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- 1. 3 Web Measurement Problems Solved! How Critical Mass Marketing Science is leveraging innovative thinking, modeling and technology to overcome web measurement’s biggest challenges. © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
- 2. We are Critical Mass Amsterdam Calgary Chicago Toronto London New York Costa Rica Nashville 16 Years 650 Employees 8 Offices © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 2
- 3. We are Critical Mass Amsterdam Calgary Chicago Toronto London New York Costa Rica Nashville 16 Years 25+ Dedicated MS Specialists 650 Employees 150+ Years combined 8 Offices measurement expertise © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 3
- 4. What is Marketing Science? A brief overview... © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 5
- 5. Definition Marketing Science is the application of measurement methods to ascertain, within a quantifiable degree of accuracy, the effectiveness of a marketing initiative. Or put simply… it’s proof! © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 6
- 6. Use data To • Measure performance • Deliver customized content • Find opportunities for • Improve the customer optimization experience • Improve marketing • Reduce costs campaigns • Improve sales © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 7
- 7. Problem: Unreliable data © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
- 8. Unreliable Data What causes web analytics data to be unreliable? • Flawed set up · Developers didn’t understand the tagging · Tracking of flash or AJAX not included · Applications or cross domain tracking not tagged · Specific metrics aren’t being captured • Code “broke” · Page or section released without code · Code rollback broke tagging · Wrong file released to production © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 10
- 9. Quick Poll How often in the last year has your site suffered incorrect or broken web analytics coding? © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11
- 10. Unreliable Data - Solutions Flawed set up New Technology: Tag Management Systems / Universal Tag WEBSITES IT / AGENCY / DEVELOPERS Web Voice of Pay Per Ad Testing Targeting Affiliate Analytics Consumer Click Servers Solutions Tools (PPC) Tools Tracking Vendors (VOC) © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12
- 11. Unreliable Data - Solutions Flawed set up New Technology: Tag Management Systems / Universal Tag WEBSITES Tag Management System Marketing Science Web Voice of Ad Testing Targeting Pay Per Affiliate Analytics Consumer Click Servers Solutions Tools Tracking Vendors (VOC) (PPC) Tools © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 13
- 12. Why Tag Management? 1. Single line of code 2. Any vendor tag can be added 3. Analytics resources make updates 4. Works with HTML, AJAX Flash, Flex, Air 5. Remove/pause/replace tags at any time Tagging changes and updates go © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 14
- 13. Tag Management Systems – How it works Browser Tag Rules Data Tag Management System Third Party Web Analytics Or other system Page Request Client Web Infrastructure © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 15
- 14. Unreliable Data - Solutions Web analytics code was installed but then “broke” New Technology: Analytics Audit and Monitoring Tools © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 16
- 15. Why Analytics Audit and Monitoring Tools? 1. Manual verification too time intensive 2. Provides an overall view specific attributes 3. Automated tag discovery - every page checked 4. Scheduled reports, alerts and audits 5. No calls to web analytics systems 6. Works on Flash and secure sites © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 17
- 16. Audit and Monitoring – How it works © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 18
- 17. Problem: Complex reporting needs © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
- 18. Complex Reporting Needs • Multiple reports with rapid delivery requirements · Deliver dozens of dashboards in hours, not weeks · Different stakeholders, different data , different times • Dashboards and data are not easily accessible · Stakeholders lack system training · Emails with dashboards get deleted or misfiled · Executives on-the-go have no immediate access to data © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 20
- 19. Quick Poll How complex is your data reporting structure? © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 21
- 20. Complex Reporting - Solutions Multiple reports with rapid delivery requirements Innovative delivery: Web-based reporting and data warehousing © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 22
- 21. Why web-based reporting and data warehousing? 1. Merges data from web analytics and other sources 2. Doesn’t require a BI department 3. Systems connect directly via APIs 4. Automatically generates highly customized reports 5. Stakeholders can access from anywhere at any time © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 23
- 22. Web-based reporting – How it works Customized Portal ETL Display Normalization De-duplication Rich Media Search Email Affiliate Media © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved Online and Offline 24
- 23. Complex Reporting - Solutions Dashboards and data are not easily accessible Innovative delivery: Mobile dashboard applications © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 25
- 24. Why mobile dashboard delivery? 1. Data in a mobile format = increased engagement 2. Connects to a variety of data sources 3. View, analyze and interact with data visualizations 4. Secure, hosted and scalable 5. Available from data warehousing and web analytics vendors © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 26
- 25. Mobile Dashboards – How it works Data to data warehouse to phone © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 27
- 26. Problem: All reports, no action! © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
- 27. Organization Culture and Measurement Spectrum High Cost High Consideration Culture of Accountability Low Cost High Consideration Culture of Research Low Cost Low Consideration Culture of Advertising © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 29
- 28. All data, data, no action! - Solutions All no action! • No clear objectives, roadmaps, or KPIs · What is the website is supposed to “do” · Website decisions made by gut feel or HiPPO • No or inadequate analytics resources · Tech manages web analytics installation · A BI department took on web analytics · No one watching the data © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 30
- 29. Quick Poll What’s your company culture now? © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 31
- 30. All data, no action! - Solutions Getting from data to action Holistic analytics approach Web analytics maturity modelling and roadmap The Critical Mass Marketing Science site and project process model Analytics collaboration and integration © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 32
- 31. Holistic Analytics Approach • Inform and strategize Project • Implement and measure • Optimize Online • Ongoing measurement and optimization program Ecosystem • Evaluate the business web analytics maturity level in several key areas Enterprise • Define a high level roadmap to a more data-driven eBusiness culture © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 33
- 32. Enterprise Web Analytics Maturity Model Example 6 Analytically Addicted 5 Competitor Management, Adoption 4 Integrated Current State 6 3 Operational Target State 2 Initiated 5 1 Analytically Unengaged 4 Ideal State Tools, Technology & Data 3 Objectives Integration 2 1 0 Continuous Improvement Scope Process & Methodology Team and Expertise * Stéphane Hamel - http://immeria.net/oamm See Appendix © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 34
- 33. Site and Project Marketing Science Process 2. Pre-Analysis 3. Set Targets / 1. Confirm Goals Project / Opportunity Objectives 5. Record 4. Launch and Measure Implementation Training, Learnings, Test, Optimize, Education Socialize Reporting & Analysis System Data Collection Design System, Tagging Software Goals, KPIs, Strategy Optimization © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 35
- 34. Resources and Analytics Collaboration We never work in isolation. Executive Analytics Marketing Tech © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 36
- 35. Thank you. Future Topics? Dan Linton Marketing Science Director e danl@criticalmass.com p 416.673.5308 criticalmass.com © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved
- 36. Appendix © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 38
- 37. Links and Resources Ensighten Tag Management System http://www.ensighten.com ObservePoint Audit and Monitoring http://www.observepoint.com SiteCatalyst for iPhone http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sitecatalyst/id289760802?mt=8 © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 39
- 38. Full-Service Digital Capabilities Insight & Planning Experience Design Strategic roadmaps and frameworks Brand experience audits Brand planning Brand definition Research and usability User experience and interaction design Persona and scenario modeling & design Design, copy and content services Information Architecture Content development and classification Consumer insight development Rich media production Experience Distribution Technology Services Social strategy and governance Technology architectures Video syndication and aggregation Applications, web and mobile development Community development and social activation eCRM database and profile development Display and behavioral planning eCommerce personalization and web services Search engine marketing and optimization Content and digital asset management Mobile and location-based services Rich Internet application development eMail and digital campaign management Program Management Marketing Science Project and program management Business analysis and ROI modeling Staff planning and resource management Digital program KPI development Stakeholder relationship management Multi-channel analytics Budget and requirements facilitation Program analysis and optimization planning © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 40
- 39. The WAMM THE WEB ANALYTICS MATURITY MODEL A strategic approach based on business maturity and critical success factors - Stéphane Hamel - http://immeria.net/oamm 1. Impaired: Characterized by the use of out of the box tools & reports, limited resources lacking formal training (hands on skills) and education (knowledge). Web Analytics is used on an ad-hoc basis and is of limited value and scope. Some tactical objectives are defined but results are not well communicated and there are multiple versions of the truth. 2. Initiated: Working with metrics to optimize specific areas of the business (such as marketing or the ecommerce catalogue). Resources are still limited but the process is getting streamlined. Results are communicated to various business stakeholders (often director level). However, web analytic might be supporting obsolete business processes and thus, be limited in its ability to push for optimization beyond the online channel. Success is mostly anecdotal. 3. Operational: Key Performance Indicators and dashboards are defined and aligned with strategic business objectives. A multidisciplinary team is in place and use various sources of information such as competitive data, voice of customer and social media or mobile analysis. Metrics are exploited and explored through segmentation and multivariate testing. The Internet channel is being optimized; personas are being defined. Results start to appear and be considered at the executive level. Results are centrally driven, but broadly distributed. 4. Integrated: Analysts can now correlate online and offline data from various sources to provide a near 360° view of the whole, value chain (see “Limits of web analytics” note). Optimization encompasses complete processes, including back-end and front-end. Online activities are defined from the user perspective and persuasion scenarios are defined. A continuous improvement process and problem solving methodologies are prevalent. Insight and recommendations reach the CXO level. 5. Competitor: This level is characterised by several attributes of companies with a strong analytical culture (Davenport and Harris 2007): a) One or more senior executives strongly advocate fact based decision making and analytics b) Widespread use of not just descriptive statistics, but predictive modeling and complex optimization techniques c) Substantial use of analytics across multiple business functions or processe d) Movement toward an enterprise level approach to managing analytical tools, data, and organizational skills and capabilities. 6. Addicted: This level matches Davenport’s “Analytical Competitor” characteristics: deep strategic insight, continuous improvement, integrated, skilled resources, top management commitment, fact-based culture, continuous testing & learning and most important: far beyond the boundaries of the online channel. © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 41
- 40. Infiniti Global Challenge Solution Results & Insight As the global presence of Infiniti grew, a strong Critical Mass initiated and developed a One of the key challenges faced was need for consistent and actionable reporting unique, automated reporting dashboard with a delivering dozens of reports in a timely fashion. became obvious. In addition to the challenge of 3rd party data warehouse supplier. This This one-of-a-kind reporting interface has delivering a variety of customized reports to reporting solution integrated with a challenging allowed the CM Marketing Science team to many individual country regions as well as the variety of Omniture SiteCatalyst report focus on analysis and actionable central brand showcase in a timely manner, the suites, each requiring regional customization. recommendations. By freeing up this extra Global team also faced language and cultural This automated solution reduced the “reporting” time, CM has developed a deeper differences that required a unique analysis hours required for the multitude of country sites understanding not only of the metrics, but also approach. and allowed the CM team to focus on analysis of various regional language and cultural and recommendations. It also allows each differences. The result is more actionable country to access their reports at any time via recommendations and more detailed analysis. © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved the simplified data warehouse interface. 42
- 41. P&G Challenge Solution Results & Insight P&G’s channel agencies reported results to the We self-initiated and led the collaboration with One of several key findings we found through client individually, yet none had a six other agencies (Carat, Arc, iProspect, the monthly process, was the need for deeper comprehensive view of their initiatives (that Merkle, Atos, CRMMetrix) to bring together analysis related to acquisition and engagement. drove to the website), or understood how they data from banner (Doubleclick), paid search Subsequently, we found some high volume were part of the digital ecosystem overall. (DART), organic search (Google), survey acquisition campaigns didn’t necessarily result Critical Mass responded to this situation by (CRMMetrix), email (Epsilon) and consumer in long-term relationships with consumers. The recommending, creating and implementing a database data (Merkle). Together the group strategy needed to be refined first for quality measurement program focusing heavily on analyzed performance results and collectively over quantity. Marketing Mix Analysis where, on a monthly presented to the client on a monthly basis with basis, engagement and acquisition via paid and recommendations for improvement. unpaid traffic sources by origination were analyzed and optimized. © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 43
- 42. Visit Las Vegas Mobile Site Solution Results & Insight As part of mobile project for Visit Las Critical Mass Marketing Science developed the Critical Mass Marketing Science can now Vegas, Critical Mass Marketing Science was measurement strategy and created the provide the client with not only how many people tasked with designing and implementing the necessary tagging. visited the site, but can also provide: Omniture analytics tagging. Working with developers, and utilizing -How many visits generated phone calls A complexity revolved around the fact that leads Omniture’s HTTP based tracking API and - Which properties were called most frequently were measured in referrals to other sites, in DeviceAnywhere for testing and QA, a full - How many times property details were emailed addition to all the regular metrics that the client analytics package was deployed on the site that - And of course, how many referral leads were wished to capture. was capable of tracking lead referrals to dozens generated to the extensive list of of other sites. accommodation providers In addition, the mobile site had to provide both segmented (mobile only) data, as well as roll-up into the overall Vegas reporting. © 2011 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved 44
Notas do Editor
- A quick introduction to Critical Mass, we are a full service digital marketing agency with over 650 employees spread across 8 offices and 3 continents.
- First a quick introduction of my department, the Critical Mass Marketing Science practice community spans 4 offices with over 25 specialists and a combined measurement expertise of well over 150 plus years in many diverse areas of measurement including web analytics, data warehousing, multi-channel measurement, neuro-marketing analysis and data mining.First though, I’d like to offer a quick definition to those who may be unfamiliar with the term Marketing Science
- First though, I’d like to offer a quick definition to those who may be unfamiliar with the term Marketing Science
- Let me explain in a slightly different way. Marketing Science analysts use data from many different sources. These data sources do include web analytics data from systems like Google Analytics, Omniture.. webtrends... Even Testing and marketing systems like the adobe online marketing suite...But they can also include...CRM systems like Salesforce, databases and data warehouses... Even Point of Sale systems...Then we take all that data.... And analyze it... In order to...Measure the performance of websites,microsites, advertising and more...Find opportunities to optimize...Improve marketing campaigns...Delivery highly customized content which increases conversion...Improve the customer...experience and flow...Reduce costs and...Improve salesAnyone who’s been involved in a measurement program knows that the combination of technology, data and people can be very complex and challenging to do right. We here at Critical Mass Marketing Science deal with a variety of clients across many different industries. Clients like Nissan, HP, and addidas are all very different and all with complex measurement needs. As varied as they are, our clients do experience some consistent problems, and we’ve helped many of our clients overcome themToday we’ll cover the three biggest challenges, unreliable data, complex reporting needs, and the lack of action from analytics reports
- Measure the performance of websites,microsites, advertising and more...Find opportunities to optimize...Improve marketing campaigns...Delivery highly customized content which increases conversion...Improve the customer...experience and flow...Reduce costs and...Improve salesAnyone who’s been involved in a measurement program knows that the combination of technology, data and people can be very complex and challenging to do right. We here at Critical Mass Marketing Science deal with a variety of clients across many different industries. Clients like Nissan, HP, and addidas are all very different and all with complex measurement needs. As varied as they are, our clients do experience some consistent problems, and we’ve helped many of our clients overcome them.
- So what causes web analytics data to be unreliable? There are couple of common reasons, but they both relate to how the coding is done.Most commonly we see analytics code.. often this is commonly called tagging... that is incomplete or wasn’t customized correctly. This can happen for several reasons.In many cases, web developers don’t understand the complexities of tagging and may not customize the tags properly.We also commonly see tracking of flash and AJAX actions being missed, usually because the code gets placed in the main page, but no one takes into account the multi-page form that sits on the page and doesn’t actually change URLs.Often applications are developed by other groups and don’t get tagged, or new domains are created without consideration to tracking implicationsThe end result is that specific metrics and KPIs may not be being captured.The other common problem we see is that web analytics code WAS properly installed, but then stopped working.On complex sites with multiple groups responsible, often a new page or section gets released without codeA personal favourite of mine, a code rollback is done and the tagging breaksEven something as minor as an incorrect file getting released, which may be totally unrelated to web analytics, causes tracking issues.Complex websites demand complex measurement solutions and unfortunately the web analytics systems are often the last thing on the minds of those involved in website changes. Particularly if your agency isn't doing development but internal or off shore parties are doing the work, we’ve noticed that the likelihood of tagging problems occurring increases significantly. We’ve also seen many instances where analytics is not a priority in the IT department and there is no direct accountability in that Tech department for marketing performance, so errors can sometimes go uncorrected for far too long.
- Options:Never, it’s been perfectI’m not sure, we don’t really check it regularlyA couple of times, but nothing majorIt seems to go wrong every other week
- So, let’s look at our first part of this, when we have web analytics code on our site that hasn’t being installed correctly.A recent technology has now proven it’s effectiveness in solving this issue, it’s called Tag Management Systems, or Universal Tagging....Complex online ecosystems can result in a variety of tags, not just web analytics tags, but advertising beacons, testing tags, affiliate tracking and more. It’s no surprise that in such a complex environment that even slight changes to the website can cause tagging errors.
- Tag management systems takes the complexity of tagging out of the developers hands and places it back with the measurement teams. Essentially, one simple tag is placed on the site, usually in some universal component so new site additions won’t be missing it.Then, the measurement teams can control the more complex tagging requirements of the site without involving Tech personnel. Multiple tags can be added, removed, changed or updated without redeploying the site.
- Why is tag management such a good thing?These systems use a single line of code in a universal site wide element, and as a result the Tech effort required for installation, QA and ongoing maintenance drops almost to zero. Tag management systems can be used to manage multiple tags, tags like web analytics but also voice of customer systems, ad servers, multi-variant testing systems and more. They take the responsibility of customizing the tagging off the hands of developers and place it back in the hands of the people who understand the complexities the best, the analytics team. These systems work with even the complex web sites, AJAX, Flash, Flex and Air interactions can all be monitored They also allow tags to be removed and replaced without recoding or redeployment. Imagine replacing your entire web analytics deployment in a few days, instead of 6 months
- At a high level, here’s how it works.After development has placed the one bit of universal javascript code, the tag management system takes over.The analytics teams uses the tag management system to create the tagging rules that govern what tags will fire with what variables and when.Then, when a visitor comes to your website, the tagging management system detects the page and any actions within and fires the correct tag which then goes on to populate the web analytics systemCritical Mass uses a custom tool like this on one of our biggest and most data-driven clients to effectively manage their analytics tagging installation. Also, we are currently conducting tests on a new vendor tools, including one called “Ensighten” which promises even more effective tag management.
- The second part of this tagging problem is that on complex websites it’s very easy to “break” tagging.Fortunately, another new technology is now available. These are called analytics audit and monitoring tools. It seems like a fairly generic name but complex web environments means that more robust quality assurance tools are needed.These systems scan your website and are capable of detecting a variety of different tags. They then record what tags are firing where and with what variables.More importantly, they alert you to pages which aren’t tagged or where tagging has changed. They can even fill out forms and go through shopping carts to ensure some of the most important actions on your website are tagged and reporting properly.There are a few vendors in this space that we have evaluated. One of the leaders is a tool called “ObservePoint” created by one of the founders of Omniture, which we have leveraged for many of our largest clients to provide constant monitoring of their installations.
- Why would you use an analytics audit and monitoring tool?Imagine it takes 30 seconds for a human to check a tag on a website and verify the correct variables are firing. Now multiply that by 5000 pages. We’re talking about more than 40 hours of work, not to mention the human error that would creep up. Now imagine having to do that every time your website releases a new version. The time and costs of manual verification can become enormous on large and complex sites. In fact, it generally just doesn’t get done, or becomes quick spot checks which can miss mistakes. Analytics monitoring tools can scan a website in minutes. These monitoring tools can provide you with an overall view of how “healthy” you tagging is and they can also automatically alert you to any specific pages where tagging is missing or has changed in even the smallest way. There isn’t a lot of set up work either. The systems crawl automatically, so as long every page is linked to another page, these monitors can find and log them. Once they are set up, the systems can also run on their own. Audits, reports and alerts can be scheduled to run at whatever intervals are best for your business If your worried that frequent testing might actually pollute your data, not to worry. The systems are designed NOT to fire your tags, so they don’t artificially load up your analytics systems.And of course these monitors work with flash and secure sites, and can also be set up to deal with complex forms and ajax actions
- How auditing and monitoring works is fairly straightforward:First you select a main URL or sitemap page that ensures the monitoring tools crawler will be able to find every page. Next the system crawls ever page on the site and records the various tags and their variables For parts of your site not easily crawled, the system can record a series of keystrokes, for filling out forms and shopping carts, and then recording those tags An analyst can then view what pages don’t have tags, and review the tags to make sure they match the information that they are supposed to be sending. Alerts and scheduled scans are then set up so that key stakeholders will be notified quickly when there is an problem.Now that our data is accurate, this brings us to our second problem.
- As businesses begin to leverage web analytics data, we’ve noticed a couple of key problems come up regarding reporting needs.Firstly, multiple reports which go to multiple stakeholders and need to be delivered quickly. One of our clients required over 30 reports, each one totally unique, to be delivered within two days! Each of these reports required different kinds of data, and had to be distributed to stakeholders all over the world. Actionability is directly related to on-time report delivery.We’ve also noticed a second problem around data and dashboards being easily accessible at anytime from anywhere, and not just in an email that would quickly be deleted or forgotten. Often, our clients would train several stakeholders in how to use the analytics system, but because it wasn’t often used they forgot how to access the data they needed. Emails with large dashboard attachments often get deleted or filed without even being opened, and executives who are seldom at their desk had no immediate access to important data when they needed it.
- Options:One report goes to one stakeholderOne report goes to a lot of stakeholdersA few reports go to different stakeholdersA lot of customized reporting going to specific stakeholders
- First, let’s have a look at solving the problem of multiple custom reports that require rapid delivery.Our solution? Deliver the reports in a new and innovative way using web based reporting and data warehousing.We worked with a vendor who specialized in data warehousing and online reporting to develop individually customized reports. These reports were populated with data that was automatically imported from the web analytics systems as well as several other sources. Next, a simple-to-use series of custom interfaces were created where various world-wide stakeholders could access their individually customized reports at any time from anywhere.
- Why would you use web based reporting and data warehousing?It’s capable of merging data from almost any source, including web analytics data It can be done without adding additional workload or large projects to you Business Intelligence department, or a Business Intelligence department at all! Like any data warehouse, it can connect to a variety of data sources. Web analytics systems can connect directly to online data warehouse solutions directly. Once the system is set up, it can automatically extract the correct data and populate the various custom reports which can then either be delivered or accessed by stakeholders from a web interface at anytime.
- How these systems work is straightforward at a high level. Take the data from wherever it happens to be, extract, transform and load it into the data warehouse, which then populates the customized portal and reports.
- The second reporting problem we often see our clients face is that the dashboards and data are not as accessible as they would like them.Even web based reports are often not convenient enough for busy executives as they need relevant web data at their fingertips to help manage their business wherever they happen to be.One thing that stakeholders do tend to find convenient is their mobile phones. Hence this innovation of mobile-delivered dashboards. Web analytics and other data can now be delivered directly to smartphones in a customized app that is intuitive and easy to use. Not only do these tools deliver dashboards, but they also offer some forms of interaction with the data and the ability to drill further in as need be.
- Why would you use mobile dashboards apps?- Simply put, busy executives find this method of delivery convenient. When a decision needs to be made, having the relevant data at you fingertips makes all the difference in the world.- Data can be sent to phones from a variety of sources, anything from a simple Excel file to data warehouses and CRM systems.- These tools have been pre-built with mobile users in mind, so tools that allow users to visualize and interact with the data are very intuitive and require little or no training.- In addition, the data is secure and the services are hosted and scalable for any size of organization.There is a variety of vendors which offer mobile applications. Generally though, they fall into two categories, data warehousing generalists, and web analytics specialists. Which way to go is a matter of deciding upon the complexity of the data you want to use, and the power of the interface required. Generally data warehouse apps have more robust tools, but web analytics only versions are simpler to run on a day-to-day basis and may have no additional licensing costs. Web analytics vendors like Omniture are now offering far more sophisticated mobile apps, like the SiteCatalystiPhone app.
- In fact, mobile dashboards work in much the same way that the web based reporting and data warehousing does.Data moves from various systems into a centralized data warehouse which then gets transformed into a user accessible dashboard on a smartphone. Generally though, the dashboards are less customizable then their web-based cousins.Now that we have tagging and reporting problems out of the way, let’s focus in on our third measurement challenge...
- The focus on web measurement tends to be directly related to the focus of your company culture. Here is the general spectrum of cultures we’ve noticed as they apply to measurement programs.If your company has a culture of advertising, the only metrics that people tend to pay attention to are media related, things like impressions and reach. In the end the company is often just trying to generate awareness and may do little if any measurement beyond the data your media company supplies. We’ve generally noticed this in companies that have low-consideration low-cost products like beverages or chewing gum.If you’re selling a product or service that’s high-consideration but still potentially low cost, like baby food for example, we’ve seen many of our clients with a culture of research. These companies are trying to start to understand web behaviour and how it may relate to product sales. Often there is a need to communicate more complex product benefits or features online and provide comparisons to competing products. These products may or may not be purchased online. These companies may not doing detailed web measurement and conversion analysis, but they may be using the data to understand general trends and to try to inform their bigger web projects. Finally, the culture of accountability is usually the most effective user of web analytics, or at least the most interested in leveraging measurement data. Typically we’ve noticed that these companies offer high cost high consideration products, like cars for example. Their websites may be heavily used by consumers to research their products and at least provide leads to a sales team if not sell the product directly.In our opinion, all companies should be striving for at least some form of accountability using web measurement, even if your product is low cost low consideration. However, if you have a high-cost high-consideration product and you don’t have a culture of accountability along with an advanced measurement and optimization program, you may need to rethink your strategy. Chances are if you generating a lot of reports that no one is doing anything about or no one is held accountable to, you may need to evolve your culture to the next level.
- So how do you evolve your measurement culture and start getting some action out of your data? There are a couple of key building blocks that we’ve noticed can be missing.Perhaps you don’t have clear objectives, or KPIs. No one really knows what the website is supposed to be accomplishing, or decisions about your website are being made by the highest paid persons opinion.Perhaps you don’t have the resources. Your tech department may be managing your analytics implementation, but no one really understands it or is leveraging it. Maybe your BI department added web analytics to their practice, but they treat it like any other data source. You have to know what to ask for, and by the time you get a report it may be too late to take action, or the data might not be relevant to the business problem you’re trying to solve.In fact only 1 of our clients has what we consider a proper size analytics team with 28 people working on website, email, social, mobile and paid media analysis. Of course this is proportional to their overall marketing budget, but we often see other accounts having disproportionately low resourcing including their own internal teams. In short, you may need to triple or quadruple your analytics team in order to run an effective measurement program.Most importantly, if no one is watching the site data on a regular basis, then likely no one is looking for ways to improve it.
- Options:Not currently doing much with analytics at allAdvertising basedResearch basedAccountable and heavily data driven
- We’ll have a look at the Critical Mass Marketing Science approach to solving this set of problems more holistically utilizing industry best practices and our own analytics process expertise. We’ll have a look at these individually, but here’s a quick overview.First, a holistic analytics approach is required. Using data to help improve specific projects is a great start, but in the end measurement affects your entire online ecosystem as well as your organization as a whole. Secondly, we recommend and use a web analytics maturity model to help understand where your company is with digital measurement now, and then create a roadmap for where it needs to go. At the site and project level we use as best practice a process model that ensures that goals and key performance indicators for a project are defined, data is being collected, and an optimization program is in place.We’ll also have a look at how important it is that any analytics team be able to collaborate and integrate with an entire organization in order to be effective.
- CM Marketing Science recommends a multi-tier approach to analytics that encompasses not only a particular project, but the entire digital ecosystem and the analytical state of the business as a whole. Being able to compete online means understanding analytics at every level.When initiating specific web projects, its important to leverage web analytics to understand the current situation to help inform the project, clarify exactly what the project is supposed to do, then measure and optimize once the project is in place.At the digital ecosystem level, where your website, your site, social media efforts and your mobile apps all exist, an ongoing measurement and optimization program must be in place. Engaging in a continuous improvement process will allow you to compete.Everything starts at the enterprise level. The first thing to do is understand where your company is at now with analytics and where it’ needs to go. Defining and following this roadmap is critical for success. Critical Mass uses a web analytics maturity model to help lay out this roadmap.
- Here’s an example of a maturity model. Full credit to Stephane Hamel, a web analytics guru and evangelist, for developing this model.We here at Critical Mass take advantage of Stephane’s great work as a best practice to help our clients understand how advanced they are with analytics in several large categories: Management adoption, program objectives, the scope of analytics within the organization, the analytics team, the use of a continuous improvement process, and tools and technology integration.As you can see maturing in analytics requires a significant amount of skills, budget, time and talent. Maturing your measurement program requires an investment some executives aren't yet aware they'll need to make. Partially funded, and partially owned analytics programs fail time after time. We can help educate and build these programs plugging in the parts where you are mature, and then working together to develop solutions in areas that need help. Once we have an understanding of where you are now, we can help lay out a roadmap in each of these areas to reach the point where your organization is effectively competing using data and analytics.For websites and online projects, Critical Mass has developed our own best practice process which we leverage on all sites and projects we work on.
- While each one of these stages has many individual steps, here is a high level view of the Critical Mass Marketing Science Best Practice process.The first stage is to identify specific goals, key performance indicators and measurement strategies. At a basic level, we need to clarify what business objectives the project or site is supposed to accomplish. Then that information can be used to identify specific KPIs. This can be as simple as driving online sales or as complex as improving online sentiment, but in the end any objective can and needs to be quantified into a set of measurable KPIs.At this point, we will then look at the Current State of performance on your digital properties focused on the identified objectives and KPIs, in order to inform the projects overall and creative strategy. This is a critical part of the discovery process, after which we can complete the measurement strategy. These first steps must be conducted on every project regardless of whether you have your own internal analytics team and are the key to properly informing the rest of the project.The next stage involves designing and implementing the systems that will collect the data. This can include web analytics but also many other systems.Next is design of the reporting systems. While the end result can vary wildly, the one consistent factor is that dashboards and reports are not enough. Analysis is the key factor as understanding where the data comes from and what it means is critical to successful data-based decision making.Finally, training, education and socialization can help our clients develop self-sufficiency if that’s desired.Once implementation is complete, then our goal becomes to enter into a continuous improvement optimization cycle. Ongoing analysis will not only be able to answer specific business questions, but also find opportunities for optimization. This is a cycle of pre-analysis, setting goals and targets, launching and measuring, analyzing and optimizing. Following this cycle using data driven decision making will ultimately improve your digital efforts and your business.
- If lack of resources is a problem, of course I’ll take a moment for a shameless plug and suggest you consider the Critical Mass Marketing Science department. We can help evolve not only your projects, but your entire online ecosystem and the enterprise wide adoption of a culture of accountability.As a best practice here at Critical Mass, our marketing science teams are in constant contact with virtually all of our other departments. Analysis is greatly improved when as much background information as possible is available. On it’s own, web analytics rarely tells the entire story of any situation. By leveraging other information from a variety of groups, this helps colour and guide the recommendations for improvement.Analytics teams are most effective when they know almost everyone in the company and should become a nexus of information in order to enable informed decision making within your organization.Critical Mass Marketing Science has helped many clients set up and evolve their measurement programs, regardless of their current state. In our experience, to be effective at measurement, organizations truly need to embrace not only technology, but skilled teams and a culture of data driven decision making.