Using the 4Ps of the marketing mix to give context to decision makers

Most web analytics departments in large companies are now using data to report on their online marketing performance. Navigational patterns, conversion funnels, and marketing channels have come to be the focus of most of these reports. But what happens after these analyses are distributed? "Analytics ninjas" may comprehensively understand what is happening with their website, but do other organizational members? Who is viewing these analyses and do they have the propensity to act on the data insights? Producing analytics reports is not a simple process, but involves numerous company resources. From technical departments for the implementation and deployment of web analytics to different levels of marketing management to adapt reports to business objectives, the whole process is undertaken whilst dealing with multiple assets and data sources. Such big investment is always undertaken with the objective of reporting financial growth, but it…

Using the Geckoboard Business Dashboard for marketing

Value rating: [rating=4] Recommended link: http://www.geckoboard.com/ Update - see Geckofuel Since we published the post we have had some feedback that Geckoboard looks useful, but doesn't support social follower counts. Well it does, but by this separate additional (free) service Geockofuel. Geckoboard supports any custom data feeds in an XML format and offers many ways of then displaying that feed. The Geckofuel site has prebuilt some of these for additional services including Facebook and Twitter. You can see that you could also use this for your custom reporting.

Our commentary

We're seeing a new class of business or marketing dashboard now which are distinct from the web analytics systems like Google Analytics, Adobe/Omniture Site Catalyst and IBM Coremetrics. These dashboards use the APIs (Application Programming Interfaces for automated data exchange) from different systems to integrate data from different systems. This makes…

Our interview with Brent Coker, creator of Webreep

I love finding out about new tools to help improve marketing, particularly when they help understand customer feedback and drive change. It's one of the reasons I got into web analytics and it's our main focus at SmartInsights.com. Of course, most web analytics tools like Google Analytics are great at telling you what customers are doing, but not so great at telling you why they are doing it and what their motivations and feelings are. Thats's why I've always been keen to share the different types of online customer feedback service available. I was recently alerted to a new tool by Brent Coker which I think adds to tools which help the "Not What, but Why?" question. It's an interesting tool for me since it's based on academic research dating back to 2004, yet is a practical real world tool with benchmarking capabilities.…

Dave's talk at TradeDoubler UK 2011 Digital Marketing Summit

The title of this talk is natural since presentation was for a "performance marketing" audience who use TradeDoubler for affiliate and search management. I hope it's particularly helpful for folks running transactional site marketing - the examples are from retail, financial services and travel. But I hope the case study on mobile marketing, suggestions on strategy and the 10 tips on Google Analytics are helpful for other digital marketing folks. Maximizing Online Performance by Dave ChaffeyView more presentations from Dave Chaffey.…

The question in question is "Tell us what you think!". Surveying customers has always been popular, but the new opportunities for gaining feedback from customers is one of the most exciting aspects of engaging customers through digital channels for me. It's also an underrated aspect of web analytics. So when I was reviewing the 2011 cScape engagement report, the section on adoption of technology for product development and innovation caught my eye. Feedback through analytics or surveys about customers"€™ online experience, whether it"€™s website, mobile, email or social is always useful to improve the way we design experiences. But what interests me most are the opportunities for learning more about how we can improve our brand offering to customers by innovating core or value-added products or services. The classic example of this is the Dell Ideastorm approach where customers suggest product innovations and then other customers rate or comment on these. Smart! Particularly…

Our suggestions on getting more from your web analytics

Rather than just looking at predictions or trends in analytics, I've tried to make these practical to show quick wins or changes to your digital strategy which can help get better results.

5 success factors for your web analytics in 2011

Since we're big advocates of using Google Analytics, we've tried to apply many of these practical suggestions to Google Analytics. 1. Make Smarter use of your analytics. (more…)…

Examples of using vision statements to give focus to your digital marketing

I believe that developing a specific vision or mission statement for your digital channels can really help explain the need for sufficient investment in digital marketing within a company. They also show where your focus should be. So in this post I look at some examples which show effective vision statements.

As you read, you're probably thinking we've already got a corporate mission statement that everyone pokes fun at, so why would we want to define a digital vision statement? or  why should we bother?s too corporate and we're just a small business, we just get on with selling our products.

Good questions! I still think it's helpful to have a vision for your online marketing for all different types of organisation. We say this since the opportunities from digital marketing are too big to not have a vision of…

A detailed case study showing how Dell structure their customer experience and improvement programme worldwide

Value: [rating=5] Added Jan 2011: The commitment of Dell to improving sales and experience through a measured approach is shown since have 25 dedicated people doing A/B and MV tests, not counting several others who support them. This was reported on Twitter by @anilbatra who was listening to Dell present at a Web Analytics Assocation symposium in Austin. Our commentary: Presented at Emetrics Washington DC in 2010, this 36 slide presentation entitled "From Good to Great" shows how Dell have evolved their analytics capability as shown in the diagram. It shows that the move to digital optimisation doesn't occur overnight. Marketing implications: This case shows the strategic importance Dell attach to web analytics and how it supports their vision for the digital channel. It shows…

Gaining direct, real-time feedback from customers and site visitors is one of the most exciting areas of digital marketing for me, which really takes advantage of the real-time interactions available online. A few months back I created a post giving my recommendations on the categories and examples of feedback tools that marketers should review to help them understand their customers' needs better. Of course, Kampyle, was one of the tools featured since this is commonly used as a tool to gain feedback, so it wasn't a complete surprise, when I got a mail from Eran Savir, the co-founder of Kampyle. He said that he sees the categories of tools slightly differently than me, so I thought it would be useful to setup an interview to understand how he sees the market, in order to help site owners…

Our digital marketing software update showcases the latest software tools to help improve your digital marketing from the ones we have reviewed this week. We include software in different categories including SEO, Email marketing, Social media and web analytics Sign-up to our enewsletter if you'd like a reminder of the updates each Friday.

Our recommendations on Internet marketing tools for week starting 30th August 2010

6 Page monitoring services and plugins Value: [rating=4] Commentary: Yes we can use feeds or Google Alerts to keep an eye on new announcements, but"€¦ Implication: if you have a competitor page you have to monitor for product or client news these are great options. Best tools to customise Facebook Pages Value: [rating=4] Commentary: A review of the 12 best services for making Facebook page tabs. Implication: Econsultancy had a…