The world of online marketing is evolving fast and 2010 promises to be explosive in terms of social media engagement. The extent of accurate measurement of these efforts is going to play a major deciding role in differentiating all business successes. Measuring your web engagements , be it the website or the social media efforts, isn’t about the volume; it’s about identifying the critical few performance indicators that aligns with your goals, assists with insights and eventually drives the business forward.


Web Analytics is the biggest weapon available to businesses of all size in their battle for insights. Yet, while currently about 70% of consumers are shopping online at least once, researches have revealed that nearly 60% of the businesses still under utilize this critical power house of online customer information. The biggest data management revolution in recent years has happened in the form of free Analytics tools from Google & Yahoo. A lot more followed, but Google Analytics still commands the major market share due to the simplicity of its installation and constantly expanding robust reporting features.


I have always been a huge fan of simple & holistic approach to solutions.


Here’s a basic 4 step analysis model I’ve been following for quite some time and currently implement at Curve Trends Marketing.


This has more than enabled me to gain business insights and action on :

• Prospect Acquisition, Retention & Conversion


• Nurture Existing Customers

while deriving outcomes in terms of

• Lower Costs


• Increased Revenue


• Improved Customer Experience

Step 1 – Assess the Current State of your Business	Gain  Insights and Action on a) Prospect Acquisition, Retention & Conversion b) Nurture Existing Customers	Step 2- Identify  goals, establish benchmarks & report on basic key metrics that drives visitor behavior
Step 4 – Answer the “Why” in Customer Behavior – Qualitative Analysis , Usability Testing & Competitive Analysis	Derive Outcomes a) Lower Costs b) Increased Revenue c) Improved Customer Experience	Step 3- Customize  the “Critical Few” actionable “Key Performance Indicators” Dashboard  that is Unique to Your Goals & Your Customers

If you are currently new to the concept of Web Analytics tools or just getting acquainted with customer behavior through click stream analysis, you might want to start taking those tiny incremental steps of establishing your basic metrics first.


BASIC METRICS

But once you are ready to dive deeper into your customer world, it becomes imperative that you start pursuing the advanced segmentation & analysis.


No advanced analysis can be complete without understanding the “why” in customer behavior. Why did they come to your web site? Why did they react the way they did? Why did they leave? Did they get confused with the layout? What were they crazy about? Customer surveys, benchmarking, A/B testing (where you test 2 different versions of the web page) are some common channels for answering these questions. Capturing the voice of customer (VOC), will enhance your user experience & improve customer satisfaction.

• Segmentation


• Understanding Intent of Visit


• Customized Traffic Source Analysis


• Multichannel Measurement Including Offline Efforts & Social Media Campaigns

They say “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer”. Unless you understand the modus operandi of your competition, you will not be able to set yourself apart. Competitive Intelligence helps to understand industry trends that integrates with the insights derived from Web Analytics and enhances your outcomes. There are several free tools including Google’s Insights for Search available to help you accomplish your competitive analysis.


Whatever you do, always remember the key to your success lies with identifying your unique Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), for objectives you have set for your online actions, before starting to monitor and measure them.


Still unsure? Or are you already an Analytics Ninja? Let us know your role and how you are leveraging this powerful tool to drive your business.


Wishing you a safe ,successful & measurable 2010!


-Bibi