Jack works for a digital marketing agency and Jill is an online marketing manager at a reputable multi-channel brand, located in South Africa. Jill’s CEO has decided they need to go with Jack’s digital agency – so they need to meet!
After a fabulous welcoming and lovely chatter, they enter the work part of the meeting … “Well I guess we better speak about the digital strategy going forward.” Jill, “Yes, this is very exciting. Our new website is launching in about two weeks.”
Jack has numerous questions in his mind. “I wonder how Jill’s business or web development partner decided on how their new website will function; I wonder what results are expected.”
Jack asks Jill, “Okay, I’ve got a few questions – What is the goal of your website? What results are you expecting?” Jill thinks to herself, ‘The goal of the website, that’s quite a question, erm, for people to purchase items?”
Jill replies, “To get sales. That’s what we need! We are not sure what to expect, but we look forward to seeing what happens. Our improved website is going live in two weeks, so now we need more sales. I know about SEO and PPC, let’s do it. Oh, we are also going to need banners! We are going to send out emails to our existing users, and later this year we are going to launch a mobile friendly version of our website, I heard that mobile is so important. We probably need to get more social too.”
I’d like to stop the above conversation and highlight a few points.
Is it an odd question to request what the goals and objectives of the website are, especially in the case where there is one main conversion goal – users purchasing from the website. Clearly, a strategy is required. But how often are strategies implemented?
What has happened to defining business and website goals, where the website goals is aligned with the business goals? I’m not saying everything needs to be strictly scientifically calculated, I’m saying that there needs to be a web analytics strategy. Proper planning will help define the way forward and create the ability to evaluate whether a campaign initiative successfully contributed to the business and website goals. Too often I find that, due to a lack of planning, the digital aspect of a business goes around in circles.
Web Analytics is the answer.
Web Analytics, which includes the full digital spectrum, allows on-going digital strategy. Web Analytics encompasses Measuring Marketing Campaigns, Site Optimisation and embeds the culture of real integrated measurement and online strategy.
Web Analytics involves agreeing on the goals of the website and deciding how and where these goals will be measured. It may even involve integrating CRM with the data. It’s not only about quantitative data. The qualitative side is just as important when trying to understand why something is successful, or not. It involves explicitly defining website indicators will be used to evaluate each goal. It is easy to see what happens, but being able to tell why a campaign is performing the way it is, is important. Web Analytics involves how the goals of each marketing channel differ and how and where they will be measured.
This will lead to what changes need to take place with marketing campaigns, site optimisation and possibly even operational changes within your organisation, especially in the case where the conversion goes beyond website interaction.
Perhaps email marketing, a retention channel, needs to be increased or improved. Perhaps a portion of Social Media budget should be allocated elsewhere, yet still within the Social Media budget. Perhaps Display advertising should be more targeted and have its’ own micro-site or landing page. Perhaps Paid Search budget should be increased, or is over spending.
I believe it is up to the digital marketers in South Africa to ensure that online maturity continues to grow in leaps and bounds.
Disclaimer: These thoughts are my own and yes there is so much more to web analytics! So few have a solid digital measurement and optimisation strategy.
Thanks to this random website (http://www.carlscorner.us.com/) that gave me a ridiculous picture of jack and jill.
