measure, rinse, repeat! choosing the right metrics to better understand & reach your audience

#musedata

Measure, Rinse, Repeat!

Choosing the Right Metrics to Better Understand & Reach Your Audience

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What digital analytics is often about

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“So What?”Digital analytics is often about:

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What digital analytics is really about:

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Your goal: use data to tell a story What was happening. What it meant. What you did. What’s happening now.

forbes.com

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There is a systematic, step-by-step process Articulate your program’s goals. Decide strategies to achieve those

goals. Decide tactics to pursue the

strategies. Decide what and how to measure

to validate the tactics. Benchmark to get a sense of

what’s normal. homedit.com

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Articulate specific goals Express what you’re trying to

accomplish. Make high-level goals more

specific: “Increase influence” - too broad. “Become the definitive source on

Smithsonian history” - more specific. Specificity makes it easier to

identify strategies and tactics. Not too many!

It’s a Wonderful Life

Start the conversation! Articulate goals and next steps on your own; work with management to finalize.

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Determine strategies & tactics Strategies – the plans you make to achieve the goals.

Employing social media is a strategy. Tactics – the things you do to advance the strategy.

Producing a specific type of content is a tactic. Individual channels (facebook, twitter) are tactics.

Per the example: Goal: “Become the definitive source on Smithsonian history.” Strategy: Increase engagement with history of the Smithsonian content. Tactic: Make SI-history content more findable and measureable.

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Decide how to measure your tactics Choose measurements to learn if

your tactics are succeeding. Choose a few measurements. Trend them over time.

Per the example: Strategy: increase engagement with SI

history website content. Tactic: make website history content more

findable / measureable. Make a “history-content” segment and

measure for engagement: Visit frequency Visit depth Bounce rate

History-related visits

All visits

“Deep history visits” were 94% higher!

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Decide how to measure your tactics (cont’d)

Acquisition-related goals Sessions Users Campaigns New vs Returning Entrances Referrals

Engagement-related goals Session frequency Page depth Time on site Bounce rate Events

Content-related goals Pageviews Page depth Bounce rate

Issue-related goals Event-based conversions (exits from on-site

search results, etc.) Contact form submissions Funnel abandonment

Design-related goals Users / Events flow Page depth Time on site Funnel abandonment

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The measurements you choose depends on your goals:

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Examples!

Measureable Goal: Increase social media followers in the 5 key regions by 20%

Tactic: Facebook and Twitter Ads targeted to the five regions

Measurement: Twitter and Facebook followers by geography

Measureable Goal: Increase website sessions and engagement from 5 key regions by 20%

Tactic: Google AdWords targeted to the five regions

Measurement: sessions, pageviews, page depth, time on site

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Broad goal Raise national visibility, especially in five key regions

Strategy Digital advertising in the five key regions

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"I got 20 retweets! Wait – is that good?" You can’t set targets w/o benchmarks. You need at least six months of data.

Data is seasonal. Depends on how much traffic your site gets.

Pull data regularly! Some APIs limit 3rd party tools to 28 days of data.

Balance targets with factors beyond your control: Are improvements you’re seeking difficult to achieve? How much resources will you have to implement tactics?

news.com.au

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CBS News

Choosing social media metrics

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“Quantity of Stuff” metrics No actionable data Establish scope / context Measure growth / acquisition

Number of Followers• FB• TW• Instagram• Pinterest

Number of ‘Likes’• FB Pages• FB Content• Instagram• Pinterest• FB post views

http://janicesyearinsunderland.blogspot.com

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“Quantity-Plus” metrics Still about quantity, but more meaningful. Show the type of content your audience responds to. Basic

Reach (FB) Post-Clicks (FB) Website visits referred by social properties

Better - “mini-conversions” Retweets (TW) Favorites (TW) Comments (FB) Shares (FB)

http://socialmediatoday.com

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A classic blog post… Avinash Kaushik’s Best Social Media Metrics Conversation Rate

# of Audience Comments (or Replies) Per Post Amplification Rate

# of Retweets Per Tweet # of Shares Per Post # of “Share Clicks” Per Post (or Video)

Applause Rate # of Favorite Clicks Per Post (TW) # of Likes Per Post (FB) # of #1s Per Post (Goog+) # of +1s and Likes Per Post (or video) (Blog / YouTube)

Economic Value Primarily intended for revenue-driven businesses Sum of Short and Long Term Revenue and Cost Savings Goal is to identify macro and micro conversions and then compute economic value.

A manual spreadsheet is available, here, or…

Kaushik’s blog Occam's Razor is a great resource for making web analytics fun and understandable.

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Trendable social metrics – YAY!

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TrueSocialMetrics offers an automated solution. http://www.truesocialmetrics.com/ Free / $30 per month / $100 per month / $350/month plans

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Here is the bottom line! Your measurements validate your

tactics (or not). On a campaign by campaign

basis, you can use “quantity-plus” metrics to tell your story.

“Here was the goal. We did this. That happened. It was the best EVER!

But to improve your overall program, you need more refined, trendable metrics.

NY Daily News

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LifewithDogs.tv

Choosing website metrics

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Dimensions and Metrics Dimensions describe the data, or an

attribute of the user (“what”): Traffic source City Page

Metrics measure the data (“how many,” “how long”): Sessions Bounce rate Time on page

Lunametrics Optimizesmart Dimensions & Metrics Explorer (Google)

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Optimizesmart

Dimensions Metrics

GA’s familiar color-coding helps you keep track of Dimensions and Metrics.

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The inevitability of “Quantity of Stuff” No actionable data

Sessions (previously Visits) Users (previously Visitors) Pages (a.k.a. Pageviews)

Establish scope / context. Measure growth / acquisition. You can’t improve your site by measuring these. Reporting them out of context can be misleading.

“All data in aggregate is crap.” -- Avinash Kaushik

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Engagement metrics are more meaningful “Quantity-Plus” for websites. Proxies for user engagement. Under Audience >> Behavior

Frequency & Recency Page Depth (“Engagement”) “New vs. Returning” (e-nor post)

Use with segments: Traffic from search engines Traffic from mobile devices

Do not rely on Session Duration or Avg. Time on Page in a vacuum. Due to technical issues

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Segmentation: GA’s most powerful feature? Analyze subsets of traffic.

Search engine visits Social media visits Demographics

Import expert-made segments from the Solutions Gallery!

Google Blog Kissmetrics Overview Examples (Cutroni) Examples (Kaushik)

Segments are accessed by clicking “Add Segment”. “Organic Traffic” is shown.

All Users

Organic (Search Engine) Traffic

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Deeper understanding with Conversion Goals A conversion is any measureable behavior with an

implicitly (or explicitly) higher value. Conversion rates are more informative than just counting. They enable you to judge and compare metrics

regardless of how much traffic a site gets. Typical conversion goals:

Destination (ex: thanks.html) Duration (ex: 5 minutes or more) Pages/Screens per session (ex: 3 pages) Event (download PDF, play video)

REQUIRES CODE

Studying conversion rates levels the playing field, versus merely counting!

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‘Event Tracking’ is super-important More sophisticated Goals typically involve creating “Events”:

External links Sign-ups, form submissions Downloads Many types of conversion goals

To use Events: Define and categorize events. Configure and add the javascript code, usually right in the link (not always). Many social-share widgets automatically add Events. Google Analytics Event Organizer (Smithsonian’s Michelle Herman) The Complete Google Analytics Event Tracking Guide Plus 10 Amazing Examples (old

code, good examples)

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Universal Analytics means all new code We are (still…) in phase three of a four-phased,

multi-year rollout. All GA accounts have been migrated to Universal,

but many website pages still carry the old code. Phase 4: legacy code will be deprecated (date TBD

– “in the near future”). “Data received from deprecated libraries will... be

processed for a minimum of two years…” You should upgrade your code SOON! You also need to upgrade custom code, e.g.,

events, virtual pageviews, etc. Universal Analytics Upgrade Center Vampyre Fangs

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Out with the old, in with the new! What code are you using? It’s easy to tell! If your site is newer than mid-

2014, you have the new code. If your site is older, do View

Source. Search for:

gaq old code ga.js old code analytics.js new code

Scrap for Joy

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Here is the (website) bottom line! Your measurements validate your

tactics (or not). To work the process and improve your

site, you need meaningful data: Engagement Metrics Segments Goal Completion / Conversion rates A-B or MAB (multi-armed bandit) tests Qualitative data (surveys)

If your goal is purely audience acquisition, you can use “quantity-of-stuff” metrics to tell your story.

NY Daily News

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Google’s “Analytics Academy” Free video-based courses

Digital Analytics Fundamentals Google Analytics Platform

Principles Ecommerce Analytics: From

Data to Decisions Mobile App Analytics

Fundamentals Google Tag Manager

Fundamentalsanalyticsacademy.withgoogle.com

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Resources

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Google Analytics Academy Google Analytics Blog Absolute Beginner's Guide to Google Analytics (Moz) Avinash Kaushik’s “Occam’s Razor” Analytics Talk (Justin Cutroni) Cardinal Path Training Kissmetrics Lunametrics blog Lunametrics Training Universal Analytics Upgrade Guide Discover the Google Analytics Platform (advanced tools)

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Social Media Metrics Reporting Framework

Sarah BanksOnline Engagement Coordinator

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Plan for Reporting – Set Your Goals!Tie social media reporting to museum goals

Gather meaningful, actionable data

Create a manageable and flexible process

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Creating the Framework: Step 1

Align Goals and Priorities, Then Select Metrics

Smithsonian Strategic Priority – Revitalizing education

Air and Space Museum Goal – Enhancing outreach efforts

Social Media Goal – Increase engagement with online communities

Metrics – Engagement rate, comments

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Creating the Framework: Step 2

Decide on Frequency of Data Collection:

How often can you collect AND analyze data?

How do those reports relate to each other?

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Creating the Framework: Step 3

Set up Your Templates:

Think about who will read your reports

Position elements in priority order

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Creating the Framework: Step 4

Test and Refine:

Expect bumps in the road as you collect and analyze data.

Adjust as needed!

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More Tips!Start small and build – do what you can do consistently

Research tools to help you simplify data collection

Focus on a balanced blend of pictures, storytelling, and data

Be vocal about sharing your reports

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Case Study: Reporting on #BoldlyGo50

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Opportunities and ChallengesOpportunities:

Highlight the Museum’s connection to Star Trek

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Original Series

Challenges: We were one of many places

celebrating Nearly all of our social media

following is not local

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Consider Your Audience

Must tell a complete story using a mix of data, photos, anecdotes, and benchmarks

Audiences for your reports can be varied and have different needs (senior leadership vs. data hounds)

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Identify GoalsFoster connections with enthusiastic Star Trek fans – whether onsite or online

Highlight the Museum’s connection to Star Trek and remind people that the model is back on display

Promote content we created in honor of the 50th

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Writing strong goals No un-measurable or boring goals!

• Start an Instagram account = tactic not goal• Make the Museum look cool = hard to measure

Goals = a change you want to make with your audience around a program, project, etc. If you can’t measure it or it’s not worth doing, rewrite it!

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Goals:Foster connections with enthusiastic Star Trek fans – whether onsite or online

Highlight the Museum’s connection to Star Trek and remind people that the model is back on display

Promote content we created in honor of the 50th

Strategies:Invite people to share how Star Trek influenced their lives and/or careers

Share the story of our restoration of the studio model

Give a behind-the-scenes look at the making of our highlights tour in Klingon

Selecting Strategies

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Selecting TacticsStrategies:Invite people to share how Star Trek influenced their lives and/or careers

Share the story of our restoration of the studio model

Give a behind-the-scenes look at the making of our highlights tour in Klingon

Tactics:Create a “Share Your Story” opportunity on our website & promote via social media

Host an InstaMeet the morning of the anniversary for local Instagrammers with curator as a speaker

Write blog post and do a video with the creator of the Klingon language

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Strategies vs. Tactics

Strategies are more broad and can be supported by several tactics

Tactics are more specific and get down to the platform level

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Which Metrics to Report?

EXAMPLE: Foster connections with enthusiastic Star Trek fans – whether onsite or online

Strategy: Invite people to share how Star Trek influenced their lives and/or careers

Tactic: Create a “Share Your Story” opportunity on our website & promote via social media

Metrics: Number of stories collected via website, quality of stories

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Gathering Your Report IngredientsGet tools in placeHashtag tracking toolsGoogle campaign builder & bit.lyStorifyFolder for screenshots

Set your benchmarksWhat does “average” look like?Get stats from peer institutionsCompare to past campaigns

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Metrics for Native Apps

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What’s Possible?

As with websites, Google Analytics is a powerful tool to help you know if you’re meeting your goals.

Basic GA only give you so much. Event-based analytics allow for more nuanced data about usage.

You have to ask your developer to add it in. Can’t be added later unless you do an app update.

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The ProcessWrite down your goals for the app and think about the concerns/questions that are arising during development.

Use the app to see where users take action – make a decision, click something, etc.

Label each point of action, as well as things with duration. Those are your event-based metrics.

Think ahead and name each event with “appname_label” in a way that will make sense to someone who doesn’t know your system.

Put all labels in a spreadsheet and give to developer.

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Pilot Pals - Lots of Choices to Make!Personalization

Select games

Select aircraft within games

Try again

Play again or return to main menu

Reset personalization

Mute or unmute sound

Access parents section and its tabs

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Pilot Pals – What’s Measurable with GA

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Thanks! Any Questions?

My Contact Info:Sarah Banks

bankss@si.edu@sbanks20

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Coffee Break – 30 Minutes

Activity #1Help us fix our jumbled up report. Sort the jumbled pieces of the report into categories (goals, metrics, etc.) and arrange them logically.

If you have time, critique the metrics. Do you think they are meaningful? If not, write a new one you think would be better.

AMBUSH! You’re on the elevator at BLAM and the museum director jumps on. She’s read your report and has a few questions. No escape! How might you answer her?

a) Which of these metrics is most and least? meaningful? b) I saw 3 negative comments on Facebook. And our number of

Twitter followers didn’t go up very much. Are you sure the campaign was successful?

c) So did we “go viral” yet?

Smithsonian Archives: Fast, Cheap & In Control

Effie KapsalisHead of Web, New Media, & OutreachSmithsonian Institution Archives

#MWmetrics

@digitaleffie

Target Audiences

Researchers (interns, fellows, academic researchers)

Serious online researchers (Wikipedians, Collections mystery solvers on Flickr Commons etc)

General public enthusiasts (Lifelong Learners, DIYer looking for information and help)

Smithsonian record creators

@digitaleffie

Broad Organizational Mission

“The Archives’ mission is to document the goals and activities of the whole Smithsonian in its pursuit of increasing and diffusing knowledge, and exciting learning in everyone. The Archives is also responsible for ensuring institutional accountability, and for enhancing access to the rich and diverse resources in its care. ”

@digitaleffie

Step 1: Identify Goals

Credit: Avinash Kaushik, “Digital Marketing and Measurement Model,” http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/digital-marketing-and-measurement-model/@digitaleffie

Step 2: Identify Strategies/Tactics

Credit: Avinash Kaushik, “Digital Marketing and Measurement Model,” http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/digital-marketing-and-measurement-model/

@digitaleffie

Step 3: Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

Credit: Avinash Kaushik, “Digital Marketing and Measurement Model,” http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/digital-marketing-and-measurement-model/

@digitaleffie

Strategy: Increase Representation of Archives’ Collections on Popular Research Websites

@digitaleffie

Home site vs. Flickr Commons vs. Wikipedia

Views on SIA Website Views on Flickr Commons Views on Wikipedia0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

@digitaleffie

Wikipedia Page Views: BaGLAMa

GLAM/Wikipedia Tools - https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Resources/Tools@digitaleffie

Wikipedia Page Views: BaGLAMa

@digitaleffie

Wikipedia Edit-a-thon Outcomes

@digitaleffie

Wikipedia Edit-a-thon Outcomes

http://stats.grok.se/@digitaleffie

Strategy: Increase Share & Quality of Conversation around SIA Collections & Resources

@digitaleffie

Strategy: Increase Share & Quality of Conversation around SIA Collections & Resources

(Twitter)

@digitaleffie

Improve Collections Findability

@digitaleffie

Improve Collections Findability

@digitaleffie

Improve Collections Findability

@digitaleffie

Improve Collections Findability

@digitaleffie

Foresee Open Ended: Did not find looking for

• Collections (30)• Of 30 responses, only 4 were searching for items we

DO have. • “list of architectural styles of the Smithsonian buildings”• “Mary Henry's complete diary”• “Electronic version of the Smithsonian Annual Report 1895.”• “http:// siarchives.si.edu/history/exhibits/historicpicturessmithsonian but got AFRICAN

MUSEUM”

• Photos/Digitized Collections (3)• In general, people were looking for more.

@digitaleffie

Foresee Open Ended: What ways can we improve search?

Want “Google” resultsMany of the titles are unclear about what they containI wish audio were availableNeed greater clarity on what can be accessed electronically.Access to records, picturesWho to contact for help, live chat

@digitaleffie

Improve Collections Findability

@digitaleffie

Improve Collections Findability

@digitaleffie

Improve Collections Findability

@digitaleffie

A Web-Refresh We Go!

@digitaleffie

Mobile Explosion!

Device Percent Change, 2014-2016Desktop 4.64%Mobile 25.93%Tablet 0.19%

@digitaleffie

Interests, Desktop vs. Mobile Traffic

@digitaleffie

Desktop Visitors Interests Mobile Visitors Interests1. Collections 1. History2. Blog 2. Blog3. History 3. Services4. Services 4. Collections5. Search 5. Search

Mobile Acquisition

@digitaleffie

Mobile Interests

@digitaleffie

Page SourceHistory of Smithsonian Castle Google Organic SearchHow do I preserve my newspaper? Google Organic SearchSome Archival Career Advice Google Organic SearchHow do I deal with a photo stuck to glass?

Google Organic Search

How do I deal with little white bugs in my papers?

Google Organic Search

Blog: Earliest photo of the Castle FacebookJames Smithson Webpage Google Organic Search

Keep Learning

Know your bone (Colleen Dilenschneider) - http://colleendilen.com/

Beth Kanter – How Connected Non-Profits Leverage Networks & Data for Social Change- http://www.bethkanter.org/

Avinash Kaushik - http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/

@digitaleffie

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Food for thought (to go)!

Okra: 1 new way you’ll communicate metrics to colleagues or partners

Shrimp: 1 way you’ll improve & jazz up reports

Roux: 1 way in which you will try to implement

this metrics modelSausage: 1 tool you’ll give a try

Adolfo's

Discuss today’s workshop “takeaways”: What are your NOLA #musedata ingredients?

#musedata

Thanks!

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@SBanks20 @digitaleffie @balpert