thefunnel

Web analytics is hard and difficult! How hard and difficult can it be? It’s only data. Only data? – that’s exactly what the problem is. Unfortunately many companies get stuck, trying to fit their existing marketing metrics thinking into the area of web analytics, when to be successful, it requires a whole new approach, and thinking, and understanding in the limitations of the data based on how it’s captured and configured, in addition to an investment both in technology and in people.  But before even looking at what to invest in, companies first need to decide what they want to measure and why. Too often things are just measured for the sake of measurements, without knowing what it means for the business.  Even if the data in some cases is taken to the next step, and analyzed, it often stops short in providing decision makers with actionable managerial information. So the first step is to work backwards from the high level business objectives and overall metrics, to understand where web analytics can provide some insight. If, it for some reasons doesn’t, that’s also ok, but then companies needs to not waste resources pretending. Secondly various business metrics needs to be holistically aligned. This means segmenting the data and isolating key audiences, so that all measurement sources segment the data in a similar way, aligned with the business / customer segmentation. For example, lets say the web satisfaction data is segmented into large and small businesses, but visitors tracked on the site can’t be filtered with the same granularity, and maybe this is not at all the way the business segments their customers, would basically mean that the measurement system is more or less useless (for business intelligence purposes). Even if the segmentation is aligned too often various business data live in silos and can’t be easily correlated. Thirdly, the business needs to invest in technology and people, because unfortunately good information does not come free. Technology is easy to acquire, but extracting the value from it, typically needs some unique resources. And I’m not talking about the mainstream marketing person. What is required is someone with a combination of analytical skills, business analysis skills, marketing skills and domain expertise. A quite common mistake in many companies is to not invest enough in analytics resources versus technology. And last but not least, any limitations, either because of system limitations or the way the system is configured also needs to be considered, because web analytics is often instead of being perfect or the aboslute truth, more about the trending.

A company’s website is the intersection where the business needs, the community of visitors and the technology that support this all comes together. In order to create an effective website strategy all these elements have to be clearly understood and agreed upon.

In order of priorities, it could be argued, which one comes first, business needs or visitors? What is clear though is that technology comes last. Every business obviously has its objectives, but without visitors there is no business. Therefore a careful analysis has to take place, where the website is looked at, not in isolation, but as part of the whole customer buying /selling / support cycle, to see where the best fit is, what new functions the website could perform or replace, and also accept that depending on the business, the web might not always be the one all solution. Only then can a comprehensive strategy with its accompanying roadmap be formulated. Many times in organizations the web strategy almost has a life of its own only loosely connected to the business. Goes without saying that this is a waste of resources and doesn’t maximize any business benefits. Once the core of the strategy has been formulated attention can be turn towards to “widget world”, and even then it’s not about widgets, it’s about how to maximize the user /visitor experience. The website has a function to play in the cycle and the questions is  how can this be achieved, in the most cost effective way, with the highest visitor satisfaction, and at the same time assuring that there’s some type of additional benefit to the business, such as converting the visitor to a lead, increase likelihood of visiting again etc. On the web it’s all about the smallest details and the voice of the customer can never be underestimated. Therefore a comprehensive usability analysis needs to be performed prior to implementation. One amazing thing is, that the web being a reasonably new marketing tool, and the best way to introduce all your new products, the expectation from the customer base goes much deeper than this. Many customers expect web support for legacy products that were introduced even years before the web, and will rate their satisfaction of a company based this. The website therefore becomes primarily a sustaining marketing tool, which many web marketers don’t like, but it all makes sense for an established business taking care of their existing customer base first, before trying to acquire new customers.

It’s all basic marketing. Understand the needs of your customers. Analyze how you best can serve these needs, while still making money. If it is the web, that’s ok, if not, that’s also ok. If it turns out that the web is the tool, and you can delight your customers with cool widgets – it’s a bonus.

Capitalizing on social media, the latest gold rush, marketers and managers afraid of being left behind, are scrambling to set up their company facebook pages, tweats, YouTube channels to satisfy then demands of their executives. But, is it really working, and worth while all the efforts? Why should a company spend all this time and effort on something that can’t be easily measured and may or may not generate any return, when at the same time, traditional proven marketing tactics are starving for resources?

Here’s a few simple things to consider before you engage too deeply in social media .

First of all, every industry and it’s customers are different. What might work for some doesn’t work for others. Companies have to fish where the fish is. So, know your industry trends, your customers, their preferences, and any underlying changes. You also want to understand where on the participation continuum your customers are. Are they spectators, joiners, collectors, critics or contributors?

Secondly, think about what you’re trying to achieve with your marketing tactics. What is the outcome? The outcome will determine your actions. A good model to use is POST (people, objectives, strategy and tactics). There’s also some good research / models about what impact different social media channels have on Brand, Demand and Traffic. For example, bookmarks might generate a reasonable amount of traffic, but has a very small impact on brand or demand.

Thirdly, when you want to embark on social media keep in mind that there are hundreds and hundreds of options out there. Most people only know a few of the mainstream ones, such as facebook, but in a industrial B-2-B setting, participating in Yahoo discussion groups, Wikipedia,  Slide share, Plaxo etc. might be way more productive. One of the most under utilized tactic in B-2-B is WOM (word of mouth), which in many cases is one of the leading sources of information for customers.

And finally organize all your tactics into one  of four buckets, listening, talking, energizing or supporting. This will help to keep things straight thinking about what you’re trying to provide to your customers.