Okay, I’ve been remiss with my blogging efforts. Fortunately for me, it’s been due to increased business – had to take care of the clients before spending time here. I’ve also been boning-up for a couple of analytics certifications, so that’s tapped some of my “free” time as well.

One thing I’ve noticed the last few months is that analytics are appearing on the radar more often with local MarCom organizations. A good deal of credit for this heightened awareness goes to Bob Kennedy of iPerceptions. Bob’s on AiMA’s Executive Committee and heads the organization’s Web Analytics SIG. The SIG is also connected at the hip with our area’s Web Analytics Wednesday events (another initiative of Bob’s). For those not in analytics, WAW is a fairly big deal, so to have a local WAW group is a very good thing. You can read more about WAW by clicking here, or if you’re interested in our local group, you can join us on LinkedIn.

As mentioned above, analytics has come onto the scene with a couple of local MarCom organizations – namely AiMA and the local chapter of SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization). Both groups dedicated one of their regularly scheduled meetings exclusively to analytics. Additionally, our local WAW group has held a couple of well-attended luncheons.

I’ve enjoyed and learned much at these events. The speakers have all been top-notch. I do have a suggestion, however. And this applies to a number of the meetings and conferences I attend, so it’s not just directed toward the analytics events. My assessment is that a number of these presentations (once again, not just those dealing with analytics) are too high-end. When I say “high-end”, I see the content usually highlighting efforts produced by large organizations and/or power users. In short, if you’re not a Coke, Delta, Turner or UPS, your access to the resources (human, budget, time, etc.) is going to be much more limited if you want to mimic the successful programs you see within the presentations.

I understand the organizations’ intent with using presenters from big name companies. After all, I’ll admit an announcement highlighting a talk by a Newell Rubbermaid SVP is probably going to grab my attention more than one promoting some effort (no matter how savvy or successful) by an SME marketer from some company or from some industry I’ve never heard of. But the thing is, I’ve found the presentations from these smaller marketers are the ones where I feel I learn the most. Why? Because generally they have to work smarter/harder – they usually have to be more efficient with their resources and there are fewer places to hide (or hide the evidence) when something doesn’t work to plan.

For those lacking in resources (me included!), I appreciate when I can see, hear and/or learn from someone working in a similar, restricted environment. I appreciate seeing the challenges faced by others and how they addressed them – what worked, what didn’t, what was different than anticipated, what would have been done differently postmortem. In short, what knowledge was gleaned and how can the information can be applied moving forward?

Similarly, I’ve found a similar theme during the last several months when talking with prospective clients. I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard, “We have Google Analytics on our site, we see all the reports, but we don’t really know what to do with the information.” I find it a shame – for many, the answers to many of their questions about their online marketing programs are right in front of them – what worked, what didn’t, what was different than anticipated, what could be done differently moving forward. Yet, it’s there, in (somewhat) plain sight – they just don’t know how to harvest and apply the information.

Now to step off my soapbox and quit sounding like such a curmudgeon, I’m going to implement a tenet I’ve always challenged those I was responsible for managing – if you see a predicament, don’t just tell me about it, come with some solutions on how to address and/or correct it.

So here are the two primary challenges I see with implementing an analytics program for those responsible for their organization’s online marketing performance:

1. Starting. You can start a program to study your web analytics from several points. You have to keep in mind that not everything has to be addressed right out of the gate. The thing is, however, you have to start – “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
2. Accessibility. In this sense, your data and analysis must be open to understanding. If you and others understand your data and how that affects both your online marketing efforts and your company’s bottom line, you’re going to have the knowledge and understanding on improving both.

My next several postings are going to focus on some easy, yet informative exercises anyone can do with a spreadsheet. I’ll give you real-life examples, show you how to pull the data, organize it, analyze it, interpret it and throw out some ideas on how you can take some of the findings and apply them to your own situation.

Hopefully the postings will make you more successful – let me know!

This month’s PRSA Monthly Luncheon was preceded by a workshop – “Creating Your Social Media Playbook: A Pre-Season Training Camp.” It was conducted by social media scholar and practitioner Dr. Kaye D. Sweetser, Ph.D., APR of The University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Neil Hirsch, APR of Solvay Pharmaceuticals introduced the session, jokingly throwing in, “We could probably host and fill a social media workshop every month.” Based on what I’ve seen within the other marcom groups, the quip is nearing understatement range, as each marcom field seems to be challenged in how to both embrace and implement social media as a means to build business.

To digress a little, it seems every time one of these organizations offers programming on social media, their meetings/workshops are jammed. Additionally, one overriding question always seems to be in the air – “how do I use social media to build business?” Like blogging a few years back, it appears business people feel so compelled to jump into social media because “everyone else is” and they don’t want to be left behind. And as with blogging, it seems so many are rushing into the space without a real objective or understanding of how to best employ the medium(s). I know, I know, there’s a learning curve involved, and most of us are at the beginning of that learning curve.

However, that brings me back to the workshop. For me, it was one of the best workshops I’ve attended in the past few years – honestly! What I really liked about it was that Kaye not only talked in conceptual and strategic terms, she did a superb job in discussing tactics, and believe it or not, MEASUREMENT!!! She gave and cited numerous examples of well-conceived, well-executed programs, as well as ill-conceived and ill-executed social media programs.

The underlying determinant for the successful programs appeared to be effective research – knowing who your audience is, what social media platforms/environments they used, their demeanor, etc., etc. I loved the quote she used that many in PR (I think this applies to all marcom), “use research as a drunkard uses a lamppost – for support, but not for illumination.” She underscored that research should help you determine whether you should be doing something in the first place. Personally, I see this as the chief weakness for many organizations rushing into social media without a well-researched, well-thought out reason for doing so, as well as not developing an effective game plan.

Kaye’s presentation gave numerous examples of metrics that are available within each of the platforms she talked about (see the link to her blog and SlideShare presentation below for specifics), as well as employing third-party tools (e.g., bit.ly, Google Analytics) to provide even more ability to assess and gain insight into your programs and campaigns.

Kaye also commented on the importance of tracking, referring to a comment she often hears – “You mean I have to track this just like I have to do with my other efforts?” As she followed up, “No, I’m not kidding!”

One key point she mentioned several times throughout the presentation was to remember both your strategy AND your tactics when looking at your numbers. “Was it a new video posted on YouTube that caused a spike in your traffic?” Similarly, “Did you learn anything?” She emphasized taking that insight and using it to come up with things to increase your effectiveness moving forward.

Moreover, she also hammered on tying your measurement metrics to your objectives – “What are you going to measure and why will you be measuring it?”

In wrapping up one of her segments on measuring, she ended with, “It’s not as complicated as it may seem.” Well put Kaye and thank you!

As for the luncheon topic, “Brown Bailout” Barrage – A Case Study on Using Social Media to Protect Your Brand. It was a really good “story from the trenches” talk. Lynette McIntire and Debbie Curtis-Magley of United Parcel Service candidly shared their strategies and lessons learned during this unexpected viral attack by competitor FedEx. It was quite a story, but not worth detailing too much here, as it’s somewhat off-topic.

Lynette and Debbie did, however, go into the subject of measurement, but it was more qualitative than quantitative. Primarily, they went into their monitoring of the blogosphere and social media landscape. They did delve into discussing how this monitoring (i.e., business intelligence), helped them with their counter efforts in using the information to know “where to focus and deploy their resources and energy.”

So for both, the big takeaway for me was the old adage, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

Kaye and her Grady colleagues will be presenting two opportunities for additional social media learning with their Connect 2009 and Strategies and Opportunities in Social Media (S.O.S) Saturday, September 11th and Saturday, October 24th, respectively. Based on what I got out of an hour, I’d say longer sessions will definitely be worth your time.

Here’s the link to Kaye’s blog – so this is mass communication? It has some really good social media best practice info and below is her SlideShare presentation from the workshop.

Not sure what the final stats were for attendance, but there was a ton of people there. To keep with the theme of the previous post, I’d say the Trekkies were a small minority genre. There were several fan groups of properties I didn’t recognize – I’m thinking many were game-based, and I’m just not a gamer.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and here’s a couple of my own shots and some from a Flickr group in case you want to see the extraordinary lengths some of the conventioneers go to with their costumes.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Once again, Dragon Con hits Atlanta this weekend.  For those unfamiliar with the event, here’s part of the Wikipedia entry:

“Dragon Con (also Dragon*Con) is a North America multigenre convention, held annually in Atlanta, Georgia. The 30,000-plus-member convention takes over a six-square block area of downtown Atlanta near Centennial Olympic Park, and is hosted by a 1500-member volunteer staff.”

I’m personally hoping to attend their parade downtown – I’ve seen plenty of pictures, but I want to experience it firsthand.

But, back to the task at hand.

So, what’s Dragon Con have to do with web analytics?  Nothing really – other than making me remember a hilarious blog post by my friend Matt Bailey of SiteLogic.  I don’t want to ruin the pleasure of reading his post by saying too much, but once you do, you’ll see how all this ties together.

You can also see Matt being interviewed on the topic by Ralph Wilson of Wilson Internet Services on Ralph’s Web Marketing TODAY YouTube channel.  Enjoy, have a great weekend and live long and prosper!

Disclaimer: As I’ve mentioned previously, I try to attend as many MarCom organization functions as I can. On numerous occasions, the featured presenters touch upon campaign/program success and the measures they use to determine effectiveness. Reviews offered within my write-ups focus on the aspect of results and measurement contained within the presentations and any additional evaluation takes secondary consideration.

A few weeks ago, the Atlanta Chapter of the Business Marketing Association (BMA) presented “Profiting With Social Media in B2B Marketing Success – Panel Discussion with Industry Leaders.”

The description of the luncheon was:

Come listen to compelling panel discussion from industry leaders! What works, what doesn’t and where to spend your marketing dollars to get the maximum return.

On the panel were:

• Shawn Keith, Senior Manager Web Strategy, Sage Software
• Micky Long, VP Strategic Consulting, Arketi Group
• Chad Rothschild, Author/Blogger, “Increasing Employee and Client Engagement”
• Brandy Nagel, Marketing Catalyst – Case Study: Georgia Tech’s Innovation Institute
• Moderator: Linda Lindsey, CMO, Insol

Excellent, I thought – these are some pretty sharp people; they should have some good data to share.

Needless to say, I went expecting to see and hear how businesses were profiting from adopting and employing social media strategies and tactics. Maybe some benchmarks. Maybe even some metrics on social media campaigns or programs the panelists worked on or knew of.

Nope, didn’t really happen.  Micky handed out some stats on social media’s growth and Brandy talked a little about the stuff she worked on while at Georgia Tech.  But for the most part, this type of information was very limited.

Not that the panelists didn’t offer some good advice and insight on other aspects of social media – they did. However, the overall theme to me was to “get into the game,” “join a community,” “participate in the conversation,” “engage with those you might do business with.” So on and so forth.

All in all, the panelists did a good job. My only disappointment was I went expecting (maybe desiring a little too much) one thing and received something different. During Q&A with the audience, it appears many are in the same boat as me – where to start, how to start, how to measure, etc., etc. In this respect, the panelists offered some great tips, perspective and advice. Kudos to each – I very much appreciated that particular information. I just wish there had been some more numbers… that’s the life of a numbers junkie, I suppose!

Okay, where to start?  I’ve intended to start blogging for quite some time now – we’re talking years, not just weeks or months!  Personally, it’s been tough to get moving.  Not that I feel I lack for something to say, it’s just I don’t like writing…

And then there’s the whole “focus” thing of having a blog – if you’ve read the same things I have about blogging, you know you’re suppose to have a “focus”.  At least that’s what the “experts” say.

Subsequently, there’s the aspect of “voice”, “point-of-view” or “perspective”.

Did I mention I don’t like writing?

Oh well, time to jump in.  Like I tell my daughters, “You can’t get a hit if you don’t step up to bat.”  Sage parental advice, huh?

So here goes – as for “focus” – I’ll be “focusing” on analytics and measurement for online MarCom efforts.  My current plan is to take this at least four ways:

• Analytics 101: Discussing and presenting examples of basic website analytics – what to measure, how to measure, how to analyze, and most importantly, how to apply the knowledge gained to improve future online marketing efforts.  These features will be intended to demonstrate how even some of the most basic site traffic analysis can improve and refine marketing strategies and tactics for the future.
• Analytic Thought Leaders:  I follow several thought leaders in the field of analytics.  I’ve found these people share a ton of good information, ranging from nuts-and-bolts info to extremely high-level ways of thinking about data and applying the knowledge gleaned from the various analytic processes.  Whenever there’s something particularly pertinent, I’ll be sure to post.
• Atlanta MarCom “Rockstars”:  This will be a series of interviews with the “Rockstars” within the related local Atlanta MarCom industries – marketing, public relations, advertising, etc.  The interviews will focus on how these individuals and their organizations employ (or not) tools, methods and/or processes to measure online campaign or program effectiveness.
• Atlanta MarCom Organization Coverage:  I belong to most of the major Atlanta MarCom organizations, as well as some smaller, special interest groups – both formal and informal.  On numerous occasions, the featured presenters touch upon campaign/program success and the measures they use to determine effectiveness.  If I’m there and they touch upon these topics, I’ll be sure to post about those too.

As for the “voice”, “point-of-view” or “perspective” thing, my intent is to share information and learning experiences in regard to web analytics and online marketing measurement.  I don’t claim to be a “know-it-all”, as no one should, but I do claim a love of learning and sharing and hopefully you’ll find participating in this effort worth your time.

Thanks in advance for your time and attention; I look forward to hearing your thoughts and perspectives in the coming weeks and months.

Best wishes – Matt