Regarding analytics

Karne Breen Vogel of Chicago's ClearGauge spoke this morning on measurement and analytics. A few things that stuck out: 

• The data isn't what is important in evaluating success but the trends it indicates are. 
  
• The generic measure of success online is: Was the visit successful for the visitor? 
  

Regarding Analytics: 

The evolution of online measurment and analytics is proceeding from simple traffic to path analysis to key performance indicators...financial valuation (putting a monetary value on the visitor) and predictive analytics (looking at behavioral and attitudinal data to predict customer behavior) are less developed at this time. 

Part of the message of this presentation is to do something that makes sense...determine what's important to measure and define metrics for it: what a download is worth...here's what a page view is worth....in many ways this is at the heart of the return on marketing investment modelling that we often use. 

Four Steps to implementing analytics for clients:

1. Establish ownership: whoever owns the business goals should own the metrics and analytics

2. Tie to goals of the business

3. Define visitor success miletone points...what is point where you can measure visitor success on the site

4. Create key performance indicators

Examples of KPIs include:

• Lead qualification: Ratio of lead to unqualified; unique visitors to qualifid leads; cost per qualified lead; qualified lead to sale; timet o close;
  
• Lead generation
  
• Increase revenue
  
• Prospect engagement/education
  
• Awareness: return visitors to visitors
  
• Reduce costs
  
• Prospect need fulfillment
  
• Ritual/behavior change

Examples of tools for collecting data on KPIs can be broken into two types, based on the data type:

For attitudinal data: 

• usability testing
  
• online focus group
  
• intercept surveys

For behavioral data: 

• multivariate testing
  
• webanalytics