All about engagement with Universal Analytics @ Google Developer Group NYC May Meet Up

All about Engagement with

Universal Analytics

Nico Miceli+nico miceli|@nicomiceli

At work:

- Marketer at the core

- Technical Analytics

@SEERInteractive

- GDE for Google

Analytics

For Fun:

Hacker/Maker

People Watcher

Quantified Selfer

Curious Dude

Who are you?

First,

what is

engagement?

I am going to talk

about:Event Tracking

Custom Dimensions

Cross Device Management

The Measurement Protocol

The old days

Analytics

was easier

But after

a couple

years…

The web

got way

cooler

Tracking got

harder

With great power apps comes great

responsibility tracking needs

Welcome to

Universal Analytics

var _gaq = _gaq || [];_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXX-X']);_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); })();

javascript

ga.js

Old

(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[

r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new

Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.

parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','//www.google-

analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');

ga('create', 'UA-XXXXX-Y', 'nicomiceli.com');

ga('send', 'pageview');

analytics.jsjavascript

New!

Thank You!

Any Questions?

Just Kidding!It’s more than just an upgrade.

“Google Analytics

is becoming user

or customer

centric rather

than visit centric.”

- Justin Curtoni

Analytics Advocate,

Google Inc.

Question 1

Are my users…

sharing pictures

watching videos

clicking links

having trouble with my forms

Event TrackingShows how people are engaging with your site

Event tracking is a GA method

that tracks engagement. It

consists of four values that

you can use to describe a

user's interaction

Value Type Required Description

Category String Yes Typically the object that was interacted with (e.g. button)

Action String Yes The type of interaction (e.g. click)

Label String No Useful for categorizing events (e.g. nav buttons)

Value Number No Values must be non-negative. Useful to pass counts (e.g. 4

times)

Example Button Click<button id="b1">Click Me</button>

<script>

$('#b1').click(function(){

ga('send', // send command - REQUIRED

'event', // type of thing to send - REQUIRED

'category', // category of event - REQUIRED

'action', // action of the event - REQUIRED

'label', // the element that was clicked - OPTIONAL

5 // the value of the event that was clicked - OPTIONAL

);

});

</script>

ga('send','event','category','action','opt_label',opt_value)

Don’t forget about

hidden content

Are people

viewing

your tabs?

$('#tabID').click(function(){

ga('send', // send command – REQUIRED

'event', // type of thing to send – REQUIRED

'tabs', // category of event – REQUIRED

'click', // action of the event – REQUIRED

$(this).id, // the element that was clicked - OPTIONAL

);

});

</script>

There is

so

much

data in

Forms!

Track interaction

with input boxes

with onblur

Post: bit.ly/1he1SRK by @iamchrisle

Help users through

your forms by tracking

they’re errors

Post: bit.ly/1he1SRK by @iamchrisle

The StatsShow stats from RCS infographic

Drill down to NYC

Track embeded

multimedia

They all have Player

API’s!

YouTube Event Tracking

Example//load youtube video with JavaScript API

function onYouTubePlayerAPIReady() {

player = new YT.Player('player', {

height: 390,

width: 640,

videoId: "videoidxyz",

events: {

'onStateChange': onPlayerStateChange

}

});

}

function onPlayerStateChange(event) {

switch (event.data) {

case YT.PlayerState.PLAYING:

ga("send", "event", "video", "play", "video name")

break;

case YT.PlayerState.ENDED:

ga("send", "event", "video", "end", "video name")

break;

case YT.PlayerState.PAUSED:

ga("send", "event", "video", "pause", "video name")

break;

}

}

Wistia<div id="wistia_v059er99tw" class="wistia_embed" style="width:640px;height:426px;"> &nbsp; </div>

<script charset="ISO-8859-1" src="http://fast.wistia.com/assets/external/E-v1.js"> </script>

<script>

wistiaEmbed = Wistia.embed("video-id-here");

wistiaEmbed.bind('play',function() {

//console.log('play')

ga('send','event','video-wistia','play','wistia-video-1')

})

wistiaEmbed.bind('pause',function() {

//console.log('paused')

ga('send','event','video-wistia','pause','wistia-video-1')

})

wistiaEmbed.bind("end", function () {

//console.log('ended');

ga('send','event','video-wistia','ended','wistia-video-1')

});

</script>

Question 2

Are my users engaged users…

buying

performing the desired 2nd action

requesting more information

Custom DimensionsSend extra information to Google Analytics

Custom Dimensions

allow you to push

custom data to Google

Analytics and group

things togetherNote: You only get 20 but they 1 can have multiple labels

Set the Scope

The scope tells GA how

long the custom

dimensions should

follow the user

3 Types of Scope

Hit - value is

applied to the

single hit for which

it has been set.

Hit

What authors get viewed viewed the most?

Blog post 1 by Chris

Blog post 2 by Kevin

Blog post 3 by Nico

Blog post 4 by Kevin

Blog post 5 by Chris

Blog post 6 by Nico

Blog Post 7 by Kevin

Pageview=blog-1/ Pageview=/blog-5/ Pageview=/blog-4/ Pageview=/blog-2/

cd1_value=Author_Kevin cd1_value=Author_Nico cd1_value=Author_Kevin

cd1_value=Author_Kevincd1_value=Author_Nicocd1_value=Author_Chris

cd1_value=Author_Chris

Pageview=/blog-7/Pageview=/blog-2/Pageview=/blog-4/

Processing

Every hit gets processed with the Custom Dimension of the author’s name

ClientID = 232

Session 1H1: pageview=/blog-post-1/ cd1_value=Author_Chris

H2: pageview =/blog-post-5/ cd1_value=Author_Kevin

ClientID = 343

Session 1

H1: pageview =/blog-post-4/ cd1_value=Author_Nico

H2: pageview =/blog-post-2/ cd1_value=Author_Kevin

H3: pageview =/blog-post-7/ cd1_value=Author_Chris

H4: pageview =/blog-post-6/ cd1_value=Author_Nico

H5: pageview =/blog-post-9/ cd1_value=Author_Kevin

Reporting

Example Report

Author Blog posts Viewed

Author Nico 2

Author Kevin 3

Author Chris 2

3 Types of Scope

Session - value is

applied to all hits in a

single session where

idle time is < 30 mins.

Session

Do people who watch my videos end up converting?

Go product page

Watch video

Click on tabs

Read reviews

Sign up

Pageview=blog-1/ event= video, play, video1 event= tabs, click, info

Pageview=reviews/ event = forms, sign up, more info

Remember event tracking parameters = category, action, label

Cd2 = video watcher

Cd2 = video watcher

Video event triggers

custom dimension 2

3 Types of Scope

User - value is applied to all

hits in current and future

sessions, until value changes

or custom dimension is made

inactive.

UsersHow do the paid users differ from the free users

Go to site

Log inView blog

Listen to music

Go to siteView help

pageView blog

Listen to music

Pageview=/ Pageview = welcome Pageview= /blog/ event= music, play, song1

Pageview=/ Pageview=/help/ Pageview=/blog/ event= music, play, song2

Cd3 = video watcher

Cd3 = video watcher

Session 1

Session 2

But what if they switch to

another device

Woz’s

travel bag

we lost him… we can't find Stu the user

Question 3

Are my users…

using different devices

performing different actions on

different devices

Cross Device ManagementTrack users across different devices

Client ID

Normally GA stores an

anonymous Client ID for

the user

It starts with User-ID

feature - The user ID lets you create your own

persistent anonymous id and override GA’s

- You can tie hits & sessions to the same

users when they log in on different devices

It starts with User-ID feature

Make sure the User ID is:

- Non-personally identifiable

- Unique to a user of your service or

app

- Persistent for a

signed-in user across

all devices

Web:ga('create', 'UA-XXXX-Y', 'auto');

if (auth.userSignedInVlaue) { ga('set', '&uid', {{ USER_ID }});};

ga('send', 'pageview');

Android:

t.set("&uid", {{ USER_ID }});

iOS:

[tracker set:@"&uid" value:{{ USER_ID }}];

Setting it up in the App

- Enable

UserID

in Admin

- Make a new

View

Things to note:1- the profile will only show hits with the

UserID present

2- number of Users is calculated based on

the number of unique User-ID values.

3- date range max will only be 90 days

4- Once you enable the User ID feature for

a view (profile), you cannot disable it.

What can we learn from that?

Where your customers

research and where

they buy & how their

activity differs

What can we learn from

that?

We can

see

device

overlap

reports

& Device

paths!

Question 4

What if the users…

aren’t on tablets or computers

do other things offline

Measurement ProtocolMake HTTP requests to send raw user interaction data directly to Google Analytics servers.

The measurement protocol lets you

send data to Google Analytics via

HTTP Requests to this endpoint.

http://www.google-analytics.com/collecthttp://ssl.google-analytics.com/collect

With these values required for all hitsName Parameter Example Description

Protocol Version v v=1 The protocol version. The

value should be 1.

Tracking ID tid tid=UA-123456-1 The ID that distinguishes to

which Google Analytics

property to send data.

Client ID cid cid=xxxxx An ID unique to a particular

user.

Hit Type t t=pageview The type of interaction

collected for a particular

user.

How about physical data?

Lets test it

Offline ?

Ok, it wasn’t that complicated

Rasberry Pi + PIR Sensor +

lil’ Python = movement in GAimport time

import urllib2

import RPi.GPIO as io

io.setmode(io.BCM)

pir_pin = 18

io.setup(pir_pin, io.IN

def hitGA():

urllib2.urlopen("http://ww

w.google-

analytics.com/collect?v=1&

tid=UA-XXXXXX-

Y&cid=1111&t=event&ec=Move

ment&ea=livingRoom&el=desk

").close

while True:

if io.input(pir_pin):

hitGA()

Total cost $60

Sleep Tracker v1

At SEER we like to have events

What’s a good area to track

“We used a raspberry pi to track trips to the keg at #searchchurch in

Google analytics pic.twitter.com/tr9XLMSRRD by @NicoMiceli”

- @wilreynolds

That was fun!

Now for the serious

examples!

Client ID or User ID

Question Client ID User ID

What does the ID

Represent?

An anonymous device or browser instance. A single user, like a signed-in user account, that may interact with

content across one or more devices and / or browser instances.

How is the ID Set? Randomly generated and automatically sent

with all hits by Google Analytics libraries.

You must set and send your own userIds with your Google Analytics

hits.

How is ID Used to

Calculate Unique

Users?

In a non-User-ID-enabled view (profile), Client

ID is used to calculate unique users.

In a User-ID-enabled view (profile), User ID is used to calculate unique

users

There are two ways to associate a hit

to a user with the measurement

protocol

Examples: Lead gen vs eComm

Lets talk Lead Gen

The lead gen process

Go to siteBrowse around

Fill out form

Form goes to DB

BizDevfollows up with call

Lead turns to Qualified

BizDev sends proposal

Client signs agreement

New Lead

Nico

Miceli

CompanyX

.com

What GA sees

Go to siteBrowse around

Fill out form

Form goes to DB

BizDev follows up with call

Thumbs Up!

Lead turns to Qualified

BizDev sends proposal

Client signs agreement

New Lead

Nico

Miceli

CompanyX

Push the client ID with

your form

submissions… hindenly<form id="lead-form" method="POST" action="/lead">

<input id="name" type="text" /><BR>

<input id="phone" type="text" /><BR>

<!-- make a hidden input field and store the client ID in it -->

<input id="clientcookie" type="hidden" /><BR>

</form>

<script type="text/javascript">

$(document).ready(function(){

ga(function(tracker) {

clientID = tracker.get('clientId'); //grab the current users anonymous client ID

document.getElementById('clientcookie').value = clientID;

//set the value of client ID to the hidden input field

});

});

</script>

ga(function(tracker) {var clientId = tracker.get('clientId');

});

<form id="lead-form" method="POST" action="/lead">

<input id="name" type="text" /><BR>

<input id="phone" type="text" /><BR>

<!-- make a hidden input field and store the client ID in it -->

<input id="clientcookie" type="hidden" /><BR>

</form>

<script type="text/javascript">

$(document).ready(function(){

ga(function(tracker) {

clientID = tracker.get('clientId'); //grab the current users anonymous client ID

document.getElementById('clientcookie').value = clientID;

//set the value of client ID to the hidden input field

});

});

</script>

The lead gen process

Go to siteBrowse around

Fill out form

Form goes to DB

BizDevfollows up with call

Lead turns to Qualified

BizDev sends proposal

Client signs agreement

New Lead

Nico

Miceli

CompanyX

CID: 777

cid:777 cid:777

cid:777 cid:777

Send new data with the

Measurement protocol

Get EmailGo to

eComm.comLog in to get

coupon

Print Out Coupon

Go to the eCommStore

Spend coupon +

$100

eComm to comm…

Get EmailGo to

eComm.comLog in to get

coupon

Print Out Coupon

Go to the eCommStore

Spend coupon +

$100

eComm to comm

auth = true

Get EmailGo to

eComm.comLog in to get

coupon

Print Out Coupon

Go to the eCommStore

Spend coupon +

$100

eComm to comm

auth = true

UID=123

UID=123 UID=123

I can now see user pain

points in my app, learn

the impact of the bells &

whistle, I can understand

the users on across

devices, I can associate

them with real world

data.

TL;DR Events

Use Google Analytics to track engagement via JS events

ga('send','event','category','action','opt_label

',opt_value)

TL;DR Custom Dimensions

Allows you to group things and send more data to Google

Analytics

Step 1: Create a Name that you want to show up in reports

Step 2: Set the Scope

Step 3: Make it Active

TL;DR Cross Device Management

Allows you to track a user across different devices

Step 1: Enable it in the web app

Step 2: Connect a persistent anonymous ID to each user

Step 3: Add it to your code

TL;DR measurement Protocol

Allows you to send data to GA via HTTP Requests

Allows you to connect real world with internet world

The length of the entire encoded URL must be no longer than

2000 Bytes.

Resources

Google Analytics Debugger Chrome Extension

Google Analytics Developer Google+ Community

Stack Overflow Google Analytics Tag

All links will be on my G+ page

tomorrow

Google.com/+nicomiceli

@nicomiceli

We’re Hiring! seer.is/jobbies