Peeking Under The Hood: Google Analytics and

Facebook Insights

Debra Askanase

Founder & Digital Engagement Strategist

About Debra Askanase

debra@communityorganizer20.com

Digital Engagement Strategist,Trainer

Former business consultant, executive director, program manager, and community organizer

Instructor, Marlboro College Graduate School

Today’s Session

1. Framing metrics: Metrics that Matter

2. A tour of critical analytics:

• Google Analytics • Facebook Insights

3. Your analytics practice

4. Creating your own metrics tracking dashboard

Who’s In the Room?

Your social media measurement practice

Framing the Conversation

Choosing Metrics That Matter

Data you can find

Relevant data

Data You

need

Data Data Data Everywhere

It’s important to identify andfind what you need

https://www.flickr.com/photos/90106931@N00/5150336351/

Data-checking Ourselves

Data for decisions

Does it inform decisions?

SMART goal progress

Does it check our progress?

Matterness data

Does it show if we Matter?

Data-informed Decision-making

Will this help me make a decision about, or change..?

The way I work

The way the organization does its work

Current initiatives

Planned initiatives

Long-term direction

Beware the Vanity Metric!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/32066106@N06/19682903722/

Common Vanity Metrics

• Size of online community

• Impressions / Views

• Social ad reach

• Influential followers/fans

• Your own Klout

• Number of social and blog posts

• Mentions

A Vanity Metric does not inform your work, help you make decisions, or help you Matter*

* Sometimes the boss wants these anyway. We call this “ego-checking.

Focus On SMART Goals for Smart Data Collection

ApplicationsNew familiesMailing listAlumni donors

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55738177@N00/141616404/

Matterness-informed Decision-Making

Will this information help our organization to recognize, value, and hear our stakeholders?

Will this help us recognize stakeholders who can co-create, contribute, and become part of the organization?

Will this data connect us to those who care and will take action?

What matters to

stakeholders

Demonstrates you matter to stakeholders

Identifying who cares deeply

SMART Goals

Most engaging content

Conversation (public and private)

Participation in online events

Social referrals

Least engaging content

Participation when asked

Consistent sharing/conversation

Conversions

Clickthroughs Shares of content Recruits and acts when asked

Downloads, donations, etc.

Matterness + SMART Goals =

Share Pair: How do I do this?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/25171207@N02/4204137856/

Demystifying the Back End

https://www.flickr.com/photos/22748327@N07/2759410614/

Finding Metrics That Matter

Google Analytics

Google Analytics

What matters to

stakeholders

Demonstrates you matter to stakeholders

Identifying who cares deeply

SMART goals

Most engaging content

Conversation (public and private)

Participation in online events

Social referrals

Least engaging content

Participation when asked

Consistent sharing/conversation

Conversions

Clickthroughs Shares of content Recruits and acts when asked

Downloads, donations, etc.

Measuring Matterness in GA

Google Analytics Key Metrics

Live Tour of Google Analytics

• What content matters (top pages viewed, keywords)

• What’s sending viewers to your site (referring sites, social sources)

• How engaged are they (time on site/pages per visit)

• Actions taken (sales, leads, form completions)

What’s Referring To You?

What Content Matters Most?

For Each Metric, You Can…

• Find source

• What content was viewed

• Path behavior (exit page, next page, entrance page)

• Source

• Social network

• Time visited/day visited

• User demographics

Create Your Own GA Dashboard

Benchmarking Report (Is this a vanity metric?)

Benchmarking

• Enable under GA admin > account settings > select “Benchmarking”

• Find report under Audience > Benchmarking

• Reports compare channels, location, and devices against industry

Google Analytics Resources

• https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1008015?hl=en

• https://www.123-reg.co.uk/blog/search-engines/beginner-guide-to-google-analytics/

• http://nuphoriq.com/the-only-4-google-analytics-stats-you-need-to-watch/

• https://econsultancy.com/blog/65422-google-analytics-benchmarking-is-back-here-s-what-you-need-to-know/

Facebook

What appears in the newsfeed is influenced by…

• Number of comments, likes, and shares

• Recency of post

• Trending topic reference

• Views and viewing duration of video (and possibly all video)

• Fully expanded links

• Your interaction with the page or its posts

Recent Facebook Changes

• Time spent viewing stories becomes a factor determining what appears at the top of the News Feed.

• Content posted by the friends you care about will appear higher in the News Feed. 

• Reducing the appearance of overly promotional posts

Bookmark this page! (Stay up to date with Facebook newsfeed changes)https://blog.bufferapp.com/facebook-news-feed-algorithm

What matters to

stakeholders

Demonstrates you matter to stakeholders

Identifying who cares deeply

SMART goals

Most engaging content

Conversation (public and private)

Participation in online events

Social referrals

Least engaging content

Participation when asked

Consistent sharing/conversation

Conversions

Clickthroughs Shares of content Recruits and acts when asked

Downloads, donations, etc.

Measuring Matterness in FB

Live Tour of Facebook Insights

• What matters most (posts, video content)

• Who (demographics)

• Engagement (likes, shares, comments)

• Actions (clicks, views, engagements)

Facebook Key Metrics

What Motivates

What Engages

Content That Matters

SMART Data Collection

Creating Your Own Metrics Dashboard

Goals:

1.) New emails 2.) ID leaders 3.) $$

Have Two Metrics Dashboards• What you need for your daily & weekly

practice

• What’s resonating now• Regular monitoring• Channel size

• What you need to know that matters

• Comparisons over time• Content that resonates• Specific goal achievment• Engagement growth• Fans/superfans

Data Collectors: 3rd Party AppsSolutions that collate your analytics, or highlight selected data points:

Sprout Social (paid)

Cyfe (free/premium)

HootSuite (free/premium)

BufferApp (free)

Bitly (links metrics – free)

Iconosquare/Union Metrics (for Instagram - free)

ViralWoot (for Pinterest - free)Additional resource: https://blog.bufferapp.com/social-media-analytics-tools

Review Determine your data you need to measure

Check all three types of data: decision-making, goals progression, Matterness

Know how to find the data your need

Create a daily and quarterly measurement practice

Share your data with the organization

Your turn

What are the

questions

that you need

social or

website data

to answer?

Try it,

COME ON IN! THE WATER’S JUST RIGHT…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73344134@N00/2294162833/

Email: debra@communityorganizer20.comWebsite/blog: communityorganizer20.comLinkedin: linkedin.com/in/debraaskanaseTwitter: @askdebraOther slides: slideshare.net/debaskTelephone: (617) 682-2977

I’m happy to answer follow-up questions!