Web measurement and web analytics programs can be complex and face many technological, process and cultural challenges. We here at Critical Mass Marketing Science help our clients overcome these problems using a combination of best practice modeling, innovative thinking and the latest technology.
Problem #1 – Unreliable Data
Are the numbers you’re looking at accurate? Do they represent what you think they represent? Is everything being captured that should be? Data collection systems, especially web analytics, are complex and as a result they are also easy to mess up or break.
So what causes web analytics data to be unreliable? There are couple of common reasons, but they both relate to how the coding is done.
Most commonly we see analytics “tagging” that is incomplete or wasn’t customized correctly. This can happen for several reasons, but more importantly, how can we fix it?
A recent technology has now proven its effectiveness in solving this issue, it’s called Tag Management Systems, or Universal Tagging.
Complex online ecosystems can result in a variety of tags, not just web analytics tags, but advertising beacons, testing tags, affiliate tracking and more. It’s no surprise that in such a complex environment even slight changes to the website can cause tagging errors. Tag management systems take the complexity of tagging out of the developers hands and places it back with the measurement teams. Essentially, one simple tag is placed on the site, usually in some universal component so new site additions won’t be missing it. Then, the measurement teams can control the more complex tagging requirements of the site–multiple tags can be added, removed, changed or updated–without redeploying the site.
Critical Mass uses a custom tool like this on one of our biggest and most data-driven clients to effectively manage their analytics tagging installation. Also, we are currently conducting tests on new vendor tools, including one called Ensighten which promises even more effective tag management.
The other common problem we see with unreliable data is that web analytics code WAS properly installed, but then stopped working.
Fortunately, another new technology is now available. These tools are called analytics Audit and Monitoring tools. It seems like a fairly generic name but complex web environments means that more robust quality assurance tools are needed. These systems scan your website and are capable of detecting a variety of different tags. They then record what tags are firing where and with what variables. More importantly, they alert you to pages which aren’t tagged or where tagging has changed. They can even fill out forms and go through shopping carts to ensure some of the most important actions on your website are tagged and reporting properly.
There are a few vendors in this space that we have evaluated. One of the leaders is a tool called ObservePoint created by one of the founders of Omniture, which we have leveraged for many of our largest clients to provide constant monitoring of their installations.
Complex websites demand complex measurement solutions and unfortunately the web analytics systems are often the last thing on the minds of those involved in website changes. Particularly if your agency isn’t doing development but internal or off shore parties are doing the work, we’ve noticed that the likelihood of tagging problems occurring increases significantly. We’ve also seen many instances where analytics is not a priority in the IT department and there is no direct accountability in that Tech department for marketing performance, so errors can sometimes go uncorrected for far too long.
Now that our data is accurate, this brings us to our second problem…
Problem #2 – Complicated Reporting
Web data itself is massive and complex. When you start to combine web analytics with other data like CRM and sales, the result can be… well… complex. As businesses begin to leverage web analytics data, we’ve noticed a couple of key problems come up regarding reporting needs.
Firstly, multiple reports which go to multiple stakeholders and need to be delivered quickly. One of our clients required over 30 reports, each one totally unique, to be delivered within two days! Each of these reports required different kinds of data, and had to be distributed to stakeholders all over the world. Actionability is directly related to on-time report delivery.
Our solution? Deliver the reports in a new and innovative way using Web Based Reporting and Data Warehousing.
We worked with a vendor who specialized in data warehousing and online reporting to develop individually customized reports. These reports were populated with data that was automatically imported from the web analytics systems as well as several other sources. Next, a simple-to-use series of custom interfaces were created where various world-wide stakeholders could access their individually customized reports at anytime from anywhere.
We’ve also noticed a second problem in that data and dashboards need to be accessible at anytime from anywhere, and not just in an email that would quickly be deleted or forgotten. Often, our clients would train several stakeholders in how to use the analytics system, but because it wasn’t often used they forgot how to access the data they needed. Emails with large dashboard attachments often get deleted or filed without even being opened, and executives who are seldom at their desk had no immediate access to important data when they needed it. Even web based reports are often not convenient enough for busy executives as they need relevant web data at their fingertips to help manage their business wherever they happen to be.
One thing that stakeholders do tend to find convenient is their mobile phones, hence this innovation of Mobile-Delivered Dashboards. Web analytics and other data can now be delivered directly to smartphones in a customized app that is intuitive and easy to use. Not only do these tools deliver dashboards, but they also offer some forms of interaction with the data and the ability to drill further in as need be.
There is a variety of vendors which offer mobile applications. Generally though, they fall into two categories, data warehousing generalists, and web analytics specialists. Which way to go is a matter of deciding upon the complexity of the data you want to use, and the power of the interface required. Generally data warehouse apps have more robust tools, but web analytics only versions are simpler to run on a day-to-day basis and may have no additional licensing costs. Web analytics vendors like Omniture are now offering far more sophisticated mobile apps, like the SiteCatalyst iPhone app.
Now that we have tagging and reporting problems out of the way, let’s focus in on our third measurement challenge…
Problem #3 – All reports, No action!
You have good data, you have great customized reports, but no one is doing anything with the information. This category of problem is not so easily solved with new technology. At the core, we’ve found that the effectiveness of a web measurement program is generally driven by the organizations predominant culture, whether it be a Culture of Advertising, a Culture of Research or a Culture of Accountability. (More on this in a later post.)
But regardless of a massive question such as the current and ideal culture of your organization, what steps can be taken to evolve your measurement program to start getting some action out of your data? There are a couple of key building blocks that we’ve noticed can be missing.
- Perhaps you don’t have clear objectives, or KPIs. No one really knows what the website is supposed to be accomplishing, or decisions about your website are being made by the highest paid persons opinion.
- Perhaps you don’t have the resources. Your tech department may be managing your analytics implementation, but no one really understands it or is leveraging it. Maybe your BI department added web analytics to their practice, but they treat it like any other data source. You have to know what to ask for, and by the time you get a report it may be too late to take action, or the data might not be relevant to the business problem you’re trying to solve.
-Most importantly, if no one is watching the site data on a regular basis, then likely no one is looking for ways to improve it.
Let’s have a look at the Critical Mass Marketing Science approach to solving this set of problems more holistically utilizing industry best practices.
First, a Holistic Analytics Approach is required. Using data to help improve specific projects is a great start, but in the end measurement affects your entire online ecosystem as well as your organization as a whole. We recommend a multi-tier approach as being able to compete online means understanding analytics at every level.
When initiating specific web projects, its important to leverage web analytics to understand the current situation to help inform the project, clarify exactly what the project is supposed to do, then measure and optimize once the project is in place. At the digital ecosystem level, where your website, your site, social media efforts and your mobile apps all exist, an ongoing measurement and optimization program must be in place. Engaging in a continuous improvement process will allow you to compete. Everything starts at the enterprise level. The first thing to do is understand where your company is at now with analytics and where it’ needs to go. Defining and following this roadmap is critical for success.
At CM, we also use a Web Analytics Maturity Model to help lay out this roadmap.
As you can see maturing in analytics requires a significant amount of skills, budget, time and talent. Maturing your measurement program requires an investment some executives aren’t yet aware they’ll need to make. Partially funded, and partially owned analytics programs fail time after time. There is so much more I could share when it comes to properly setting up your measurement program for success, but I’ll leave you today with these peaks at solutions to the most common challenges we see clients facing. For a bit more detail on each of these solutions, please check out my recent webinar presentation. And of course, for questions on these or any other obstacles in your program, feel free to leave a note in the comments.
Dan is a Marketing Science Director out of the CM Toronto office.
