One thing worries me
about Web analytics: the name. "Web
analytics" sounds a bit scary, doesn't
it? Those two words don't necessarily
sit comfortably with your average
marketer or business leader. When
somebody asks you what you do for a
living, "Web analytics" doesn't tell
them much.
For a long time, nobody really knew what
it meant. There were heated forum debates about what Web
analytics was and wasn't. Some people asserted Web
analytics was essentially about what came out of a Web
analytics tool; others believed it a much broader
discipline than that.
So, it was good to see the
Web Analytics Association (WAA) recently publish a
draft definition of Web analytics:
Web Analytics is the objective
tracking, collection, measurement, reporting and
analysis of quantitative Internet data to optimize
websites and web marketing initiatives.
It's great to have a definition, but does
it help the average business person understand what it
is and what it does? Jim Sterne, president of the WAA,
acknowledges it's a start, and you have to start
somewhere.
Web analytics is very focused on the
site, not the people who use the site. It's a bit like
the old days in consumer packaged goods, when brands
focused on selling products rather than marketing to
people. We must think about optimizing Web site
performance from a much wider perspective.
An effective strategy for measuring and
optimizing Web site performance has four key components:
Market intelligence provides the context
for a business' performance. Though the majority of a
digital marketer's time can be spent focused on the
brand and site, neither the brand nor the site operate
in a vacuum. External factors and forces are at play,
including:
These and other factors are likely to
influence the way the marketing plan is developed and
executed. For example, are your growth rate assumptions
in line with overall market performance? What would the
effect of rising media costs be on the expected level of
return on investment (ROI)? What competitive scenarios
might affect your ability to meet your targets? This
type of market intelligence data often comes from
third-party data sources, such as panels
(Nielsen//NetRatings, comScore), aggregators (Hitwise),
and large-scale surveys (Forrester's Technographics).
Data on users usually comes from users.
This includes the use of surveys, observation, and focus
groups as well as looking at behaviors on the site.
User profiling is the process of getting
to know who uses your site and why. Basic marketing
principles are about understanding customers and meeting
their needs. It's no different on the Web. By getting to
know and understand your users, their behavior, needs,
and desires, you'll be in a much better position to:
-
Target and acquire more of your most
valuable types of users or customers.
-
Develop the site in line with their
needs and expectations.
-
Deliver more targeted, effective
marketing communications and offers.
-
Make your site more attractive to
advertisers looking to reach your particular type of
audience.
-
Anticipate and act on likely customer
behaviour (e.g., churn).
Finally, site performance measurement
looks at a site's effectiveness from a technical
perspective. It concerns such site aspects as the
page-delivery speed, site availability, and
responsiveness of transactional processes.
Site performance measurement is often
neglected when we think about measuring channel
effectiveness. It's often seen as a technical issue
rather than a business one. It's the preserve of the
operations team rather than the marketing team. However,
in terms of understanding how well the marketing is
performing and how it can be improved, you must do that
in the context of how the site is performing as well.
If panel data and survey analysis and
interpretation aren't part of Web analytics, for
example, what is it? It's part of a wider e-marketing
discipline. It's more holistic and puts the focus on the
consumer rather than the site or channel. Increasingly
we talk about "e-CI," or e-business consumer insight.
It's an approach that puts the consumer at the heart of
the matter.
In my next series of columns, I'll take a
closer look at some of the other sources of consumer
insight, such as panels, surveys, and focus groups
About the Author:
Neil Mason is
the co-founder of
Applied Insights, a consumer analytics consultancy
that specializes in online. Neil has been involved in
marketing analysis for more years than he cares to
remember, having started his career at ACNielsen helping
major fast-moving consumer good brands understand the
effectiveness of their marketing programs. At Applied
Insights, Neil consults with major businesses using Web
and predictive analytics to improve online business
performance. He's a frequent speaker at Web analytics
conferences and events. Neil has a BA in Engineering
from Cambridge University, and an MBA and a Postgraduate
Diploma in Business and Economic Forecasting.
