3 Ways to Make Your Google Analytics Account Work Harder

Posted by: Neil James // August 10th, 2012

5-Ways-To-Make-Your-Google-Analytics-Account-Work-Harder

3 Ways to Make Your Google Analytics Account Work Harder

Admit it. The very first time you got a look into the Google Analytics data for your organization, you felt a little tingle. All those visitors! Precious data on how they got to your site. Neatly laid out tables showing your website’s most popular pages. It was as close as a marketer can come to replicating the feelings of unwrapping presents as a child on Christmas morning.

But as months went on, the luster of what was thought to be invaluable marketing data began to fade. Visitor counts never seemed to fluctuate. The five most viewed pages of your website never changed from month to month. Sources of traffic rarely changed. Preparing monthly Google Analytics reports now feels like an exercise in redundancy rather than learning.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Like the hammer or the wheel, Google Analytics is one of the most powerful tools ever created. But like any good tool, however, the realization of its potential is reliant upon the skill and knowledge of the wielder.

Fortunately, cultivating the ability to extract deep insights and intelligence from Google Analytics doesn’t require enrolling in night school or attending expensive seminars. Here are three things you can do in Google Analytics to ensure that your website reports are more informative, incisive and actionable!

Track Goals

For most websites, total visits are a decent KPI. If all things are equal, getting 200,000 visits is better than getting 20,000 visits.

The problem is that not all visits are created equal. One visit from a prospect who contacts your B2B organization as a lead beats ten visits from people who glance at your homepage and immediately leave.

Every website has choices and options that represent the accomplishment of real-life business goals. For a hospital, it might be simply views of the page for a service line promoted in a recent direct mail campaign. For an engineering firm, it might be downloads of a newly released white paper.

Goal tracking allows you to specify and track desirable website actions in Google Analytics. By correlating the completion of desired goals with visits to your website, you can more effectively determine the quality of visitors you are drawing. Knowing that a recent campaign caused visitors to increase while goal completions did not move allows you to make better decisions regarding budget expenditures.

Click here for Google’s quick guide for configuring goals in Google Analytics

Always Be Segmenting

As a marketer, you’re employing a variety of channels to drive people to your website: social media, e-mail, search marketing, public relations, traditional advertising. Often times, these tactics are operating at the same time. If a recent campaign causes visits and goal completions to significantly spike, how can you tell which channels were most responsible for success?

The answer can be found through advanced segmentation. By clicking the “Advanced Segments” button at the top of virtually every Google Analytics report, you’ll be able to filter your data and identify trends occurring in any of the following:

* New visitors

* Returning visitors

* Paid search traffic

* Non-paid search traffic

* Mobile traffic

* Tablet traffic

Is the goal completion percentage of visitors who arrive via paid search higher than all other channels? Maybe it’s time to consider doubling the PPC budget! Is the bounce rate (the percentage of traffic that leaves the site immediately upon arrival) for mobile traffic twice as high as any other source? Perhaps it’s time to consider investing in a mobile-friendly website.

You’re not just limited to Google’s default segments. By clicking the “New Custom Segment” button, you can define your own advanced segments! Want to know see how a recent trade show impacted traffic from New York? Create a custom segment that measures visits only from that state. Curious if the browsers that people use impact their likelihood of buying from your e-commerce site? Create advanced segments for Internet Explorer, Firerfox, Google Chrome, and compare the goal completion rates!

By creating advanced segments and skillfully slicing your data, you’ll be better able to unearth trends and insights that might not be visible from the 30,000-foot all-inclusive view of website traffic.

Click here for Google’s guide to Advanced Segments

Look Beyond the Pageview

At its core, Google Analytics data is predicated on pageviews. Stitching together each page viewed by an individual comprises a visit, and it is through analysis of which pages are viewed that we can assemble the profile of a typical website visitor.

Websites today, however, offer significantly more rich and dynamic experiences. Visitors can watch videos, play games, download white papers, contact live chat support, and much, much more. Simply measuring hops from one page to the next only partially constructs the profile of today’s online consumer.

Fear not. Event tracking in Google Analytics allows you to capture the myriad of user interactions comprising the online experience: downloads, mobile ad clicks, Flash elements, AJAX embedded elements, video plays – the list goes on!

Through Event Tracking, Google allows you to define the category, action, label and value of an online user interaction. Marketers wishing to track plays of a newly created customer support video might define the category of this interaction as “video”. Actions could be defined as “play” and “pause”, while label might be defined as “customer support”.

Events can be tracked and analyzed across virtually all Google Analytics reports. Marketers can measure the correlation of events to goal completions. Advanced segments can define which visitors are most and least likely to perform a specific on-site user interaction.

While many marketers will be able to determine which user interactions they would like tracked as events and define classification schema, in most cases, the implementation of Event Tracking on a website itself will need to be carried out by IT or web development teams. Those interested in learning more can read the Google Event Tracking Guide for Developers.

Click here for Google’s overview of Event Tracking

We’d like to hear from you! Do you currently analyze goals, track events and used advanced segments in Google Analytics? How has it helped you? What other techniques do you use to make Google Analytics work harder?

@NeilAndrewJames is certified in Google Analytics and Google Adwords and is the digital strategist for Minneapolis marketing firm, Russell Herder

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Online Brand Advertising Set to Overtake Digital Direct Response

Posted by: Matthew Bick // February 8th, 2012

Marketing and advertising industry intelligence leader eMarketer has released statistics indicating that spend on digital brand advertising stands to pass digital direct response in 2012.  eMarketer, citing a survey conducted by DIGIDAY and Vizu, reports “more marketers plan to increase their online branding initiatives in 2012 than they do their direct response tactics.”

eMarketer lists “growing marketer interest in mobile advertising, social media, and online video” as the primary drivers behind the trend toward greater digital brand advertising spending in the new year.  eMarketer mentions another interesting pattern in the digital space for the upcoming year, indicating that many advertisers will put greater funding into online video content in particular than in 2011.  As marketers look to help define their brands online, easily accessible and relevant video content may quickly become a major demand from consumers in spite of more traditional direct response initiatives.

@MatthewBick

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Paid Search Results Improved over 2010

Posted by: Matthew Bick // January 30th, 2012

A recent study by Marin Software has shown that paid search is gaining more acceptance from search users.  The study, as reported by eMarketer, indicated. “According to the company, the average US clickthrough rate on Google increased 48% in Q4 2011.”  The growth was also seen in other popular search engines, as “Yahoo!/Bing saw a 44% increase during the same timeframe.”

The eMarketer article went on to give a greater insight into where these paid results are most successful.  Data indicated that 90% of clicks in the United States came from a computer, with 6% coming from a smartphone and only 4% from tablet devices.  93% of impressions came from computers, with 4% from smartphones and the remaining 3% from tablets.  Although the percentages may seem relatively small, as Marin Software reports, “smartphones and tablets are beginning to eat away at computers’ total share of paid search activity,” compared to data from 2010.

@MatthewBick

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Google Set To Begin Integrating Google+ Content in Search Results with “Search plus Your World”

Posted by: Matthew Bick // January 25th, 2012

Google has finally announced that they will soon begin displaying content from its Google+ social network in its results.  Google+ has been slow to this point to gain mainstream acceptance, but the massive search engine may be angling toward convincing more brands to take advantage of their pages.

According to an official blog post, the search engine will allow users to conduct social network searches in addition to regular web searches Using the example of choosing a vacation destination, Google states that, “You can of course search the web, but what if you want to learn from the experiences your friends have had on their vacations? Just as in real life, your friends’ experiences are often so much more meaningful to you than impersonal content on the web.”

New features include Google+ posts, photos, and profiles appearing in searches when a user is signed in with their Google ID.   Google goes on to describe that their initiatives are designed to create a broad spectrum of user personalization, from none to results finely tailored to the individual.

However, many are quick to point out that Google may have brought an anti-trust storm upon itself.  Although Google claims that Google+ is, in fact, not a social network, it would be difficult to persuade the majority of internet users otherwise.  Google using one product to promote another in this manner may be the start to a dramatic fight in Washington.  In fact, just hours after the announcement, Twitter’s general consul  Tweeted his misgivings about the news.

@MatthewBick

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Reasons to Practice Social Monitoring Now

Posted by: Neil James // January 11th, 2012

Ever tried to put together a focus group? It’s a lot of work. Rounding up the participants, getting everything organized, hiring a moderator, and that’s before anybody even walks in the room. Therein lies the beauty of social monitoring programs – brands now have the ability to conduct focus groups 24 hours a day, seven days a week! According to Harris Interactive, one-quarter of Americans are talking about companies, brands or products online.

Denise Keller discusses the reasons your brand should explore a social monitoring program right now in a new article for Social Media Today, The Top 7 Reasons You Should Implement Social Media Intelligence. While citing the obvious benefits of a social monitoring program – unearthing new consumer insights and reputation management – for Keller, the ability to identify qualified leads and prospects is the top reason for launching a robust monitoring program.

@NeilAndrewJames

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Twitter allows companies to take control of their page

Posted by: Liz Mortek // December 14th, 2011

To better compete with its Facebook and Google+ competition, Twitter is offering new brand pages allowing for greater customization and engagement, according to a recent article in PR News. This new overhaul will enable two features that differentiate them from standard user pages.

The first is the opportunity for brands to add a page-wide banner underneath the profile information in the header.  Second, brands will be able to spotlight a tweet at the top of their feed.

Why all the changes? The main takeaway from the redesign is that brands will now have the opportunity to take more control of their identity as well as how their messaging is consumed on Twitter.  Both features are free. Currently only 21 initial brand partners have access to these changes, including Pepsi, JetBlue and Heineken; others will receive access in the coming months.

@EMortek

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2011’s Marketing Mantra: “It Doesn’t Affect Me”

Posted by: Neil James // November 16th, 2011

The world is changing. Everything is changing. Digital is killing traditional. Successful brands will create social experiences. Insert your marketing platitude here.

Could marketers be tuning out the trends espoused by industry rags and Twitter-obsessed bloggers? A new study, chronicled by a new article for eMarketer, Do Marketers Feel Isolated From Industry Trends?, suggests this may be the case!

eMarketer reports that new research from Mechanica and Fast Company found significant discrepancies between how marketers believe marketing trends impact their organization versus broader industry in general. Consider the following:

  • 70 percent of marketers agreed that social media mattered for their industry, but only 49 percent said it influenced their own company.
  • Similarly, 31 percent of marketers stated that the declining importance of traditional distribution channels affected industry as a whole, but only 20 percent felt this trend impacted their organization.

@NeilAndrewJames

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PR vs. Advertising

Posted by: Liz Mortek // November 14th, 2011

Any PR professional can tell you that they have struggled with trying to explain to their friends or family what it is exactly that they do.  We write articles, but are not the author, we organize interviews but are not on TV and as the Bad Pitch Blog points out, a common response to why we are doing this is “why don’t your clients just advertise in the publication because: PR and advertising are the same, right?” Wrong.

Many share these misconceptions because advertisements are familiar to them and PR is not.  As the article states, our friends and family definitely see that when a company wants people to know about a product or service they buy an ad in a magazine or piece together a TV commercial.

PR however paints a bigger picture of the product, service or issue at hand, feels more organic, and is about education.  Our job is to teach the media and the consumer about a differentiator they are not aware of. We communicate with editors and reporters and bloggers and podcasters to get them to tell our client’s story, provide knowledge so our target audience can make decisions without explicitly selling to them, versus the goal in classic advertising.

@EMortek

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100% Wired

Posted by: Liz Mortek // November 7th, 2011

It may come as no surprise to hear that nearly 100 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds use social media.  According to PR Daily, a study released last week proves that among all online adults, 91 percent use social media in a typical month.  That equates to 129 million people – or about 41 percent of the U.S. population.  Furthermore, 98 percent of 18-24 year old use social media in a month, investing in Facebook, Twitter and the like, while a still large 82 percent of 55-64 year olds visit their favorite social media sites each month.  The reason, you may ask?  No, this usage is not for work or to check up on brands, rather it is to primarily communicate with friends, citing secondarily, to stay in touch with family members.

@EMortek

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RH Study: Are QR Codes Effective for Marketing?

Posted by: admin // October 24th, 2011

Russell Herder Research QR CodeQuick response (QR) codes – those black-and-white symbols one can scan with a smartphone – have become a ubiquitous marketing tool in the United States, appearing in a wide variety of traditional and digital media. To research the marketing impact and efficacy of QR codes, our team at Russell Herder surveyed consumers nationwide to understand their familiarity with these symbols, interest in scanning them and satisfaction with what they receive in return. While it’s clear there is potential for this technology, marketers could learn from what prospective buyers are saying.

Download our recent white paper, The QR Question, to read the results of this study, as well as considerations for more effectively deploying the device in communications outreach.

For more insight on this topic, see some of the coverage this study has received and articles where the research was cited:

Adotas
QR Codes Get Bigger and Bolder

Agency Spy
Friday Odds & Ends

Biz Report
Consumers getting little reward for QR Code use

Marketing Charts
See the charts.

Marketing Vox
QR Code-based Advertising May Be Getting Too Complex

Chances are a Consumers’ First Experience with a QR Code Will Not Be Good

MediaPost News
Is QR Worth the Trip? Consumers still unsure.

The Pulse Network
Pulse on Marketing interview with RH CEO Carol Russell

Response Magazine
Better Consumer Understanding Needed to Maximize QR Codes’ Effect

Retail Pro
Using QR codes in a meaningful way

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