need that single source of truth but don't want to get bogged down in technicalities.

The fun starts once we have all our data in the Panoply data warehouse - we’ll use its built-in visualizations to slice and dice the data. We'll see exactly which campaigns are bringing in revenue and which ones are just eating up our budget. This kind of clarity is a treasure trove in marketing.

The automated reporting and data collection mean we spend less time crunching numbers and more time brainstorming killer marketing strategies. We can even schedule data collection from any/all of our sources to keep our reports up-to-date without any manual work.

In 2024 we're going to use Panoply to pinpoint our most effective marketing channels, then allocate more spend and resources to those areas. Whether it’s social ads, emailers, or something else, we’ll know for sure and we'll back it up with solid data. The insights are in real-time, so we can change strategies quickly to adapt to trends and which activities are performing well. This helps us fine-tune our targeting and stay ahead of the curve

Q: Can you talk just a bit about what might be different/more difficult in your role without a single source of truth for marketing data?

A: Without Panoply, the first big headache would be data silos. We'd have bits and pieces of our marketing data everywhere, from different sources like social, web analytics, emails, etc. We'd spend so much time just trying to consolidate and organize this data, and even then we wouldn’t really have the comprehensive picture.

Then there's the accuracy and timeliness of the data. Without an end-to-end platform, we'd be relying on manual processes. This takes up valuable time and makes data errors far more likely. Manually pulling data from disparate sources and trying to extract insights while juggling other marketing tasks is a recipe for inaccuracies. 

We’ve touched on it before, but I want to reiterate the value of real-time insights. Without Panoply, we’d be making decisions based on outdated information. That’s just not viable with how fast things move in today’s world.

Another biggie is the difficulty democratizing data across our team. Without a centralized hub for our data, we’re essentially gatekeeping insights. Only a few people might have the skills to decipher complex data sets, which means decision-making becomes a bottleneck, slowing down our whole operation.

I mentioned this one in another question too, but resource allocation is huge. Without a single source of truth for all marketing data, could be pouring money into campaigns that look good on paper but don't actually deliver results. Or worse, we could be missing out on golden opportunities because we simply don't have the data to spot them.

In short, without Panoply our decisions would be based more on guesswork than on solid, actionable insights, and we'd be slower, less efficient, and probably a bit grumpier.

Yoav Ron, CFO:

Q: How do you use Panoply to analyze, adjust, and plan the company budget?

A: As a CFO, I can use Panoply to integrate financial data from various sources into a centralized platform. This integration allows for real-time analysis of expenses and revenues, helping to identify areas for cost reduction and efficient resource allocation. By leveraging Panoply's analytics tools like the workbench and built-in visualizations, you can adjust and plan the company's budget based on data-driven insights, ensuring more accurate and strategic financial management.

Q: Does having a centralized hub for the data you use in your role helps with 2024 forecasting? How?

A: Having an all-in-one, centralized data platform like Panoply helps us consolidate all financial data in one place, providing a comprehensive view of the company's financial health. This unified data access facilitates more precise forecasting by allowing me to analyze trends, predict future expenses and revenues, and then plan accordingly. It’s critical for making informed decisions that are crucial for long-term financial planning.

Q: Can you talk a little about the time savings of a managed solution vs. manual financial reporting?

Panoply allows us to automate the data integration/collection and processing, minimizing the need for manual data entry and manipulation. Similarly to how it helps the marketing team, this automation reduces the likelihood of errors and saves hours that would otherwise be spent on manual tasks. With this increase in efficiency, we see more accurate financial reporting, faster decision-making, and more time for strategic planning. 

Yoni Levy, Software Architect:

Q: In terms of ease of use, how does Panoply differ from other solutions you’ve worked on?

A: For me it’s the accessibility of the platform. Panoply always aims for true ease of use and that shows with more than just having a snappy UI. A great deal of effort goes into improving real user flows and making sure that "technical noise" is out of the way.

I know for a fact that managing all of the bits and pieces required to operate a data platform is far from simple but in Panoply unnecessary complexity does not spill over to user-land and that makes it easy for me (as a user) to focus on my actual work. Our engineering teams spin up new Panoply accounts for internal analytics needs in no time whenever they want.

Q: What’s your favorite part of working on the Panoply product?

A: It's a combination of the technological side and working on a product that makes a positive difference for its customers. Panoply empowers its users to work more efficiently without being bogged down by technical complexities, but the complexities are still there behind the scenes which means our engineering teams deal with interesting technical challenges. I get to work with smart and talented people who genuinely care about their work and users.

A huge thank you to our Wise Y’s Men of Panoply for taking the time to give their different perspectives on the platform! 

If you’d like to see even more wisdom, book a personalized demo with one of our experts and see what an all-in-platform can do for the future of your data.