closing the loop with web analytics by aaron maass
DESCRIPTION
How to close the loop on leads with web analytics. This was presented by Aaron Maass at SES in NYC on March 25, 2011.TRANSCRIPT
Closing the LoopWith Web Analytics
Aaron H. Maass
MaassMedia, LLC
Closing the Loop Problem
PR
TVRadioPrintOutdoor
Direct Mail
WOM
Display
Social Media
Search
Landing Pages
3rd Party Sites
Online Reviews
Store
Phone/Call Center
Website
Store/Office
Partner/Reseller
Mobile
Chat
Inbound Call Center
OutboundTelesales
OutboundPhone
Blog
E-newsletterFAQs
Online
Offline
World of Many Customer Touchpoints
E-Commerce Advertising Lead Generation
Three Types of Websites
Common Lead Generation Tactics
Calls-to-Action Are Lead/Sales Opportunities
How Does This Tie In To
Web Analytics?
• Session Cookie – the 'Session' cookie exists only for the lifetime of the current browser session and expires after 30 minutes of inactivity or when the visitor closes all browser windows.
• Visitor Cookie – the 'Visitor' cookie persists after the visitor closes all browser windows and is used to identify a visitor to the site across multiple 'sessions'.
In order to facilitate tracking of session and visitor activities, web analytics programs place cookies in the visitor's web browser:
Cookies
• Myths• Cookies are like worms/viruses and can erase data from your
computer• Cookies are a form of spyware and can steal personal information• Cookies generate pop-ups and spam• Cookies are only used for advertising
• Facts• Cookies are only data, not program code• Cookies cannot erase data or read information from your computer• Cookies are usually anonymous (do not contain PII)• Cookies CAN be used to track website behavior and close the
loop
Myths About Cookies
1) A visitor's browser initiates a page request to the web server2) Web server notes visitor's IP address and sends a page back to the browser
along with any JavaScript tags3) JavaScript requests a single-pixel GIF from Analytics Server and sends
visitor info and custom parameters to storage4) Analytics Server generates a unique visitor ID and sends it back to the
browser along with a cookie and the single-pixel GIF
WebServer
AnalyticsServer
1) Page request
2) Page returned w/ JavaScript
3) JavaScript tag executed (visitor info/custom parameters sent)
4) GIF returned w/ cookie and unique ID
How Cookies Work
Unique Visitor ID Capture Example
1) First Name2) Last Name3) Email4) Phone5) Comments6) Dropdown Selection7) Opt-In (Checked or Unchecked)
8) Unique Visitor ID from cookie
Form Field Information
Hidden Field Information
CRM/SalesDatabase
AnalyticsServer
8) Unique Visitor IDPlus
9) Closed (Yes or No)
Pass Unique Visitor ID w/ Form Info
Data Sources is used to manually import offline data into SiteCatalyst. Below are some examples of situations in which you might want to use Data Sources to import data:
1. Import historical traffic data from log files or a previous vendor2. Import offline success metrics unrelated to the website or taking place
after a visit to the website3. Import metrics from a separate channel such as e-mail or call center
so you can compare them to online metrics and create calculated metrics
4. Import metrics from other products through Omniture Genesis such as e-mail or CRM metrics
In all of these cases, Data Sources supplements your online data with related data so you can get a more complete picture of your business, or in other words, close the loop.
How To Import Data Using Omniture
8) Unique Visitor IDPlus
9) Closed (Yes or No)
Real World Omniture Example
Google Analytics UTMA Cookie
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXXXXX-1']); var gac = new gaCookies(); _gaq.push(['_setCustomVar',1,'Visitor',gac.getUniqueId(),1]); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="/includes/js/gaCookies.js"></script>
Source: Danny Ng - www.dannytalk.com
Modified Google Analytics Tag
8) Unique Visitor ID
Unique Google Analytics Visitor ID
730973048
Close the Loop on Store Sales w/ Coupons
730973048
Close the Loop on Calls w/ Visitor ID
Because with web analytics we can hope to answer the following three simple business questions:
1) Where do our best leads/sales come from and how do we get more of them?
2) What traffic sources, content, tools and behaviors on the site are most influential in producing closed leads/sales?
3) What information and other insights about your web visitors, site content, leads and leads that buy can be used to improve the quality of prospects and increase conversion?
Why Close the Loop w/ Web Analytics?
Aaron H. Maass | Managing DirectorMaassMedia, LLC
www.maassmedia.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/maassmedia
Twitter: @maassmetrics
Thank You!Thank You!