Archive for 'Web Analytics Demystified Business'

Today I am really excited to announce the publication of our framework for mobile and multi-channel reporting, sponsored by OpinionLab. You can download the report freely from the OpinionLab web site in trade for your name and email address.

This paper builds on our “Truth About Mobile Analytics” paper we published with our friends at Nedstat last year and focuses on both measurement in mobile applications and, more importantly, a cross-channel measurement framework built around interactions, engagement, and consumer-generated feedback.

• Interactions occur in every channel, digital or not. Online and on mobile sites we call these “visits” (although that is a made up word for interactions); in mobile apps the interaction starts when you click the icon and ends when you click “close”; in SMS it starts when you receive the message; on the phone it starts when you dial, and in stores interactions start when you walk up to an employee.
• Engagement is simply “more valuable” interactions. Regardless of your particular belief about the definition of engagement, we all know it when we see it. Online it happens after some number of minutes, or clicks, or sessions, or whatever; in mobile apps it happens when you’ve clicked enough buttons; on SMS it happens when you respond to the message; on the phone it starts when you begin a conversation, and the same is true in a physical store.  We say engagement is “more valuable” because without engagement, value is unlikely to manifest.
• Positive Feedback happens when you do a really, really good job. Measuring feedback is a critical “miss” for far too many organizations. Apples “app store” and the value of the star-rating system has essentially proven that there are massive financial differences associated with positive and negative experiences … but most companies still make the mistake of ignoring qualitative feedback altogether.

These three incredibly simple metrics can be applied to every one of your channels, your sub-channels, and  your sub-sub-channels (if you like.)  When applied you can create an apples to apples comparison between your web, mobile web, mobile apps, video, social, etc. efforts.

Then you can apply cost data, and you’re really in business.

I don’t want to say much more than that but I would really, really encourage you all to download and read this free white paper. When we put something like this out — something we believe has the power to really transform the way everyone thinks about the metrics they use to run their business, and something that has the potential to force dashboards everywhere to be scrapped and started over — we’d really like your collective feedback.

DOWNLOAD  THE WHITE PAPER NOW

Thanks to Mark, Rick, Rand, and the entire team at OpinionLab for sponsoring this work. If you’re the one person reading my blog that hasn’t seen their application in action, head on over to their site and have a look.

Anyone who has read my blog for long knows that I am passionate about two things in web analytics: process and people. Process is the glue that holds all the hard work we do as analysts together and allows our effort to translate into tangible business value. But without a doubt it is the people who are absolutely critical to any businesses ability to compete and succeed on web analytics.

Unfortunately people, especially really good ones, are incredibly hard to find. So much so that my partners and I have invested heavily in creating an entirely new way for novice and veteran analytics practitioners alike to gain valuable “hand’s on” experience using data to answer business questions, The Analysis Exchange.

While the Analysis Exchange has exceeded every single short-term milestone we have established for the effort, it has long been clear to my partners and I that training alone is not enough to satisfy the immediate needs of businesses working to take advantage of their existing investment in web Analytics. Companies need analytical talent now, not a year from now, not in six months, right now.

Why the urgency? Myriad reasons. The money has been spent on technology, the clock is ticking, the promises have been made, offline revenues are in decline and the company’s digital channels are the hope and future and difference between profitability and not.

The web analytics promise is real — companies that have become adept at generating analytically-driven insights and then translating those insights into sound business decisions have staked a clear competitive advantage. The giants of our industry — brilliant people like Joe Megibow, Dylan Lewis, Shari Cleary, and Lynn Lanphier <plug>all of whom are coming to the X Change conference in September, are you?</plug> — have not only determined the value of people but have also figured out how to convince management of that value.

Have you? Most companies have not.

Most companies persist in their belief that web and digital analytics is something that they can do “part time” and still have the successes that Intuit, Expedia, MTV, Best Buy, and others gain by hiring brilliant people, giving them clear direction, and recognizing the value of the analytical output they produce. Despite being well-intentioned, far too many managers still believe that software alone will provide insights and make recommendations.

But I digress.

Because we at Web Analytics Demystified believe in people and process so strongly, and because we are pretty confident in our consulting as it relates to process, we have decided to put our money where our mouths are and start helping companies fill their open positions for “web analyst, senior.” Today we are extremely proud to announce our first-of-it’s-kind partnership with the web analytics community’s leading recruiting firm, IQ Workforce.

Working directly with Workforce CEO Corry Prohens and his team, Web Analytics Demystified has crafted a “one-two” punch to help speed the process of finding, vetting, and hiring the kind of deep talent and teams required to take complete advantage of any investment in digital measurement technology. The Demystified partners and IQ Workforce will help you determine exactly which roles you need to fill, what strengths the ideal candidate will have, and how hired resources will fit into the organization that both creates business value and a satisfying experience for the analyst (which has a surprisingly positive impact on retention!)

In essence Web Analytics Demystified with our 30+ years of experience in web analytics will sit on your hiring panel and help you find and hire the critical difference between “web analytics as a cost center” and “web analytics as a profit center.”

Did we mention we will do it for a fixed price and in a way that allows most companies to circumvent HR’s aversion to “outside help?”

If you’re looking for an analytics guru for your organization, give us a call. We are more than happy to explain how this partnership creates a dramatic advantage for most companies, and would love to talk with you about our business and our partners at IQ Workforce. In the meantime please have a look at our press release on the announcement and more details about the offering:

• Read the press release about this partnership
• Read about our Staffing and Resource Allocation offering

Thanks to Corry and his team for making this idea a reality. On behalf of IQ Workforce and the Demystified Partners we look forward to helping you with your staffing needs.

I have been so busy with clients, presentations, the launch of Twitalyzer version 3.0, and trying to enjoy the onset of summer I have been a very bad blogger. I have missed opportunities to follow-up on Steve Jobs mixed messages about analytics in the iOS platform, to talk about some really amazing Web Analytics Wednesday events that have been happening, … heck, I’ve even missed the chance to weigh in on a really interesting (albeit one-sided) flame war between Quantivo and Google.

Oh were there only 38 or perhaps 42 hours in every day.

Still as busy as I have been I have been amazed at some of the success folks are having in the Analysis Exchange so I wanted to drop a note and share some of what is going on:

• First, and perhaps coolest, is this article in Internet Retailer about how the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) are using Analysis Exchange to gain insights into their traffic data;
• Second, we have announced that our first-year goals are to leverage the Analysis Exchange community to produce free analysis for 1,000 nonprofits and non-governmental organizations, to train 500 “student” web analysts, and to create opportunities for participation for 150 “mentor” analytics practitioners;
• Thirdly, we have also announced  that as an incentive to participate, we will be awarding a complimentary pass to this year’s X Change conference in Monterey, California to one (1) student and one (1) mentor who distinguish themselves as participants in the Analysis Exchange effort;
• Finally, we are just pleased as punch to get so much great feedback from participants, both via email and on Twitter. Folks really seem to be enjoying themselves which is awesome!

To keep track of Analysis Exchange I have created a pretty elaborate dashboard. I’ll spare you all  the details but in an effort to be transparent in this work here is the top-line summary that I watch change and improve every day:

“Of our 529 members, 46% have completed a profile. Based on the number active and staffed projects our member participation rate is currently 7%. Of our 54 organizational members, 52% have created projects and 13% have completed projects. Of our 21 active projects, 62% are fully staffed and 100% of those have set a starting date for the work.”

We have work to do, but it is great work and we hope you will join us and participate!

Back in December of last year Aurelie, John, and I announced an idea we believe has the potential to change the web analytics industry forever, The Analysis Exchange. Briefly, the Analysis Exchange is a totally new approach towards web analytics training — one that depends less on what you read and more on what you do.

The Analysis Exchange lets experience web analysts demonstrate their passion for their work and gives beginners valuable “hands on” experience with data and real business problems. What’s more, the output from Analysis Exchange projects directly benefits some of the most amazing organizations around the globe — nonprofits and non-governmental groups who work not for money but for the betterment of humanity, our planet, and all creatures great and small.

You can read more about the origination of this effort in our blog posts and a very nice write up by our friend Jim Sterne, founder of the Web Analytics Association:

• Announcing The Analysis Exchange
• Amazing response to The Analysis Exchange
• Nonprofits Profit from Web Analytics Volunteers

Since December we have been hard at work building out a web site and perfecting the business process that would be required to accomplish our core goals. What are those goals, you ask? Very, very simple … between now and June 1, 2011 we want to:

• Provide FREE analysis to 1,000 nonprofit organizations
• Provide FREE training and certification to 500 web analytics students
• Provide FREE certification and support to 150 web analytics experts

1,000/500/150 are the numbers that we will be living by, but we know we’re not living there alone. We know this because the initial response to The Analysis Exchange has been tremendous! In addition to the great stuff we learned in our first testing round we have had excellent feedback from nonprofits, mentors, and students alike.

I love what Amy Sample, Director of Web Analytics at PBS Interactive had to say:

“What I love about the Analysis Exchange is the learning is reciprocal.  Not only is the student learning about analytics and giving back to the organization, but the organization is learning from the student as well.  Many of our local PBS stations have little experience with Web Analytics.  Through the Exchange, the stations are able to learn how to tackle analytics problems along with the student and how to make a lasting impact to their own organization.”

Cindy Olnick from the Los Angeles Conservancy had similar enthusiasm for her project:

“Joy’s a terrific mentor from what I can tell, and she and Danielle are great at translating all the numbers into information I can use. They’ve given me a report and will set up some new parameters in Google Analytics targeted to my goal of increasing membership.”

Todd Bullivant, one of our students said:

“It was a great way to end the week! Thanks again to everyone for the opportunity. I learned a lot about analytics that I can use in my own organization as well as future projects. I hope to work on many more of these in the future! I also just heard that my company is planning to spotlight me in the next internal newsletter due to this project, so increased visibility!”

Susie Hall, Director of Outreach and Enrollment at Acton School of Business said:

“The Analysis Exchange project was very enlightening for me as well.  We found out some valuable information, and I’m excited to use this new-found knowledge to help shape our outreach efforts. This project could not have come at a better time, we are in the middle of changing pretty much all of our processes, so moving forward armed with such powerful information is invaluable. Andrew and Candace were lovely to work with, and I am very happy with the whole experience.”

One of our super-motivated students, Andrew Hall said:

“During the course of the project, I worked with almost every functionality of Analytics other than custom variables, got to understand how Adwords campaigns work, and learned the benefits of taking data from Analytics into an analysis software like Tableau to gain and communicate insights.  Most importantly, I confirmed that I really enjoy doing this!  I am waiting to hear back from a couple of jobs, but in the mean time I’ve decided the knowledge I now possess would be beneficial a lot of organizations.  I feel confident enough to start approaching businesses and nonprofits in my community to get consulting work.”

By now I’m sure you get the picture, and our mentors have been having a great time as well. So much so that Joy Billings from Digitaria gave a positively glowing review of her work at the San Jose Emetrics, John Lovett’s student had her work go all the way to the CMO’s office at The Holocaust Museum, and Victor Acquah from Blue Analytics said:

“Just got off the presentation! Todd did such a great job with the analysis and presentation that it is hard to tell he hasn’t been in analytics for too long. Totally impressive output.”

We at Web Analytics Demystified have felt totally blessed to be part of the projects that have been going this far … but now is the time to take it to the next level: Starting with the publication of this blog post, The Analysis Exchange is open to all students, all mentors, and all qualifying organizations around the world.

If you haven’t already, please create an Analysis Exchange profile and join us in our effort to change web analytics forever. If you need more information first we have lots and lots of content including:

• An over-arching explanation of the effort
• Information about the benefits to students, mentors, and organizations
• A frequently asked questions document
• A growing body of information and documentation
• A map showing where many of our members are around the world

If you’re already in the Analysis Exchange and you want to help, please reach out to nonprofits you know and ask them to create a project so you can work with them. If you’re on Twitter, please use our short link (http://bit.ly/analysis-exchange) to help spread the news. If you’re a member of Web Analytics Wednesday, please consider mentioning the effort at your next meeting.

Finally, I want to offer a special “thank you” to Aurelie, John, Jim, Holly Ross, Beth Kanter, Sean Power, and each and every one of the mentors, students, and organizations who have helped us over the last five months. You are all amazing for contributing your time and energy to help make this effort run as smoothly as possible. Thank you!

By now you’ve noticed that we’ve completely re-done the Web Analytics Demystified web site, that is unless you only ever read my posts in an RSS reader in which case I would ask you to click-through and have a look. The new site is the culmination of nearly a year’s effort starting with convincing my good friend Aurelie Pols to join the Web Analytics Demystified and, more recently, convincing my other good friend John Lovett to leave his cushy job at Forrester Research to join Aurelie and I. Hopefully you find the new site more streamlined, easier to read, and a little more focused on the aspects of Web Analytics Demystified we are working to feature.

My own personal highlights include:

• Totally free copies of Web Analytics Demystified, The Big Book of Key Performance Indicators, and the KPI book’s companion worksheets. I made the decision to start giving my books away for one reason and one reason only: to continue to do everything humanly possible to educate as many future web analytics professionals as possible. The response today was good (see image below!)
• Totally revamped mini-site for The Analysis Exchange, including the ability for everyone to start to create their member profiles. The Analysis Exchange has exceeded every single expectation that I had going in, thanks to many people’s efforts. If you’re interested in helping the Analysis Exchange or learning more about the effort please visits http://www.analysis-exchange.com
• Partially revamped mini-site for Web Analytics Wednesday, with more features and updates coming in Q2. Web Analytics Wednesday has become such an automated delight, and with SiteSpect and Coremetrics renewing their sponsorship in 2010 we hope to do even more this coming year!
• All new look and feel for my, Aurelie, and John’s blogs, and the addition of our new Emerging Technology blog. So much of our traffic is driven by the blogs, and so many of our clients find us based on our writing here, we wanted to ensure that reading our blogs was as distraction free as possible. The Emerging Technology blog is something we think of as “TechCrunch for Web Analytics” and we hope you’ll check that out.
• We have also worked to clarify what the Web Analytics Demystified web analytics consulting business and Senior Partners do, when we’re not supporting the community at large. Perhaps a small point, but one that pays the bills, so if you need help getting your web analytics strategy defined, please give us a call.

One thing about my last point, our consulting business and giving us a call. On past sites there were dozens of calls to action and conversion points I was trying to get people to and through. On this site there is one: getting YOU to reach out to US. It may sound glib, but we are able to do more for people who simply email, call, Skype, or Twitter us than most folks can imagine, and often times our help comes without any kind of fee.

Put another way, if you need our professional help, we’ll help you and hopefully you’ll be satisfied with what we ask you to pay. But if you need our guidance, suggestions, or honest opinion, we’ll help you without ever bringing up fees or asking for money. Like the book giveaway, Web Analytics Wednesday, and The Analysis Exchange we have found that simply answering questions without expectation of compensation is often times better than getting paid.

In closing I am totally delighted with the traffic we had to the site today thanks to Twitter, the #measure channel, and the book offer. Based on my Omniture Insights reporting we were completely off the charts in Europe and this AM in the U.S. We’d love your help spreading the word about the book! If you can, tell people to click through on http://bit.ly/demystified-books or simply to check out the new web site.

As always I welcome your comments, critique, and feedback. Especially if you have nice things to say about the new site, of want to help me identify bugs (since not all of you use Chrome on the Mac … LOL!)