introduction to digital analytics

Introduction to Digital Analytics

Keith MacDonaldGuest Presentation

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Introduction to Digital Analytics1. Story the First2. A Brief History of Time Spent3. Definitions4. Story the Second5. Story the Third

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Story the First

Why should I care?

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Story the FirstNew media meets old media, fuelled by money, in a tale of woe that started out as the easiest challenge ever…

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Story the First: Why should I care?

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Picture it: Toronto, 2011…

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Story the First: Why should I care?

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Picture it: Toronto, 2011…

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Story the First: Why should I care?

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Story the First: The lesson here is…

• Client deliverable is always an answer to “What did I get for my money?” Always.

• How do you define “success”? How do you know if your marketing worked?

Analytics!13-Mar-12

A Brief History (of Time Spent)

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A Brief HistoryWhat’s this analytics you speak of?

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A Brief History: The Usual Suspects

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A Brief History: Methodology

- Web page begins loading in the browser- JavaScript code collects data about the page and combines it into a URL for a GIF image- Browser requests GIF image from the server

- Data collection server receives the GIF image request- Server separates the URL back out to individual data points- Server stores data in the database- Server sends a 1x1 pixel transparent GIF image to the browser

- Browser receives the GIF image and continues loading (rendering) the page

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User’s Computer

Data Collection Server

User’s Computer

Definitions

Let’s speak the same language

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Definitions: Jargon

What is web analytics, really?The measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of Internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage.

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Is it web analytics or digital analytics?Both really. The principles and techniques used to measure the web are now being applied to mobile devices, gaming consoles, etc.

Stéphane Hamel. (2011, November 23). The Ultimate Definition of Analytics | Analytics & Optimization. http://online-behavior.com/analytics/definition

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Definitions: Jargon

What is web analytics?

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Definitions: Jargon

What’s this optimization you speak of?The process of measuring user behaviour, identifying opportunities, making changes (to web sites, input forms, conversion processes, marketing campaigns, creative or copy, etc.) in order to cause positive change in user response or behaviour, and measuring the outcome.

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Definitions: Jargon

• Measure or Metric– A count of people, browsers or

mobile devices; or count of an action taken by a person

– A metric may be calculated from two or more measures

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Definitions: Jargon

• Dimension– A general source of data that

can be used to define various types of segments or counts and represents a property of visitor behaviour or site dynamics

• Segmentation– The process of identifying and

reporting on a subset of data based on certain selection criteria

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Definitions: Jargon

• Session– Defined by opening an app or web

browser, ending when the user closes the app or browser or after a period of inactivity; a user may count multiple visits within a single session

• Conversion– When a user takes an action the

business find valuable; may be narrowly defined (clicking a link) or broadly defined (time threshold)

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Definitions: The Big Three

1. Page ViewA count of the number of times a page is loaded or viewed by the user. A page view may also apply to a specific unit of content, e.g. when a majority of page content changes without changing the URL.

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Definitions: The Big Three

2. VisitA count of the number of times a user viewed your content, regardless of the amount of content that was viewed at a time. A visit begins when the user first accesses the content (usually opening the app or navigating to the site in a web browser) and ends when the user closes the app or browser, navigates to another web site or has been inactive for at least 30 minutes.

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Definitions: The Big Three

3. Unique VisitorA count of the number of unique people (“sets of eyes”) that viewed your content, unique visitor is a rough measure of the size of your audience. Unique visitors may be counted over a time period: daily, monthly, yearly, etc., or may be “absolute” over a date range.

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Definitions: The Big Three

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Total forReporting Period

Page Views x x x x x 5Visits x x x x 4

Daily Unique Visitors x x x 3Monthly Unique Visitors x x 2

Absolute Unique Visitors x 1

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Duplication is caused by adding visitors, visits or other similar measures across a single data point. Duplication ignores the possibility that a single person may be counted once for each of the values being added, inadvertently counting the same person twice.

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Definitions: Duplication

29-Nov 30-Nov 01-Dec TotalMen's

Shirts 9,000 878 2,168 12,046Pants 8,261 3,320 8,132 19,713Sale 2,186 4,382 3,730 10,298

Women'sShirts 4,599 1,492 1,076 7,167Pants 676 5,170 1,216 7,062Sale 4,630 9,249 1,591 15,470

Total 29,352 24,491 17,913

Visits by Site Sectionby Day

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Definitions: Marketing Metrics (Jargon)

• Impressions– The number of time an object

(usually an advertising unit) is displayed

• Conversion Rate– Also called click-through rate

(CTR): the number of conversions as a percentage of page views or impressions

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Definitions: Marketing Metrics (Jargon)

• Average Revenue per User (ARPU)– The total amount of revenue

generated by a website, campaign or user action divided by the total number of users who generated revenue

• Lifetime Revenue per User (LRPU)– The total amount of revenue

generated divided by the total number of users who generated revenue since inception

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Definitions: Marketing Metrics (Jargon)

• Cost per Acquisition (CPA)– The total amount of money spent

(on a campaign) divided by the number of new users who generate revenue

• Return on Investment (ROI)– The total amount of revenue

generated (by a campaign) minus the total amount spent, usually expressed as an average per user (divided by the total number of users who generated revenue)

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Definitions: Attribution

Attribution is the process of “giving credit” to a campaign (ad, piece of content, et al.) when a conversion (purchase) occurs.

A campaign is attributed with the value of the conversion.

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Last TouchThe last campaign the user acts on gets all the credit. It’s the last campaign that convinces the user to convert.

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Definitions: Attribution

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First TouchThe first campaign the user acts on gets all the credit. It’s the first campaign that sticks with you, no matter when you convert.13-Mar-12

Definitions: Attribution

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Multi-TouchEach campaign the user acts on gets equal credit. It’s the mix and repetition of campaigns that convinces users over time.

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Definitions: Participation

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Definitions: Multi-channel Funnels

In reality, users don’t act on just one campaign. Different marketing channels work together in concert.13-Mar-12

Story the Second

3 Blind Men and an Elephant

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Story the Second

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Story the Second

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Story the Second: Lesson

• Three blind men will each give you a different description of an elephant depending on which part they’re touching

• Always look at the data in context, and look at all the angles

• Always look at trends, single data points are meaningless

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Story the Third

Target on Target

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What’s the point?• Pull all your data into a regular

dashboard report or scorecard• Identify key user segments and use

tools like Website Optimizer to target your creative and personalize the user experience

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Story the ThirdTarget on Target

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Thank you!

keith@kmacdonald.ca@keithmacdwww.linkedin.com/in/keithmacd