How to Leverage Web Analytics – Part I

One of the speakers at this week's Internet Marketing Vancouver with interesting insight was Michal Lorenc of Google. He describes the internet as having 3 stages:

• Read, before 1998 where Google and Yahoo were introduced;

• Buy, between 1998 and 2003 where the eBays and Amazons of the world reigned supreme;

• and Talk, post-2003 where we have Skype, Facebook and Twitter.

IMC Vancouver was founded 2000 and it sure must have seen a dramatic change in the content being presented across these stages  This year, IMC Vancouver was hosted October 4th and 5th with a variety of hot topics to be discussed.

The second day held a great amount of value in describing web analytics to leverage higher conversion rates.  I want to start by defining analysis.  Analysis can be defined as the breakdown of a complex topic into smaller parts to gain a greater understanding of the topic.  Stéphane Hamel of Cardinal Path referenced the Wikipedia definition in describing analysis but made a small change.  His definition of analysis is how a business arrives at an optimal AND realistic decision based on existing data.

Hamel specified 3 ingredients to any analytics: People, Process, and Technology.  I’ll be roughly using this framework to recap the thoughts of IMC Vancouver.  The following is a collage of what one can take away from the many speeches during the event. (Part 1 of 3.)

PART I – PEOPLE

Before I dive into the framework, I want to explain the basics or Hamel’s online analytics maturity model.  The maturity model is meant to analyze all functions of web analytics both online and offline and further close the gap between current and desired states.  Hamel explained his model as having 6 areas in which to focus on in doing digital marketing analytics.  In these 6 areas there are 5 maturity levels for which a company to strive for: 

0 – Impaired

1 – Initiated

2 – Operational

3 – Integrated

4 – Competitor

5- Addicted

With a maturity level of 5, an organization will make drastic changes based on the analytics.  Web analysis isn’t just a tool but a strategy embedded within the company.  With a maturity level of 0, it means that this ability is nonexistent.  The idea of the model is to analyze one’s organization and to spot areas that need improvement in order to provide balance across the 6 areas.  I’ll say this line throughout this article: what is both realistic and optimal for one’s organization?  Remember that not all companies have the capacity to get to the fifth level of maturity but it is important to first analyze where one is, and then try to achieve the next level ensuring not to focus on just one area of all 6 in harmony. 

The first of the 6 areas fall into the people section: Management, Governance, and adoption (MG&A).

MG&A’s 5 maturity levels can be derived from asking the question “What is the highest job title fully accountable for online performance management against business objectives?”

0) No one

1) Project Manager

2) Team lead or Director

3) CMO

4) Senior Chief Officer (has high support of CEO)

5) Everyone in the organization is engaged in the process.

What is both realistic and optimal for one’s organization?  The first step is to see where one currently lies amongst these 5 maturity levels.  A smaller company will usually have an easier time to reach higher levels of the maturity level in this area as it is easier to make dramatic transformational changes.

Great people will have the ability to adapt with an organization and truly transform to a synergized team.  Get your unfair share of talent and build your organization around these people.  Andrew Bailey and John Gagne of Proximity advocated not only finding adequate people, but finding exceptional people.  As they put it, good is the enemy of great.  Sometimes the tough calls have to be made and it is okay to get people mad sometimes.  There must be a belief that the one has the right people in your organization, and that the wrong people are off.

Great talent with diverse backgrounds is the cornerstone of innovations.  As Hamel stated, once you stop innovating, you start failing.

Next up: Part 2, the Process.