MRKT10028 Web Marketing,
Fall 2009
Week #13
Capturing & Keeping an Audience
Traffic Analysis & Measuring
Success (ROI)
Getting Visitors Interested Enough to
Keep Them Coming Back
Its not enough to drive traffic to your web site
You have to keep customers (and potential customers)
coming back
Over 1/3 of companies have churn rates > 10%
Churn rate is the number of customers that stop using a
site/service or discontinue their association with a given
brand during a given time period
There is significant value in a returning site visitor
even if s/he isnt generating revenue each visit
Increased site visits build consumer confidence and trust
and ultimately lead to increased sales
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
E-Commerce Environments
Developers of both B2C and B2B (e-commerce) sites consider
two key measurements as an average of all users over time:
Days to Purchase: the number of days that pass from a users first
site visit to when they actually make a purchase
Visits To Purchase: the number of site visits a user makes before
they make a purchase
Obviously, the larger the purchase, the more days/visits the user
will require
New customer acquisition costs are generally 6 8 times
higher than the cost of keeping an existing customer
E.g., cost to acquire a new customer => $12; average sale per
customer => nets $7 profit; net loss of $5 per customer
Cost to get the customer back => $2; average sale per
customer => nets $7 profit; net gain of $5 per customer
The more a returning customer buys, the bigger the profit!
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
Web Retention & Loyalty
Consideration must be given to
Driving traffic to the web site
Keeping customers engaged
Getting them to come back
Remember: you cant please all of the people all of
the time
Know your audience, their expectations and needs speak
directly to them
Increasing brand loyalty online is the same as offline
Provide quality customer service, value, selection
Save them time and money
Improve the overall experience
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
Features that Build Loyalty
FEATURE
% of Shoppers
Free or flat shipping
92%
Order tracking
88%
25%
Privacy policies
83%
Free shipping
25%
Rebates and coupons
76%
Online outlet
75%
Inventory/selection
18%
Customer reviews
74%
Brands
16%
Comparison capabilities
73%
Price and product alerts
63%
Live help
58%
In-store returns
58%
Express checkout
52%
How to guides
51%
Internet only specials
50%
Exclusives
49%
Wish lists
48%
Recently viewed items
46%
In-store pickup
37%
FEATURE
% of Shoppers
Saving money
63%
Saving time
Customer service
15%
Past experience
11%
Rewards programs
11%
Ease of shopping
9%
Charts
from Consumer Loyalty Survey,
DoubleClick Performics, May 2007
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
General Web Design Considerations
Attractive (visibly appealing) web site design gives users a
sense that the site is established and professional, and that a
solid, legitimate company is behind it
Quality design geared specifically toward the target audience will
help to establish brand personality through images, color and
general layout
Quality design can also be used to emphasize specific messages and
products that you want to highlight
Like attractive design, the organization of the site plays a key
role in bringing consumers back
It is essential that marketers take the time (before the site is
developed) to map out the site, segment the content into categories
that make sense, and consider how the navigation elements will lead
visitors to find what they are looking for
This goes right back to information covered earlier in the course (Ch.
8)
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
New Content Considerations
New site content is important to a site for a number of reasons:
It tells site visitors that that the brand is in constant evolution, rather
than growing stagnant.
It generates curiosity and encourages users to come back often to
see new changes.
It gives the marketer a chance to send new messages regularly to
repeat visitors.
The frequency with which a site updates its content depends on
two things:
The ability of the sites marketers to create new content quickly
(content can be difficult, time-consuming, and potentially expensive
to create).
The type of site in question (B2B sites, for example, do not need to
be updated with new content as frequently as B2C, media and
information sites).
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
New Content Considerations
Regardless of the frequency with which new content is
added to a site, it is vital for marketers to maintain a
regular schedule of updates
Updating a site does not mean that an entire site needs to
change
Small updates are sometimes enough to get the point across
that something new is going on
As sites add new content, they also need to delete old
content, because information that is out of date or no
longer relevant can deter users from returning to a site
Content is not the only part of a site that needs to be
updated
Graphic design and artistic style evolve over time, and sites
need to reflect these changes
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
Other Engagement Opportunities
Blogs
Lure users in with the possibility
Keep them current,
of winning cash or prizes
conversational, relevant
Voting, Polls, Surveys
Stimulates future visits by
heightening curiosity as to
the results and/or drawing
them closer to the brand
by providing interaction
Voting = make a choice
between two or more items
Polls = single questions;
usually multiple choice style
Surveys = series of
questions / opinions
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
Contests
Get them to check back for
results
Loyalty Programs
Users receive points for
purchases; encourages repeat
buying
Must be easy to use, realistic,
valuable (to consumer)
Wish lists
Users keep a record of things they
want; can buy later or send to
family/friends (requires cookies!)
Benchmarking: Setting Goals
Every marketing campaign and every web site is
executed to achieve some pre-established goal(s)
What are you trying to achieve?
Clear objectives must be established
Financial (sales, ratios, profit)
Non-financial (increased site traffic, click-throughs, paid
and organic search results, engagement, etc.)
Different components of a marketing campaign (e.g.,
e-mail blasts, Web sites, display ads, search, social
networking, video, etc.) may all have different goals
Sometimes the marketing goals are different from the
web site goals
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Marketing Goals
New site traffic: introduce new visitors to the site
Measured as either a whole number or a percentage increase of new
visitors from a previous month, quarter, or year
Returning visitors: bring established visitors back to the site
Measured as either a whole number or a percentage increase in returning
visitors from a previous month, quarter, or year
Distribution of information
Success is measured by the amount of times a file , page, or piece of
information is passed from one recipient to another, usually through social
networking or e-mail
Percentage of click-throughs
Percentage of people who open an e-mail and click through to the Web site
or who click on a paid search ad or display ad
Targeted regional audiences: increase audiences in specific geographic
territories
Measured as either a whole number or a percentage increase of new
visitors from a region from a previous month, quarter, or year
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Web Site Goals
Sales / Revenue
E-commerce sites generally set goals based on sales, revenue and/or
profit
Number of leads gained
B2B sites requires visitors to take action (by calling or e-mailing the
company to request more information or to set up an exploratory
meeting)
Number of visitors
Record of unique and/or return visitors (goal may be a specific number
or % increase)
Pages visited
Sites typically want to maximize the number of pages viewed by each
visitor and will set specific goals based on this
Length of time spent on the site
Similarly, Web sites want to keep people on their site as long as possible
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
12
Web Site Goals (contd)
Specific pages visited
Marketers often identify certain pages on a site that they most
want users to visit (usually landing pages for a campaign)
General brand building
For some sites, the goal may just be to increase brand
recognition (generally requires pre-launch awareness surveys,
followed by campaign follow-up measurement)
Visitor registration
For sites that want users to register as members or otherwise
subscribe to the site, goals are set based on the number of
participants
Engagement
A goal may include how many people engage in social
networking activities, loyalty programs, contests, surveys, etc.
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
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Setting Goals
Goals need to be realistic (and whenever possible, numeric) in
order to properly measure them
Throughout the life of any marketing campaign, benchmarks
should be analyzed regularly toward goals so that adjustments
can be made as necessary
Online campaigns are measured through electronic tools:
Web server logs (basic)
Analytics applications (such as Google Analytics or WebTrends)
PPC and CPM measurement logs (provided by the site or
organization you are working with)
Other third-party reporting tools (Lyris, Omniture, etc.)
NOTE: firms that provide web-based marketing and advertising
campaigns for firms also provide tools for reporting on them
Check out the case studies provided on online LearningPlan and and/or
review the case studies at iMediaConnection.com
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Samples of Metrics Provided
by Google Analytics
The
Dashboard
provides an
overview of all
measurements
over a period (of
one month)
Free basic
analysis is
available; you
must pay if you
want your goals
measured against
metrics!
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
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Timeline
Shows the activity of the site
within a specified time period
A small dot shows how many
visits were made to the site/day
Users can change this to display
any number of other analytics
Shows whether or not there has
been growth over time, when
site usage is lowest, if there
have been any spikes, etc.
Useful for tracking traffic
increase as a new campaign is
rolled out
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
Also shows overview of site
usage for the period
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Site Usage/Visitors
Provides site traffic and visitor
behaviour information can be
broken down into hour, day,
week, month
Unique visitors
New vs. Returning
Pageviews
Average Pageviews
Average Time on Site
Bounce Rate
You can also view languages,
browser, screen resolution,
screen colour, operating
systems, flash versions, java
support, network properties,
etc. under Browsers
See page 442 in text
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Map View
The map overlay breaks
down users by geographic
area, allowing site owners
to mine location
information down to the
specific towns that visitors
have come from
Based on IP addressing
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
For each region, data is
provided that shows
percentage of new
visitors, average time on
site, pages per visit,
bounce rates, and more
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Traffic Sources
Traffic sources allows you
to see where people come
from
Direct (I.e., typing in the
URL)
Referring sites (clicking
through from another site
or ad)
Search engine
What keywords they used
MRKT10028 Web Marketing, Fall
Sites participating in
Googles AdWord
campaigns can also view
ROI information here
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Issues with Analytics
The sheer volume of information provided by analytics
reporting software can be overwhelming
In order to make the most of web analytic / metrics
data, you need to:
Identify the metrics that are essential to reducing
costs and increasing revenues.
Track the metrics that are most important to achieving
goals.
Understand where and how metrics can be
misleading and how that can result in poor marketing
decisions.
Analytics are tools they must be integrated and used
together with all other marketing plan strategies
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1. Which Metrics Do You Really Need?
Establish a baseline calculate cost (for every
element of your online marketing campaign)
and yield (revenue) of every action on your site
Determine the value of each interaction (what
do you earn from a visit, sale, lead, etc.?)
Calculate the end result: YPx CPx
YPx is the yield (benefit) per interaction
CPx is the cost per interaction
x is the variable number representing the desired
action (a visit, a click-through, a sale, a referral, a
phone call, completing a lead form, a subscription,
etc.)
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Cost and Yield
E.g.,
CPM ad campaign aimed at delivering 5 ads to 100,000 unique
users a week => 500,000 impressions
Goal => to increase brand/site awareness / # of unique
visitors
Based on an average click-through rate of .4%, you expect 400
unique visits per week to your site
Cost is $20/CPM (1,000 impressions)=> $10,000/week
Cost per interaction is $25
YPx (0*x400) CPx (10,000/400)
If, on the other hand, every one of those people bought a $30 item
(at a $20 profit to you), the cost per interaction would be $5 =>
YPx (20) CPx (10,000/400)
*if a user only clicks through and takes no action, the Yield is $0.00
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2. Identify and Track the Metrics That
Impact Cost/Yield
Look at what metrics you can use to make improvements on
cost and yield
What traffic sources provide the best ROI?
How do you get more of that traffic?
You can measure 4 things:
The AMOUNT of activity on your site - page views, visitor sessions,
returning visitors, etc.
The SOURCE of the activity - referrers, search terms, languages,
countries, organizations, etc.
The NATURE of the activity - entry pages, exit pages, browsers,
platforms, JavaScript versions, cookie support, screen resolutions,
page refreshes, page load errors, average time per page, etc.
The RESULTS of the activity - click trails, most requested pages,
number of page views, signups, orders, etc.
Remember, too, that this is INVALUABLE information not
available in offline strategies!!!!
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Organize & Analyze the Results
Question:
Related Metrics
1. Who visited my web site?
Unique Visitors, Repeat Visitors, Demographics
2. From where did they come?
Direct Entry, Referring URL's, Referring Search
Engines, Keyword Search Words/Phrases
3. Which pages did they view?
Entry Pages, Page Views, Average Time on Pages,
Page Views per Visitor
4. Did they have any trouble with my site?
Browser Versions, Platform Versions, Applications,
Errors, Exit Pages
5. What did they buy or sign-up for?
Orders (average amount, number, total revenue),
Opt-Ins, Forms completion, etc.
The
results of this analysis can tell you what aspects of your
web site and associated e-marketing campaign(s) are getting
the hits and which areas may need revisiting and/or
revising (or eliminating!)
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Watch Out For Misleading Information
Issues can occur when data collection is unreliable for some
reason.
With CPM advertising you will often find a disparity between
the click-through figures provided by the advertiser and those
you find in your own log files or web site analytics tool.
If you run PPC campaigns you may see differences between the
search engine's click-through reporting and your own site stats.
PPC Tracking vs. Third Party Tracking
Tracking
Visits
Difference in Visits
Purchased
According to Google & Overture
138
According to My Affiliate Program
167
21.01%
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Watch Out For Misleading Information
There are several reasons why this might happen:
Metrics programs (not server logs) sometimes cookie people
and recount them when they revisit a page, but not when they
come in via another method (a Google ad, for example).
PPC programs sometimes put a time limit on counting visitors
The same computer clicking on the same ad in a matter of a few
seconds may appear as one visit, not two. However, if the user
revisits later in the day it might be counted as multiple
users/unique visitors, where server logs may not associate it that
way.
Server logs are sometimes not configured to capture all the
information you need (mostly visits, pages views, errors)
Certain ISPs cause users to have different IPs in a single
session (called dynamic IP addressing this prevents users
from being tracked from a set IP). This can cause tracking
problems with both PPC and metrics programs.
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How to Avoid Issues
To ensure accurate metrics, follow these simple guidelines:
Don't rely only on metrics from a (single) PPC engine or any other
third-party provider. Always use a back-up web analytics solution
to verify the data.
Choose an appropriate tracking solution based on your site
technology.
Run and compare results from tracking solutions built on different
technologies. (For instance, compare your log file analyzers vs. a
JavaScript solution)
Measure hard data (I.e., number of e-sales) against metrics
provided
In spite of enormous advances in all areas of online technology,
at this time there is no single service, product or solution that
can be relied upon to give you totally reliable metrics.
By using two or three different solutions, you can compare results
and at least identify where you have problems.
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Integrated Online Marketing
Integrated Marketing means giving marketing decision-makers
an end-to end view of the entire marketing process (online
AND offline) and providing insight into which campaigns and
tactics actually drive the highest return on investment.
In practical terms, this means:
Taking an integrated creative approach, in which the message is
the same across all of the possible marketing channels
Integrating sales and marketing processes to soften the lines
currently separating the various marketing specialties
Integrating the numerous marketing technologies that different
types of marketing campaigns use (these systems are the key to
calculating and improving ROI)
Methodically measuring success, which entails turning marketing
metrics into business metrics that guide budget and resourceallocation decisions.
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Integrated Online Marketing: Why?
Integration reaps big rewards where it matters most:
Increased sales / revenues, profits
Higher conversions (leads into sales)
A larger return from the marketing spends
The desire to integrate is a natural outgrowth of the
increasingly central role that online-marketing channels play
in companies overall marketing programs
Businesses that dont integrate are finding themselves at a
competitive disadvantage
Firms must get past the barriers to integration (silo marketing
functions that dont typically interact, data thats housed in
multiple tools and owned by different functions, difficulty
measuring ROI for multi-channel marketing programs) in order
to reap the rewards of fully integrated marketing campaigns
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Homework
Read Chapter 12 (Capturing and Keeping an Audience) and 13 (Traffic Analysis
and Measuring Success) plus Appendix A (Analyzing Site Traffic) AND the two
pdf documents in the Required Readings column (one on Analytics & Metrics
for ROI, the other on Integration); you might also want to review the two
recommended readings on the LearningPlan (7 Web Analytics Sins from Lyris,
and IAB Canadas Campaign Measurement and Optimization document)
Review ALL the content covered in the second half of the course (check the
online LearningPlan for details), and ensure you fully understand the purpose,
intent and context (I.e., the VALUE) of this course AS A WHOLE to your future
as a marketer
Make sure you can answer ALL the questions on the Final Exam Review
document
Final exam is subjective questions, point form (same as the mid-term)
You will NOT have access to computers for keying your answers bring a supply of
pens, pencils (and pencil sharpeners and erasers), etc.
Paper will be provided
Final exam is worth 25% of your overall grade in this course
Come well rested, well fed, and well prepared
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