Analytics- Can You Measure It ?
I was taught by Alex Mandossian and several other top marketers that if you could not measure your results and actions you could never tell where you were and if anyone cared.
That is pretty sage advice for internet marketers who should seek continuous improvement by seeing what actually happened, and the details of who came,how long did they stay,what did they do,where did they leave from and if possible why. The answer to these questions comes from analytics.
Analytics Tools
Gabriel Chu and CK Wong of 80/20 Media have produced a course called Fastrack Analytics. Both of these chaps are Google Certified Analytics Individuals and have MBA’s and a wealth of experience working in the field for their own products and services and for clients. They not only teach but they do it.
Analytics Training Review
They have launched an analytics training product today and are selling it on the site for the princely sum of USD 27.00.- One Time Payment-No continuity I bought it and find it has a number of features new to intermediate marketers could learn from. The link to the site at Fasttrackanalytics.com is not an affiliate link but presented as a choice for well presented training.
In the course they have :
▪ Hours Of Videos Covering Google Analytics Essentials, Video Analytics, Email Analytics, Analytics For Facebook and other social media properties
▪ Learn Pay Per Click, Social Media, SEO Metrics And Considerations.
▪ Intermediate Tips And Tricks On Setting Up And Tracking Your Site Quickly And Effective Analytics Hacks For Marketers!
▪ Detailed Checklists To Take Beginners And Intermediate Users Alike Along In Tracking Campaigns Effectively.
Watch the video below as they explain their site
It is well worth purchasing if you want to improve your site or blog or have a desire to get a primer on analytics.
Testing to Improve Conversion- Yes
Testing is one of the most important concepts that an internet marketer can learn.
There is a very helpful site that I have found that is operated by Anne Holland, the founder of Marketing Sherpa. Anne and Natalie Myers provide a weekly test to test your skills on testing and judgement of various presentations of information.Which test Won is very engaging and draws you in for more. It is not a site for testing and analytic geeks but a site primarily for marketers who want to improve their craft and conversions.
The current week testing post compares headlines,subject lines in emails and copy in order to determine a winner, in terms of revenue.
You can also find very useful Testing-Free PDF’s, and Testing Videos to assist you in your testing practices. They will help you learn how, why and when to do your testing as well as yield valuable tips on what to test. You can learn a great deal from this site and from 66 past tests that will help you better optimize your site(s) for revenue creation.
You can always learn by testing.
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While newspaper readership maybe waning for old style broadsheet and tabloid papers , there are some media outlets that are being given new life by technology.
Demographics have a lot to do with this trend and the current 20 yr old is more apt to receive their news on their mobile devices. I discovered this when I asked my 23 yr old daughter a question about a news item and she responded that she had gotten an alert message on her smartphone about it a few minutes earlier. I thought I knew the younger folks but I learn something new every day.
She is not alone in this habit according to a Pew Internet and American Life Project Report, Understanding The Participatory News Consumer
“The survey reports that some 37% of US cell-phone users get their news online on their wireless devices and that
72% check weather reports on their cell
68% get news and current events information on their cell
49% have downloaded an application that allows them to access news, weather, sports, or other information on their cell
44% check sports scores and related information on their cell
35% check traffic information on their cell
32% get financial information or updates
31% get news alerts sent by text or email to their phones
88% say yes to at least one of the above
Overall, cell users under age 50 are almost three times as likely as their older counterparts to get news on the go (43% v. 15%), and they engage in all cell-based news consumption activities at higher rates than older cell phone users. ”
One company that is helping the old newspaper industry keep up is the Canadian startup Spreed Inc. which provides the platform for the Toronto Globe and Mail to be on wireless smartphones today and has allowed the paper to serve up over 7.5 to 10 million ages views a month. Their Director of Marketing, Dave Coleman was interviewed at Podcamp Toronto 2010 and described the initiatives underway o the Iphone.
Geolocation and analytics are giving a lot of local advertisers new opportunities to have have coupons or targtted messages delivered when a consumer is within a radius of the business and to know the size of their local mobile market. Given the number of Iphones, the introduction of the Iphone 4,Ipad and Blackberry’s in the US this is likely to ramp up considerably in the months ahead. To learn more about these mobile apps and ad serving platform you can go to Spreed Inc or read theSpreed Blog at
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A lot of marketers leave money on the table and do not use their real estate to maximum advantage.
1. Are you presenting your offer and value proposition clearly. Do not have more than one offer at a time on your landing age. A confused mind does not buy.
2. Is your site navigation geared to the buyer in a way that tells them what’s in it for me? Make sure your copy is geared to the marketing persona(s) that is (are) reading it and that you understand the benefits and solutions that your product provides. It does not matter how pretty your site is, it matters only if it converts. Different types of buyers react differently. Some buyers are looking for reviews or social proof, others
3. Use the data your analytics provides to give you the insights on what works and receives the most interest by your readers and then optimize that area before all other things. Understand it is not what you think, but what your readers think and do and make sure your sales process is driven by data not hunches. Today it is so easy to get great insights for free.
4. Be open to testing your offers and their components on an ongoing basis. This will allow you to boost your revenue and improve your customers experience. Model proven winners and ideas from companies like Amazon who have it down to a science. Don’t reinvent the wheel but let the customers ideas drive the car. Here is a little tool assistance from conversion expert Bryan Eisenberg
5. Use your thank you page for two purposes. One thank them for their business and trust and two place complimentary ads for your other products or products that you are an affiliate for. This can boost revenue and you can switch out offers to test and optimize.
6. Do not forget to provide crystal clear instructions to your buyer if you are selling digital products and hold their hand, tell them what to do next, making it simple for them to buy, and receive your product. Always obtain their correct email address and make sure they confirm it as a means of the product delivery. Communicate directly with them highlighting the benefits they will get with your product. Do not let them go without giving them a special extra bonus that they were not expecting a day or two after they have bought. Continue the conversation with buyers with more content in your autoresponder. This will cut your refunds down and give the buyer more chance to get to know,like and trust you.
7. If you are selling a physical product such as a DVD or Book include a postcard in it where you make another offer and or tell them about an extra bonus such as a free forum membership in your forum or customer community. This can promote customer intimacy and provide you more market research for what your next product will be.
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Do You Know Your Numbers: The Whats and the Whys of Analytic Data
No, I am not talking about your Social Security Number or your telephone numbers. I am talking about your Web Analytics. What numbers are important and what are the keys to understanding your site and its visitors.
I will give you a brief overview below but I would encourage you to get into the habit of reading the blogs of the masters in this field and the books that they have published . My first and foremost leader and teacher is Avinash Kaushik author of the blog Occam’s Razor and books under the Sybex imprint, Web Analytics in an Hour a Day and Web Analytics 2.0 The Art of Online Accountability & The Science of Customer Centricity. To get a scan view of the best analytics blogs subscribe to Alltop’s Top Web Analytics which might be like asking you to sip from a firehose.
The others I would encourage you to follow are Bryan Eisenberg and Mitch Joel Eisenberg is the author of the New York Times bestseller Call to Action and co-author of a/b always be testing- The Complete Guide to Website Optimizer. Mitch Joel, a prominent thought leader in digital marketing is the author of the book Six Pixels of Separation :Everyone is Connected Connect Your Business to Everyone. He also has a podcast with the same name where the “cool guys” like Chris Brogan, Julien Smith,CC Chapman,Mitch and others do sort of a weekly call “Media Hacks” as well as a number of interviews. I include Joel who is not an analytics maven but who is very very good at the insights and creative dimension of the Why? side of Web 2.0 and who Google calls in to consult on marketing.
I describe analytics in two camps the What Has happened and the Why It Did and What You Can Do About It. The former being more quantitative and the latter qualitative.
There are a number of tools you can use that are free for the quantitative view.
If your site has a Cpanel installation you can use Awstats . It provides counts on who has visited,where did they come from, what kind of browser did they use,what kind of operating system, what search engine bots have visited and a lot of other specific data.
You can place Google Analytics Code, Clicky Code Code on your site for more detailed analysis at no cost. Both tools have reporting interfaces that are customizable to your needs.
For the qualitative side Google’s free Website Optimizer Tool allows you to to a variety of tests on the landing pages and content you have placed. You can do simple A/B testing, where you test two variations of content, for example changing the content of a headline or the colour of the type separately to find what converts better . You can do multivariate testing also on various variables and variations and see and test them to maximize your returns. The video below explains it’s use for you:
The 4Q tool by iperceptions is a free tool which provides you answers directly from your users and their experience with your site. This can yield valuable Voice of the Customer Information and your users can rate their experience. See below as Avinash Kaushik introduces it to you.
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