Joy’s post yesterday sparked my thinking about the many sources of data available to marketers in today’s world.

Web Analytics is the low hanging fruit. It is an important daily source of data that can help you understand how involved a customer is with your brand INSIDE your own house (i.e., your Web site). It can even help you get a handle on how much a customer is interacting with your brand, again, within the confines of your Web site. In our experience, most marketers don’t begin to tap the real potential of the Web Analytics tools they are using. Even simple things like tracking conversions by keyword or source often don’t seem to happen; more sophisticated uses like measuring conversions against on-site user generated content metrics (ratings and reviews, etc.) is a real rarity.

But beyond Web Analytics, there are many sources of data and methods of measurement that help you complete your picture of the customer and how that customer interacts with the brand. Buzz Monitoring can provide an astonishing amount of data on how the customer really feels about your brand (and what they say about it) in the great big world outside of your own Web site(s); Social Media platforms can provide a more robust picture of what your consumers actually DO (ratings and reviews, video uploads, connections made, recommendations, etc) when they aren’t in the process of actually purchasing product on your Web site. And of course, old fashioned surveys, customer service data, and data from your CRM platform can also help round out the picture.

The problem isn’t lack of data, but knowing what to do with it. The magic is in the mix, i.e., combining multiple data sources and analyzing against transactions. The good news is that it can be done. In fact, you can probably do a lot more with what you already have (yes, I said existing sources of data). This is the subject of a new paper Joy and I are currently working on for Measuring Word of Mouth (Volume 4, WOMMA).

The marketing funnel has become so much more complex in an online world that is dominated by consumer generated media. Figuring out how to use the data you’ve got and plan for the data you really need in the future is not a luxury for today’s CMO.

JupiterResearch recently published its report, ‘Web Analytics Buyer’s Guide.’ I have to say in reading about the report I was astonished to see this finding from the Senior Analyst – “Despite some small skirmishes over capabilities like video and audio measurement, the Web analytics feature race is largely over.”

Wow. After spending the better part of the last 10 years using these tools to analyze data that shocks and saddens me. I admit that there are tools out there with an overwhelming number of features. And, I admit that the additional features add a level of complexity (and price in some cases) that make the tools almost unusable without a lot of training or experience.

But, to say that ‘the feature race is largely over’ seems to say that everything that can be measured in Web analytics is now already measured. That seems a little unrealistic, especially when Social Media and Word of Mouth campaigns are gaining traction and marketers’ dollars.

I am interested to see how the future plays out. If, in fact, the feature race is largely over it is going to become the responsibility of successful marketers to figure out not only what needs to be measured, but also figure out HOW to measure those things.

One of the problems that some people have with really getting into blogging is that they have a fear of being called out should they misrepresent some fact, or just plain get it wrong. Is this a valid fear? Yes, but it’s something that a blogger quite simply has to live with, and really embrace.

Look in your favorite local or national paper – usually on the inside front cover or on the editorials page – you’ll find the erratum section of the paper, where they list their errors from the previous edition. These are professional journalists, who are supposed to fact check, and have editors that review articles before publishing. So, it’s not shocking that an everyday blogger would make a mistake or three.

So, what do you if when you mess it up? Here are the options as I see them:

1. Go back and correct the post, deleting the incorrect information, and replacing it with the correct information. If this changes the focus of the post, make more widescale changes until it all fits.
2. Nuclear. Delete the post. If it’s gone noone can prove it was ever there… can they?
3. Edit the post by using strike-throughs on the incorrect text, and adding in the corrected text in a different color.
4. Stick an addendum to the bottom of the post detailing the issue.

While #1 may be tempting, it’s not always right and can be confusing for people that have previously read the post. However, it may be appropriate when combined with #4 if legal issues are involved. #2 again doesn’t really hold true to the idea of transparency. But, as with #1, it may be appropriate in the case of legal issues, although a follow-up post to explain why the post was removed is usually good form. #3 works well because it shows transparency. You made a mistake, but you also corrected it. People can see what you originally wrote, as well as the correction. #4 could also be used in conjunction with #3 or by itself. If by itself, then you may have to rely on your readers making it all the way to the bottom of the post (which may not happen if you publish snippets, and the erroneous information is in the snippet).

Where did the inspiration for this post come from? On July 8th, Stephen Dubner wrote a post on the Freakanomics blog titled “Department of Oops” where he talked about a mistake he found in the current edition of The Economist. Only he was mistaken that it was a mistake. The article was in fact correct, which was pointed out to him numerous times in the comments for that post. His response? #4.

So, don’t be afraid of making a mistake. Look on it as something that’s going to happen, sometimes through no fault of your own. But, also look on it as an opportunity to be transparent, to show your readers that there is a fallible human being behind the blog. One willing to admit when they’re wrong, and one that they can more readily identify with. You’ll more likely than not find that will help with retaining and, indeed, increasing your audience figures.

My high school science teacher drilled K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) into my head and I had since adapted it for marketing purposes. I was reminded again last night how valuable – K.I.S.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Straightforward, and Sincere) – can be.

The phone rang around 8:30pm and I assumed it was a telemarketer. It was, but one I had given permission to contact me. The Barack Obama campaign was calling to see if I would volunteer. The young man on the other end of the phone was soft-spoken and genuine as he described the work he wanted me to do – camp out in supermarkets or malls asking passersby to register to vote. Since I can’t sell a sandwich to a starving man, I told him that soliciting really wasn’t my strong suit, but that I’d be happy to help out in other, more administrative ways like filing, sealing envelopes, etc. I expected a fight or at the very least some persuasive banter, but he shocked me and said “ok, we’ll call you back or email you once the field office is setup in your area.” He wasn’t pushy or overly aggressive and because of that, I will surely show up for volunteering when they contact me again.

I wish more marketers, especially telemarketers, would learn this fundamental rule — being simple, straightforward, and sincere is often all you need to connect with consumers and achieve your objectives.

Avinash Kaushik recently ran an informal contest to find out what report people would choose if they could only have one Web analytics report. The winner of “the best Web analytics report” was a report showing “sources by state, compared to last month.” Based on her business, a locally owned company that competes solely in her geographic service area, it is a great report. For other businesses, it may not make sense. This makes picking one “best” report difficult since it can vary depending on the business and the focus that the particular analyst has.

For example, one Web analyst may be focused on the external sources of traffic while another is focusing on how the site converts visitors. These two Web analysts would undoubtedly come up with different reports that they felt were the “best” analytics report. Since Avinash’s contest wasn’t specific to a particular industry or the type of analysis that a Web analyst was performing, it makes it very difficult to pick only one report…and would still be very difficult even if you had additional guidelines.

If I were to pick just one report, I would probably pick traffic sources in relation to the site goals – which after reading the original contest post is the same as what Avinash picked. I would take it a step further and add some context to the report. In order to do that, I would compare the data to the previous days, weeks, or months depending on the time period being analyzed. That would give context to the report by allowing you to see the trends for each of the traffic sources.

It would require dumping the exported reports into Excel and creating a pivot table based on the data. Making use of dynamic charts would allow you to get a great visual of how each of your traffic sources is performing over time. You’d then be able to understand the specific sites as well as the types of sites that drive quality traffic and develop a plan to try to leverage those sites for additional traffic. Because you’re trending each sites performance, you would also be able to see the results of your efforts in gaining additional quality traffic from the sites that you’ve targeted.

While it’s not advisable to look at just one report, the contest that Avinash ran gives some great insights into what Web analysts deem to be the most critical data. These reports can give a Web analyst a great starting point from which they can then begin to dig deeper into the data to go from understanding what is happening to fully understanding why it’s happening. Just make sure you don’t get sucked to deep into the data and end up with data overload.

I sent my three year old grand nephew a little present from Amazon recently.  I called him on the phone and told him it was coming, so he was in a high state of anticipation when the delivery man rang the doorbell.  Unfortunately, when he ripped open the box he did not find the very cool toy I sent to him.  Instead, he found granite cleaner.  Since the toy was intended as a reward for being good on a recent airplane trip, the granite cleaner was a bit like getting a lump of coal in the Christmas stocking.  Needless to say, my nephew was not amused.  Neither was I.

I headed to the Amazon site and hit “Where’s My Stuff.”  Amazon was showing that the toy had been delivered.  After poking around for a couple of minutes and trying unsuccessfully to complete a complaint form, I found the “Call Me Now” option and tried it.  Sure enough, someone from Amazon called me within about 30 seconds.  I explained the situation and the Amazon customer service rep assured me that my nephew would have his car within two days (at no extra charge).  Great!  And the granite cleaner?  Please don’t make me tell his parents that in addition to the very loud, obnoxious toy I just sent, they now have to load a monster box of granite cleaner down to the post office and send back to Amazon.  Normally, yes.  If the wrong item is delivered, Amazon requires that it be sent back within thirty days.  However (given that my order was a gift and the recipient was barely three), Amazon’s customer service rep good-naturedly agreed to waive that policy. 

I love Amazon.  They get things right 99% of the time and when they don’t, they fix it.  More importantly, they treat me like I matter as a customer.  With Amazon, I get kissed.  Not spanked.

Compare to Virgin Atlantic.  Recently, I had the unfortunate luck of getting stuck in economy seats on Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow to Washington Dulles.  I was bummed about flying economy, but I really like flying out of London Heathrow because I can buy champagne and caviar in the terminal to consume in-flight.  These little champagne and caviar picnics have become a tradition for me and my husband when we fly out of Heathrow. 

Alas, this time when we opened our champagne, the Virgin Atlantic flight attendant came over and told us that we were not allowed to pour for ourselves.  She explained that Virgin Atlantic likes to ensure that passengers do not get drunk while on transatlantic flights.  Ok, I guess that makes sense, but really – is it possible for two people to get drunk on a HALF split of champagne?  And why haven’t the flight attendants in Premier done this in the past?  We’ve enjoyed our caviar and champagne picnics when we were sitting in Premier on Virgin Atlantic at least a half a dozen times without any hassle.

Sorry, the ultra-responsible flight attendant informed us.  Rules are rules. No exceptions.  (In other words, please don’t whine while I deliver your spanking).  So, she took our tiny, half split of champagne and insisted on serving us a teaspoonful at a time.  I can’t tell you how enjoyable it was to take a bite of caviar and then have to push the call button to get a swallow of champagne to wash it down with.  Amazing, isn’t it?  Instead of letting us slide with our tiny, half bottle of champagne (focusing instead on managing a jam packed flight?), the Virgin Atlantic attendant went out of her way to do something that was both unnecessary AND irritated the customer.

This little incident didn’t cost us any money, we weren’t stuck in an airport for hours because of delays –none of the normal airline complaints that cause people to launch an online attack.  However, it sent a clear message, i.e., “You, the customer, do not matter.  Sit down, shut up and smile when you pay us.”  No one likes to be treated that way.  Why don’t companies get this?

Virgin Atlantic certainly doesn’t — and it shows in their search results.   If VA doesn’t fix their customer service problems, even the best social media campaigns on the planet won’t help them.

Most Web analytics packages allow you to set up standard reports that are automatically delivered via email, monthly, or weekly. These reports can be pretty useless lists of meaningless data that users tend to ignore or automatically file without paying any attention to them. Web reporting does not have to be this way. Here are some simple tips to take your Web reporting to the next level.

Use context – Long lists of uninteresting metrics are useless. Find interesting data points and explain why they are relevant. Visual reports show where visitors click and give easy, at-a-glance insight to content and usability issues.

Use appropriate images – Using simple graphs and tables can make presenting data more easy to read and understand. Using 3-D graphs or pie charts can confuse the data as they can be misleading or tough to interpret.

Show cause and effect – It is less interesting to know that traffic spiked last month than knowing what caused the increase. Also a high-average time on site may seem like a good sign. But, you may find out that visitors are frustrated and spending a long time on your site ‘ping-ponging’ between pages as they cannot find what they are looking for by taking a deeper dive into the path information through your Web site.

Compare time over time – Comparing year-to-year or month-to-month provides a good way to see benchmark data and spot seasonal trends.

Segment – Probably the most important way to report on your Web site traffic is to break the visitor groups into segments and analyze top metrics for each segment. This is a great way to find out not only what is ‘working’ for all of your visitors, but what content and paths lead to conversions. By segmenting, you can find ways to improve the user experience for all different visitor groups.

Just when you think people may be starting to understand what Search Engine Optimization is all about, and how it can help your site – you come across a Website that just doesn’t get it such as this one from the Gruniad (old joke about the name, they’re famous for typo’s)…

It’s all about search engine optimisation these days, readers. See, ORGY the more words SEXY BITS that interweb types search for PARIS HILTON COVERED IN GREASE that the Mill HOW TO GET A GIRLFRIEND, YEP JUST ONE WILL DO, IS THAT ASKING TOO MUCH? sneaks into this article the higher up it will PARIS HILTON COVERED IN KETCHUP appear on Google…

Is that what SEO is? Merely stuffing keywords into the body content and sticking <Strong> tags around them? Well, they did place the term Paris Hilton in the title tag, a <h1> tag, and in the alt tag of the image of Paris Hilton (the description tag reference a post from another day, looks like they forgot that one); so they are trying to see if they can rank for these terms.

Why are they doing this? Surely, the Guardian is a well respected newspaper / site in the UK.  Do they really need to resort to this kind of rubbish (ranking for non-relevant keyword terms)? No they don’t, and the reason they’re probably doing it is just because they want to see if it works.  Or, possibly because they want to see if they can get these terms to show up on the analytics reporting and embarrass whomever presents the reports. Why? Well, it’s because this particular section of the Guardian is known for it’s humor and wit (or in some cases failing attempts at both).  And, because the site itself is well trusted, with a large number of incoming links…they stand a good chance of success.

Photo by casaroger, fake ketchup added by me

How is it doing for them? Well, after a few hours they were already ranking first for “Paris Hilton Covered in Grease” and “Paris Hilton Covered in Ketchup”.  Although, you really have to wonder how many people are going to search for those terms (according to KeywordDIscovery that would be 0). Even if people are searching for them, how pleased would they be to find upon arrival at the site they didn’t find their hotel heiress covered in condiments as promised, but instead found a recap of daily soccer rumors for July 3rd? Probably not too thrilled, so they’ll mostly head right back out the way they came.

This all gets back to the issue of relevance. Whatever your goal is for your site, your content should support that. For you to increase your conversions, you need to funnel people in in specific ways.  Tricking them onto your site may increase your traffic, but it’s going to substantially reduce your conversions, and that’s what really counts (unless of course, the only metric you’re measuring is traffic, in which case I’d suggest also adding time on site and bounce rates into the mix).

Since the introduction of Universal or Blended search last year, where images and videos can now show up alongside the regular search listings, it makes sense for businesses to go ahead and work on getting videos and images indexed and ranked by the search engines, if for no other reason than to take up more of that valuable search engine shelf space.

But how can you do it for your company? Videos take time and money to produce don’t they? After all, if you want it to look good you need to have a flashy title sequence, and so on. Well, not really, as long as what you say is relevant and interesting enough. The lack of flashiness doesn’t hurt, in fact it may even help you as viewers may see your home produced video as being more real to them.

These days most laptops come with a built in webcam, so there’s no real excuse not to go ahead and record something. Your first few efforts don’t even have to go on the web, use them as practice, finding out what works and what doesn’t. After all, it may be disconcerting for you the first time you’re looking at the screen and you turn left while the image turns right…

How long does it take? Well this took 5 minutes to write the script, and substantially less to record. In fact I expect it’ll take longer to upload this video than it’s taken to create.

What do you do after you record and upload the video? Well, you need to make sure you use the right keywords when you upload it, so that the engines know what it’s about. You can link to it, or easily embed it on your blog or site, encouraging people to comment on and / or rate the video. If it’s good enough people will link to it, or embed it themselves on their sites. On some video sites, such as YouTube, you can create a channel which people can subscribe to, so they know whenever you release a new video.

More likely than not you won’t have an instant viral hit on your hands, but that’s fine. If you can use your videos to either build up or engage an existing user base, a base of people who are interested in your company, products or cause, then, search engines aside, that’s a pretty good tool that you should be using…

Whoops… wrong Flash. The big search news from Google, Yahoo and Adobe is that those two search engines are now able to pull all text from Adobe flash (swf) files. So if there is text within the file it can be indexed and found through a subsequent search.

What are the implications? Well, for starters it means that I need to make changes to my SEO training slides where I state that Flash should only be used sparingly if at all (although I do believe that making Flash readable in some manner this year was an ADA requirement). It also means that you may see a shift in the search results as they roll this out, as it’s not a new form of flash that’s being indexed, it’s all flash that’s already out there. The difference is that there’s a new flash parser (reader) that Google and Yahoo are taking advantage of.

One other implication is that any urls in the flash will be crawled, which could result in flash files being stuffed with links in the near future.

So should you rush out and “flash up” your site? Well, since we don’t know yet how well this is going to work, I’d advise caution, plus you also need to think about the usability of your site. Does flash present the look and feel that you feel represents your organization best?  How will the search engines handle the state of the Flash file?  Will they be able to take you to a particular location in the Flash file, or only to the start?  What about sites that are entirely flash based?  Will everything just point you to the first page?  These are just a few of the many things to think about before making the Flash leap.

What I can say is that this is a good move for Adobe, as by giving over 85% of the search market the capability to index Flash, they’ve removed a fairly large barrier for using that format.