Closing the loop with web analytics by Aaron Maass

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

Mail

OutboundPhone

Blog

Email

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!