Smart Data with Google's Universal Analytics

@adrianvender • adrianvender.com • #IDSD

smart data with google’suniversal analytics

IDSD 2014

part one

the problem with web analytics

ONE PERSON, ONE DEVICE

if people just used one device, tracking users would be easy.

ONE PERSON, MANY DEVICES

people interact with your business using multiple devices.

ONE PERSON, MANY INTERACTIONS

actually, it’s a bit more complicated.online and offline interactions have to be considered.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS EVOLVED A BIT

multi-channel funnels shifted us away from last-click attribution.other GA improvements helped push us to smarter analysis.

UNIVERSAL ANALYTICS

universal analytics allows us to connect and measure users across the online and offline world.

- tracking across any device

- 3rd party system integrations

- improved, flexible tracking code

- more admin-based configurations

- custom dimensions & metrics

- import cost data from other ad networks

“Not so fast, my friend”

YOU NEED CORRECT DATA

you can’t get smart data out of bad data.

part two

correct data is good data

WASP will automatically scan analytics tags, visualize script and tag info, & highlight potential problems.

http://webanalyticssolutionprofiler.com/

GOOGLE TAG MANAGER

use GTM to organize your tags and mitigate data errors.

http://www.google.com/tagmanager/

CAMPAIGN (UTM) TAGGING

if you want ANY form of correct multi-channel attribution,you MUST be tagging your campaign links.

HOW GA ATTRIBUTION WORKS

order of attribution in GA:1. custom UTM tags2. browser referral string3. if neither is found, session channel marked as “direct”

“direct” really just means “we don’t know!”

WHAT HAPPENS WITHOUT UTM TAGGING

desktop and mobile apps don’t pass referral string, and browser referrals aren’t always insightful, leading to mass confusion.

- email marketing will be marked as “direct” or “mail.*” referrals.

- twitter traffic either marked as “direct” or “t.co” referrals.

- banner ad referrals aren’t specific and insightful.

- Bing Ads will appear as “bing/organic”

* for AdWords, enable autotagging! https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/1752125?hl=en

UTM TAGGING RESOURCES

check out @AnnieCushing and her guide to UTM tagging.http://www.annielytics.com/guides/definitive-guide-campaign-tagging-google-analytics/

GET A NERD

other potential issues that you need a nerd to fix:- self-referral traffic- cross-domain tracking- ecommerce tracking implementation- event firing and troubleshooting- JavaScript errors

http://www.google.com/analytics/partners/

part three

let’s talkuniversal analytics

TIME TO UPGRADE

universal analytics is out of beta! all features available.

existing GA properties can be upgraded to UA. (no data loss)

SAFE TIME WINDOW FOR UPGRADING

UA properties will allows hits from ga.js for at least a few years.this let’s you safely plan your code migration.

classic analytics

universal analytics

analytics.js

learn more at the “Universal Analytics Upgrade Center”https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/upgrade/?hl=en_US

CUSTOMIZE ORGANIC SEARCH SOURCES

customize the list of organic search sources to clean up your referral and search reports.

great list of organic search sources to add:http://antezeta.com/news/universal-analytics-search-engines

@SeanCarlos

CAMPAIGN AND SESSION TIMEOUT HANDLING

use cases:

- reduce the campaign timeout when a micro social-media campaign lasts only a few days

- extend the session timeout when a user is placed in an online ‘waiting room’ (i.e. ticket purchases)

- reduce the session timeout when you expect users to quickly read content and leave (i.e. online news portal)

REFERRAL EXCLUSIONS

- very important for cross-domain tracking. must exclude origin and destination domains.

- also useful when you are sending traffic from Facebook Page Apps (using iframes) to your website.

CUSTOM DIMENSIONS & METRICS

you can configure 20 custom dimensions & 20 custom metrics!

- dimensions are your ‘row’ labels- metrics are your ‘column’ labels

understand the difference between hit, scope, and user scope levels:http://cutroni.com/blog/2014/02/05/understanding-digital-analytics-data/ @JustinCutroni

MEASUREMENT PROTOCOL

new, improved measurement protocol is whatenables tracking from any programmable interface.

- web tracking (analytics.js) and mobile SDKs inc the measurement protocol.

- simple structure allows for easy incorporation into any digital device. arduinos, kiosks, CRM, call tracking systems, coffee machines(?)

http://www.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&tid=UA-123456-

2&cid=36009a59-2a05-49e7-b826-2b884d0f935b&uid=as8rlkjs&t=pageview&dp=%

2Fhome

USER ID - THE KEY TO CROSS-DEVICE TRACKING

assign a unique userID to a user. it may be a unique row id in your CRM, member database, etc.*** NOT a name, email address… anything with their identity ***

http://www.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&tid=UA-123456-

2&cid=36009a59-2a05-49e7-b826-2b884d0f935b& uid=as8rlkjs&t=pageview&dp=%

2Fhome

ga('create', 'UA-123456-2', { ' userId': 'as8rlkjs' });

ga('send', 'pageview');

example with analytics.js:

example with measurement protocol:

part four

use cases

DIMENSION WIDENING

dimension widening is a feature that allows you to append dimensions & metrics to GA hits based on a custom data set.

http://cutroni.com/blog/2013/10/30/dimension-widening-import-data-directly-into-google-analytics/

extra values

LOGIN-BASED USER UNIFICATION

once you establish a user id for a registered user on your site, always set the GA userId for subsequent visits.

user will always be identified as the same user no matter what device they login with.

TRACKING ACROSS THE SALES CYCLE

websites allow you to track web-based conversions, but other sales-cycle conversions occur outside of the website.

use system webhooks (and the GA user id) to track when leads become sales accepted leads, opportunities, won contracts, etc.

TRIAL TO SIGNUP CONVERSION TRACKING

tracking a 30-day trial signup with GA is pretty easy.but what about the signup at the end of the trial?

your applicationuserId

30 days later...

MARKETING AUTOMATION + CRM INTEGRATION

store your userId in your CRM system. upon a change in sales cycle, use a webhook and measurement protocol to send hit.

your CRMuserId

new contract!

PHONE CALL TRACKING

some call tracking solutions send data to GA, but often identified as a separate user and disconnected from attribution paths.

sync the user id with the assigned phone number so if a call occurs, call tracking system sends user id along with GA hit.

call tracking system

userId

<ua hits><ua

IN-STORE TRACKING

great example of measuring:- in-store entrances and exits- cash register transactions

http://juliencoquet.com/en/2013/04/08/measuring-offline-store-activity-with-google-universal-analytics/

@JulienCoquet

UNIVERSAL ANALYTICS FOR SEARCH BOTS

PHP-based server side script thattracks bots in GA.

http://www.adrianvender.com/universal-analytics-for-search-bots/

@This Guy?!!

TRACKING COFFEE CONSUMPTION W/ PRODUCTIVITY

using arduino boards and universal analytics, LOVES DATA was able to track coffee consumption by user & tie against their productivity metrics.http://youtu.be/C27yMQOS8n0

TRACK THE PLANET

if there is a programmable interface, it can be integrated with GA.

A NEW WORLD OF INSIGHTS

connect the users and all of their touchpoints.gain intelligent and valuable insights.make better business decisions.

thank you

@adrianvender

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