Before any insights can be gained from behavioural data, it must first be gathered – but what exactly is it that should be collected? Traditional approaches to web analytics involve manually tagging different elements that the user is expected to interact with, but this approach can’t always give a complete picture. Not only can it become complex to maintain, as sites and apps change over time, but it limits what can be learned from the data. 

Data collected in this way will only inform based on the assumptions made on what would be important to track, limiting insights beyond our own current expectations. In reality, it may be the case that the most insightful actions users take on a site had not been thought of ahead of time. It is key that data collection solutions cover all user interactions, with a privacy-first approach, so that decisions can be made based on the full scope of user behaviour.

Another challenge, especially for large organisations, is that often not only is a large amount of data being collected, but it is being collected in different places, by different teams, using different systems. So, when you want to use data to answer a question, it might not be clear where the data you want sits, who has responsibility for it, or even if the data you need exists. 

In order to avoid this, firms will need to centralise the data they already have, as well as establish processes – both cultural and technological – to ensure that as new data collection methods are added they are integrated into existing systems.