Trager gaining insights workshop_csw_10-9-12

Gaining Insights Into Your Targeted Audience

Through Competitive Analysis, Analytics, and Stakeholder ResearchyLisa TragerLead Content Strategist, Senior User Experience Designer

Content Strategy Workshops

October 9, 2012

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial‐NoDerivs 3.0 UnportedLicense. To view a copy of this license, visit htp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by‐nc‐nd/3.0/

For more information, please contact Lisa Trager at [email protected]

Workshop Exercises

1. Competitive Research2 i2. Features Matrix3. Competitive Sitemap Analysis4. Keyword Research5. Investigate Free Tools for

l d lAnalytics and Social Listening6. Develop Stakeholder

Q tiQuestions

Gaining Insights to Your Targeted AudienceLisa Trager (c) 8/4/2012 2

WELCOME TO THE TEAM!PURRFECT PET COMMUNITYPURRFECT PET COMMUNITY

Welcome to the Purrfect Pet Community Team!

• Assignment: Do research to help determine the needs of an online community for pet owners


Qualitative Analysis

• Human behavior• Non‐numerical factors• Quality of content• Applies to:

– Competitive Analysis– Heuristic Analysis– Content AuditU bilit T ti– Usability Testing

Quantitative Analysis

• Hard dataS i i• Statistics

• Metrics• Provides actionable insights

Methodology

1. Discovery2 Definition2. Definition3. Design4. Development4. Development5. Deployment

Client

Gaining insights into your d ditargeted audience

WHY DO IT?

Process takes time

Costs money

Obstacles

Our SEM campaign is kicking off in a month –

h ill th l diWe’ve never done it

this way.

when will the landing pages be ready?

Marketing ManagerProject Manager

Marketing Manager

We’re over budget and six weeks to l h J t h th b t tlaunch. Just show us the best way to get our marketing messages out.

Account ManagerAccount Manager

The Team• Project Management• Account Rep• Creative Director• Technology• Analytics• Product Managerg• Development• Stakeholders

Who is representing the interests of the user?p g

The Content Strategist

• A Content Strategist brings an understanding of:

Who?What?

Who is the targeted audience?

What information is relevantWhat? What information is relevant

Where users are coming from and most likely going next Where?

When? When is the best time to present contextually relevant content?

Why users are coming to the website and Why? y gwhat are they looking for?

Why?

Roles and Skills of a CS

What are the benefits of research?

2. Removes guesswork1. Provides insight into what

your users want

3. Is a more scientific approach, which is harder to challenge

Right Message at the Right Time and Place

Laptop or PC

TabletMobile or smart

phone

Insights to Persuade/Convert/Sell• Gaining insights into• Gaining insights into

your targeted users is ultimately about:

If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their l – Persuasion

– Conversion– Sales!

language.The most effective leader is the one who satisfies the psychological needs of his followers.

David Ogilvy

Sales!followers.

f h bTo convert somebody go and take th b th h d d id th One of the best ways to

persuade others is with your ears ‐ by listening to them.

Dean Rusk

them by the hand and guide themSaint Thomas Aquinas

Dean Rusk

Would you persuade, speak of interest, not of reason.

Benjamin Franklin

COMPETITIVE ANALYSISCOMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

Clients Love Competitive Research!

• Clients love:T l b t– To learn more about their competition

– How they ratey– What they can do better– Getting new ideas about

• Features • Functionality• Topics

What’s the competition saying?

• What are the differentiators?– StrategyStrategy– Messages– Claims – Calls to action– Website design– Guided path they present to users

20

Competitive Research Deliverables

• Can address many different things and can be presented in g pmany different ways:1. Presentation – show screenshots,

which illustrate site objectives, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)opportunities, and threats (SWOT)

2. Features Matrix – spreadsheet showing primary topics andshowing primary topics and features and can be used for rating

3. Sitemap Comparisons

Value

Useful Content Content is related to user requirements and objectives, is useful and provides value

Efficient Steps have been taken to ensure the user can execute tasks quickly and easily

stics

and easilyDesign

Clean Design Overall design is clean and simple, with only the necessary information

Visibility of The system should always keep users informed about what is going

Heuris D Visibility of

System StatusThe system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time

Intuitive Required actions, site elements, and processes are easy to comprehend and do not rely upon memoryH

ructure

Consistent Site elements ‐ including titling, nomenclature and processes are consistent.

Path Paths to calls to action meet users needs and mental models by b i il bl id d th ll i t tl il bl

Str being available as a guided path as well as instantly available.

User Control User is in the driver’s seat throughout their site experience

Nomenclature Words, phrases and concepts are familiar to the and are in the “user’s” language and appear in a natural and logical orderuser s language and appear in a natural and logical order.

egy

Clear & Succinct The benefits of using the service/product are succinctly and clearly stated

Segmentation Presenting information in more than 1 way to appeal to different

Strate Segmentation Presenting information in more than 1 way to appeal to different

user types.

Help Help functions and customer service options are offered for assisting users

Petcentric Strengths – Photos & Videos• Petcentric makes

it easy for pet lovers tolovers to – Find popular

photos and videos based upon tagsbased upon tags

– Sort by • Most Recent• Most Popular• Most Popular

– Share pictures and videos R t d– Rate and Comment

– Find ‘More Like Thi ’This’

2. Features Matrix

• When comparing sites identify what issites, identify what is similar vs. different:– TopicsTopics– Features– Help– Targeted audience– Messaging– More!

3. Sitemap Comparisons

List sitemap of each to better understand: 1. Amount of content

• Robust vs. shallow

2 Type of topics and2. Type of topics and role played in overall strategy:

• Navigation• Utilities• Footer Links• Segmentation• Global Callouts

EXERCISE 1 ‐ COMPETITIVE ANALYSISEXERCISE 1 COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

Pet Community Competitors

1. PetCentric.com2 HealthyPet com2. HealthyPet.com3. Cuteness.com4. Iheartpaws.com4. Iheartpaws.com5. PetPop.com6. YouPet.com7. TheGreenPetCommunity.com8. Aspca.org


Pet Community Competitors

1. PetCentric.com2 HealthyPet com2. HealthyPet.com3. Iheartpaws.com4. Aspca.org4. Aspca.org


Petcentric.com

• Objective: to be the ‘Ultimate Destination for Pet Lovers” by offering lots and lots of content

Lisa Trager (c) 8/4/2012 Gaining Insights to Your Targeted Audience 29

offering lots and lots of content.

HealthyPet.com

• Objective: Awareness about standards for care, adoption, and treatment of small animals


treatment of small animals

iHeartPaws.com

• Objective: An advertising basedadvertising based pet community that encourages

ti i tiparticipation through– Forums– Blogs– Pet Contests

ASPCA.org

• Objective:J i– Join us

– Be a part of our life‐fsaving work.

Competitive Analysis Presentation

• Look at the strategy, structure design and

1. Grab images of good examples of eachstructure, design and

value to users and identify:

examples of each2. Place into the PPT

templateidentify:– Strengths– Weaknesses

template3. Find at least 2 bullet

points for each– Opportunities– Threats

points for each heuristic element you’re presenting

• Apply heuristics in overall evaluation


PetCentric.com

• Strengths


Petcentric Strengths – Social Media• Petcentric is on

– Facebook– Twitter– YouTube– Android Market– Iphone

Petcentric Strengths – Content

• Content – Articles– Photos– Videos– Games– TravelFind a Pet– Find a Pet

– Blog

Petcentric Strengths – Interactivity• Entering zip code and keywords

bl tenables users to find:– LodgingLodging– Parks & Beaches– Pet Services

R t t d E t– Restaurants and Events

PetCentric – Duplicative Content

Travel & EventsTravel & Events

Blog

• Lack of User Control• Not Intuitive• Diminishes TrustDiminishes Trust

PetCentric Weaknesses

• Structure– No clear path– Primary nav items could apply

to multiple categories:• E.g. Funny Cats (Videos,

articles, photos)p )– Target cat vs. dog people?

• Strategy– No clear call‐to‐action– What’s in it for me to ‘join the

community?’• Value

– Not readily apparent– Sharing photos, videos and

events


HealthyPet.com

• Strengths


IHeartPaws.com

• Strengths


IHeartPaws.com

• Weaknesses


ASPCA.org

• Stengths


ASPCA.org

• Stengths


ASPCA.org

• Weaknesses

Recommendations• Enable users to upload content:

– Pictures– Videos– Videos– Stories

• Encourage advocacy for animalsJ i– Join a cause

– Contribute• Develop content strategy that includes social media:

– Facebook– Twitter– Pininterest

• Create an editorial schedule that will guide content on:– Site– Social Media


Social Media

EXERCISE 2 – COMPETITIVE FEATURESEXERCISE 2 COMPETITIVE FEATURES

Competitive Features Matrix


2. Features Matrix

Things to look for: • Topics• ToolsTools• Customer Service/Contact (e.g.

Live Chat)L l f T• Level of Trust

• Registration (Difference in content once logged‐in)

• Segmentation (Targeted audience)• Downloads

M lti di• Multi‐media• Social Media• Utilities (e.g. Print/Share/Text size)( g / / )

Ranking• Subjective based upon

– Your analysis of sites auditedO ll li f i b i l d– Overall quality of sites being evaluated

• Scoring– Add all features– Add all features– Give extra point for features that are particularly good– Deduct for poor application

• Can be helpful to show in competitive analysis presentation

Competitive Rankings

EXERCISE 3 – SITEMAP COMPARISONEXERCISE 3 SITEMAP COMPARISON

Structure and Guided Path

Although these sites made it easy to find relevant content, the nomenclature of the i i i d f f h i d li l d i C llprimary navigation and structure of most of these sites does little to drive users to a Call‐

to‐Action or to “Join the Community.”

Common Topics

Step 1 – copy and past sitemaps side by side

Step 2 – add color to highlight similar content between sites

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSISQUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

Quantitative ‐ Analytics

• Dozens of backend programs enable data mining – Better known include Google Analytics, Webtrends, Omniture

– Cost: Free to very expensive!

• Metrics will help you – Gain insight into web or mobile sitesC ith id f t i l t– Come up with new ideas for topics, nomenclature, or features

Why Data is Important

• Data can help you learn more about your users:Where they go on your site– Where they go on your site

– Keywords they use or things they are looking for– What is of most interestWhat is of most interest– Where they’re coming from– Time spent on site– Content they’re interactingwith most:

• Visits/Unique visitors• Visits/Unique visitors• Path• Downloads

Getting insights that you can act on

Don’t rely on guesswork when it comes to your social media investment. Get insights and data that you can act oninvestment. Get insights and data that you can act on.

Google Analytics

Engagement

• Analytics measures engagement and path• Can be customized to provide a specific view of your data

• Filtered data allows you to isolate and analyze b t f t ffisubsets of your traffic

Conversions

• Enables you to see how your marketing channels are working together to create sales and conversionstogether to create sales and conversions.

Google Analytics Multi‐channel Funnels

KPI’s

• What ways can analytics help us? Id tifi ti f A /G d /Ed ti /L ti– Identification of Age/Gender/Education/Location

– Forms• Successful completionSuccessful completion

– Engagement• Click• Call• Email• Download

Web.com – Proprietary program

Importance of tagging

• All content should be tagged in existing sitesd 2 6 h l i• Need 2‐6 months to get analytics

• Have a conversation about existing site– What are Key Performance Indicators?– Monthly/Semi‐annual/Annual ReportsWho’s looking at the data?– Who s looking at the data?

Interpreting the data

• Data can be accessed asCSV Fil th t– CSV Files that can download the data into Excel or be printed as a PDF

– Graphs– Heat maps

Keyword Research

• Provides insights into what users are looking forusers are looking for

• Leverage insights into content strategy

• When selecting keywords consider the:

FrequencyI t t k d i – Frequency – Online competition

• Where are they ranking?

• Integrate keywords in:– Sitemap (structure of the site)– Directory structure (page name)– Metadata Where are they ranking?

• Why are they ranking?Metadata

– Page titles– Headings– Text (page copy)– Images (alt tags)– Videos (alt tags)

Keywords

• Both local and external search engine reports provide a window into how users think about:

Nomenclature– Nomenclature – Topics– Objectives

• What they’re search for may be a missing i di t t itingredient to your site

• Short head vs. long tail

Short Head vs. Long Tail

Common queries

Zipf Curve

Common queriesMore common terms

Lower ranking, more unique terms/phrases

Finding Meaning

• Beware of data overload!• In order to have meaning

– Look for patterns in the data that ‘tell a story’

k d h– Group keywords together

Finding Patterns

Ambien CR Sitemap

Competitive Analysis Using Keywords

www.comscore.com

Quantitative Keyword ResearchPet Related Keywords Monthly Searches Indexed Pages

Pet Care 101,056 19,900,000

Pet Adoption 2,428 169,000

Pet Videos 1,578 2,330,000

Pet Training 1,376 1,900,100g

Animal health 1,274 1,880,000

Pet Behavior 1,100 900,900• Integrate keywords in:Pet Fitness

Pets and kids

Pet Loss

• Integrate keywords in:– Sitemap (structure of the site)– Directory structure (page name)– Metadata– Page titlesPage titles– Headings– Text (page copy)– Images (alt tags)– Videos (alt tags)( g )– Articles (topics and titles)

Nomenclature

• Primary navigation is the most important vehicle – To engage users g g– Provide ‘scent’– Tell a story

Drive to calls to action through a path– Drive to calls‐to‐action through a path• Keywords can be an important driver

– To get targeted audience to the site– To get search engines to understand and categorize your site for

search• Testing can help ensure that you’ve gotten it right!Testing can help ensure that you ve gotten it right!

EXERCISE 4 – KEYWORD RESEARCHEXERCISE 4 KEYWORD RESEARCH


Keywords, Trends, and Competition• Here are some FREE sites that can enable you to test out

keywords and see dashboards related to the competiton:

Keyword/Competitive Analysis:– Comscore.com ‐

http://www.comscoredatam

Think With GoogleGoogle Insights for SearchGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Adwords

ine.com/category/web‐traffic/

– Alexa.com– SEM RUSH

gSEOBook Keyword Suggestion Tool

http://tools.seobook.com/keyword‐list/generator.php

– SEM RUSH Other popular keyword tools:Wordtracker

http://tools.seobook.com/keyword‐p // / ytools/seobook/

SEOmoz keyword difficulty tool


Analytics ‐ Competitive Researchhttp://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/aspca.org#

SEMrush’s Keyword Research Dashboardhttp://www.semrush.com/search.php?q=aspca.org&db=us

See keyword research for pet care


Using Analytics for CS

• Yellow: Overall themes:– Forums– Facebook– Adult communities (seniors)(seniors)

• Pink: LocalizationFilters by local region– Filters by local region

• Pet friendly places to live• Find a pet• Vets

Google Insights

PRODUCTS CONDITIONSAND TOPICS

PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY

PATIENT EDUCATION AND SUPPORT

MY SERVICES

Google Insights

PRODUCTS CONDITIONS RESOURCES PATIENT EDUCATION SERVICES

http://www.google.com/insights/search/

EXERCISE 5 – LISTEN TO THE BUZZEXERCISE 5 LISTEN TO THE BUZZ


Impact of Social Media

• Trends: wwwHitwise comwww.Hitwise.com

Hitwise 3/15/2012 announcing Facebooksurpassed Google for most visited website.p g

Listening to the buzz

• Radian 6– Volume of conversationVolume of conversation– Share of voice (competitors)– Trending topics

T t l l– Total volume– Volume by media types– Sentiments– Top languages– Influencers– Age/gender demographicsAge/gender demographics– Top phrases being used to

discuss your brand

Social Media Research

• Using SocialMention.com what trends or insights can monitoring social media provide?monitoring social media provide?– www.socialmention.com– www pinterest comwww.pinterest.com


SocialMentionFree tool to hear the buzzzz:http://www.socialmention.com/

Facebook

• Enables businesses to get insights into dozens of metrics including:metrics including:– Application Users/Content– Plugins– API PerformanceAPI Performance– Page Stories and People

talking about this– Page Impressions/Views

P E t– Page Engagement– Page Users (Age/Gender)– Page Content– Page PostsPage Posts– Page Post: Stories and

People talking about this– Page Post: Impressions

P P E– Page Post: Engagement– Domain Content

STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWSSTAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS

Purpose of Stakeholder Interviews

• Get business requirements and objectivesand objectives

• Understand the business modelmodel

• Learn about other research• Get their insights into• Get their insights into targeted audience

WIIFM – Or the User?

• What’s in it for the user?• What’s the Value Proposition?• What s the Value Proposition?• What Key Performance

Indicators are being used to measure success?

Market Research

Industry and Nonprofit Groups

Site Goals by Persona

Share a picture/video/event

Female 15-30 Female 31-49 Female 50-70

Find a pet

Find a vet/animal hospital

Order pet foodOrder pet food

Research pet care problem

Learn about pet behavior

Pl ( i /f )Play a game (entertainment/fun)

Despite varying levels of usage, all users have the shared goals of 1) High Usage

94

p y g g , g )sharing; 2) learning more about pets; and 3) getting high quality affordable pet food

Medium Usage

Gap Analysis

• Validate researchk h i i h• Ask what insights are:

– DifferentSame– Same

– New

• Stay on track?• Stay on track?• Other Resources• Other people we can• Other people we can talk to?

Insights from ToolsTool Insight

Competitive Messaging, features, content and technology used in th k t l hi h t t di ill bAnalysis the marketplace, which your target audience will be measuring you against

Analytics How, when and where users are when using the siteyThe mental model of users – what content is most meaningful as illustrated by visits, action taken, and path on site.

Keyword Research

What users are searching for in their words! Integrate keywords to lift rankings in organic search listings. Short head/long tail. Get insights into g g gcompetition with their keywords. Come up with new ideas for future content strategy based keywords and themes found.

EXERCISE 6 – STAKEHOLDER RESEARCHEXERCISE 6 STAKEHOLDER RESEARCH


Stakeholder Interviews

• Develop 5‐10 questions to ask stakeholders


Questions for Stakeholders

List your questions:1 Wh t1. What…


Questions for Stakeholders

• Access to data/analytics• Insights into the consumer and/or targeted audience

• Competitors• Upcoming focus groups• Usability studies• Industry reports• Industry groupsy g p• List of stakeholders to interview

What next steps might be

• Create a sitemapi f• Wireframes

• Comps (Design)• Copydeck


Prepare a high level sitemap

• Develop a sitemap with the primary and some secondary navigation using the insights we havesecondary navigation using the insights we have gotten from:– Competitive ResearchCompetitive Research– Keyword Research– Social Listening– Stakeholder Research


Purrfect Pet Community Sitemap

Home Page


Thank you

– Lisa L. TragerEmail: tragester@gmail comEmail: [email protected]: 201‐722‐8941

Oth t tOther ways to connect:– Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lisatrager– Twitter: #LisaltTwitter: #Lisalt

Gaining Insights to Your Targeted Audience STC‐NY Metro WorkshopLisa Trager (c) 8/4/2012 104