Sharp Electronics and Web Analytics

Sharp Electronics uses web analytics, specifically Google Analytics, to measure traffic and conversions on their website.  Additionally, the electronics company uses the data from Google Analytics to evaluate advertising, social media and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts.  “If I run a commercial tomorrow night, am I spiking [in Web searches] then? Did they sign up for information? I can see engagement … and can match it [to a particular investment] (Enright, 2010),” says Neal Lattner, senior director of marketing for Sharp Electronics. 

Google Analytics – Goals, Funnels, and Filters…Oh My!

I have set up four goals on my blog’s Google Analytics page.  The basic aim behind these goals is to measure the engagement level of visitors to my blog site and use that insight to improve my blog content as well as layout.  According to a Malleck Design blog post, “Having 1-3 goals for your site is vital. Why only 3? Well, if you get any more than that then you will most likely overwhelm yourself, your designer and your users (MalleckDesign, n.d.).”

This blog entry discusses the three successfully created goals, as well as the one failed attempt.  I will also discuss the information that can be learned from each.

Goals set up for this blog site include:

• Page visits greater than one
• Site visit duration greater than two minutes
• Click on “About Michelle” link

• Register to “Follow by Email”

Google Analytics – Valuable Measurements and Their Significance

Google Analytics can provide a great deal of insight about your website or blog, the audience viewing (or not viewing), as well as the strengths and weaknesses of your site design and content.  It is critical to determine what measurements within Google Analytics are appropriate to evaluate the success of your site’s unique goals.  Goals for an ecommerce website may include goals related to sales, such as conversion rates showing the percentage of people who complete a sale of those that visited the product sites.  Goals for sites that are trying to build awareness and sell services related to some kind of expertise may measure the number of content pieces read on sites and how much of the content is read.  These types of sites might also like to analyze the success of the keywords in their content pieces by reviewing traffic sources and corresponding bounce rates.  Setting goals is important for the success of your website.  “Too many sites lack focus. They want to bombard the user with as much info as possible. People in general (and especially on the web) are short on attention and patience. You need Crystal clear focus on your site to keep people interested (MalleckDesign, n.d.).”

Content vs. Conversation

There is a debate in the social media world about the importance of content vs. conversation.  People feel strongly about the topic and emotions run high when they defend their stances.  The debate is regarding the importance of content and conversation and which one is “king.”  Ironically, both arguments admit the critical importance of the opposing view.  Those who feel that content is king argue that without good content, there is nothing to talk about.  Conversation enthusiasts acknowledge that it takes good content to spark conversation.

Content is King.

This side of the argument feels that content is what matters most; the rest will follow as long as the content is good enough.  “First, social marketing efforts need to be driven by content, not vice versa. Without content, there is not a whole lot to talk about (Greenberg, 2009).”

Conversation is King; content is just something to talk about.

People on this side of the debate feel that the importance of conversation triumphs over that of content.  “Content without conversation is just broadcasting, or just advertising.  It goes to the listener/reader/viewer/visitor… and stops there.  If the sender is lucky, it may lodge as a piece of information in the receiver’s consciousness, and they may act on it someday.  If the sender is luckier, or perhaps more engaging, it may be something that the receiver wants to talk about. And then the message gets a whole new burst of energy. The energy behind the message is what gives it meaning, and a life of its own. That happens because we humans like to communicate with each other (Novak, 2010).”

Considering Google and Facebook Advertising?

Google AdWords and Facebook Ads are both powerful tools and can both be quite beneficial for companies to use.  It is important to understand the differences in use and functionality between the two before choosing the platform that best fits your company, or making the determination to use both simultaneously.

Google AdWords

Google AdWords allows advertisers to create ads that will run on the Google search page.  The set up process is simple and rather quick.  Advertisements are not only displayed on the Google search page, but also on the Display Network.  “The Google Display Network lets you place ads on a variety of news sites, blogs and other niche sites across the internet to reach more potential customers (Display Network, n.d.).”  The network includes aol.com, ask.com, earthlink.com and nytimes.com (AdWords, n.d.).  Google AdWords also targets your advertisement to relevant searches.   “Using your keywords, Google's contextual targeting technology can automatically match your ads to webpages in our Display Network that are most relevant to your business (AdWords, n.d.).”

Facebook Ads

According to the Facebook page, the key benefits to using Facebook Advertising are:

Pages – “Build your Facebook presence, share content with people who like your Page, and reach new customers (Facebook, n.d.).”

Ads and Sponsored Stories – “Reach the people who like your Page and their friends with ads and sponsored stories on Facebook (Facebook, n.d.).”

Transform – “Transform your website into a social experience with plug-ins and custom apps (Facebook, n.d.).”

Facebook advertising also allows for highly customizable placement for advertisements.  It is possible to drill down into the demographic details so that you are able to choose, very specifically, which demographics will drive who will see your ad.  Using demographics such as age, gender, religion, language, education, connection, interests is going to result in exactly the desired people seeing your ad.

Great…I still don’t know which one is right for me!

Like I said in the beginning of this post, both Google AdWords and Facebook Advertising are powerful tools.  How do you choose which one is right for you?  You have to consider your advertising goals and determine which platform will help you reach them.

Google Adwords is more popular, and is likely to be the page that a prospective customer turns to when they need a produc or a service.  In short, “Google AdWords allow you to advertise to people who are already looking for your product or service (Lewis, 2011).”  On the other hand, Facebook advertising is the clear winner when it comes to slicing and dicing the audience in order to show the most relevant content to users.  One key differentiator between the two platforms is the average clickthrough rate of each organization.  AdWords averages a click through rate of 2% and Facebook Ads averages a CTR of about 0.051% (Lewis, 2011).  While these numbers are important, they also fail to show the entire story.  Determining which platform is right for you still depends on what your advertising goals are and who you are trying to reach.  If your target audience doesn’t go onto Facebook frequently, the it probably doesn’t make sense for you to advertise there.

References

AdWords.  (n.d.)  Retrieved June 11, 2012, from https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=adwords&hl=en_US&ltmpl=jfk&passive=false&ifr=false&alwf=true&continue=https://adwords.google.com/um/gaiaauth?apt%3DNone%26ltmpl%3Djfk%26ltmpl%3Djfk&error=newacct&sacu=1&sarp=1

Display Network.  (n.d.)  Retrieved June 11, 2012, from http://www.google.com/ads/displaynetwork/

Facebook.  (n.d.)  Retrieved June 11, 2012, from http://www.facebook.com/business

Lewis, M.  (2011, December 28).  Google AdWords vs. Facebook advertising.  Netwirks.  Retrieved June 11, 2012, from http://www.netwirks.com/google-adwords-vs-facebook-advertising/

History of Web Analytics…What a History!

The web analytics market has undergone such rapid change since 1995, it is amazing!  It is understandable that analytics have changed so much in the past 15 years, especially when you look at how much the internet has changed in that time period.  According to Pew’s Internet & American Life Project, “only about 15% of American adults were using the Internet in 1995, with many online users still getting their news from services like AOL and Prodigy (Shedden, 2010).”  According to the same study, in 2010, 79% of adults in America were using the internet (Shedden, 2010).  The number of internet users in America in 2000 was approximately 95 million, compared to about 245 million in March of 2012 (Internet World, n.d.). 

These statistics are astounding, but explain the growth of web analytics.  Where there is success, someone will figure out a way to capitalize on it, whether through pay per click advertising or search engine optimization service offerings.  I think the biggest shift in the history of web analytics was during the 2004 – 2006 “Becoming Part of a Process Ecosystem (Perley Isaac, 2012)” phase.  During this phase, “a previously technology-centric market was evolving into a process-centric market.  In short, it was becoming more mature (Perley Isaac, 2012).”  This was a key time period in the history of web analytics from a marketing perspective. 

During the time period known as “Stage 3 (Perley Isaac, 2012),” the field of web analytics began to take on more of it’s current role where people don’t simply want to see trackers on homepages showing the number of visitors to the site, instead they started to see the benefit in tracking how customers are finding sites, what is working well on the website and what can be improved, and they started to work on putting this information to use in order to improve practices.

The internet has changed so dramatically over the last 15 years, it’s intriguing to consider what it might look like in another 15 years – in 2027.  It will either become even more of a bustling virtual metropolis than it already is, or it will become a barren ghost town as people start to feel overwhelmed with the sheer volume of information (both legitimate and not so much) available at their fingertips.

References

Internet World Stats.  (n.d.)  Retrieved June 4, 2012, from http://www.internetworldstats.com/top20.htm

Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism, West Virginia University (2012). Lesson 2: Basic Web Analytics, Retrieved May 21, 2012, from the WVU eCampus website: https://ecampus.wvu.edu

Shedden, D.  (2010, September 17).  Pew graphic: Internet use 1995 - 2000.  Poynter.  Retrieved June 4, 2012, from http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/business-news/transformation-tracker/105713/pew-graphic-internet-use-1995-2010/

Say It Ain’t So, Microsoft!

Last week, Microsoft announced features of its to-be released Internet Explorer 10, which will launch as part of Windows 8.  One feature in particular, has been making headlines, the “Do Not Track (DNT)” feature.  Microsoft has opted to default the DNT feature to “on,” upsetting some using behavioral targeting as a basis for ad targeting as well as inciting conversations about the reasons behind Microsoft’s programming choice. 

Microsoft claims this move is a result of their desire to protect consumers’ privacy, saying “While some people will say that this change is too much and others that it is not enough, we think it is progress and that consumers will favor products designed with their privacy in mind over products that are designed primarily to gather their data (Clay, 2012).” 

However, onlookers are quick to point out that Microsoft may be trying to affect Google’s bottom line, blog contributor for Forbes, Kelly Clay, even goes so far as to say, “With IE10, Microsoft is intending to both be creating a better browser than Google Chrome, and trying to squash Google’s entire business model by turning on “Do Not Track” by default (Clay, 2012).”  The reason for the accusations is that Google enjoys a large amount of ad revenue coming from the ability to target ads to consumers based upon information collected about them during browsing sections.  Microsoft does not have as much ad revenue generated in this fashion.  VentureBeat contributor, Tom Cheredar, writes, “Reading between the lines a bit, it’s easy to see that this move will clearly win over some of Microsoft’s customers. And even if its advertising revenue suffers in the long run, Microsoft isn’t a company that’s entirely reliant on its ad business. One of Microsoft’s major competitors, Google, can’t say the same (Cheredar, 2012).”

I personally have mixed feelings about this phenomenon.  While I don’t necessary like the thought of being tracked all the time (it feels a bit stalker-esque when I put a lot of thought into it), I do appreciate seeing advertisements that cater to my interests and behaviors.  I also see this situation from a marketer’s point of view and know how frustrating it already is to see “not provided” in my Google Analytics results. 

The timing of this announcement causes concern for some.  “The change could also threaten the still-nascent privacy standard, and prompt an ad industry revolt against it…the change could backfire by undermining the loose coalition working to create a standard, in the web’s usual, messy, multi-stakeholder way (Singel, 2012).”

In any case, it is clear that many people in the marketing industry are frustrated with the default feature and that numerous onlookers are guessing that Microsoft is trying to slow down the progress of Google.  One this is for sure…a move like this will certainly shake things up!

References

Cheredar, T.  (2012, June 1).  Microsoft has more to gain than lose from IE10’s default ‘Do Not Track option.  VentureBeat.  Retrieved June 4, 2012, from http://venturebeat.com/2012/06/01/ie10-default-do-not-track/

Clay, K..  (2012, June 4).  Is Microsoft going after Google with IE10?  Forbes.  Retrieved June 4, 2012, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2012/06/04/is-microsoft-going-after-google-with-ie10/

Singel, R.  (2012, May 31).  In ad network nightmare, Microsoft making ‘Do Not Track’ Default for IE10.  Wired.  Retrieved June 4, 2012, from http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/05/ie10-do-not-track/