What is first, a campaign/tactic/Strategy? or Metrics/Data?
How many people are reading the blog?
Which blog topics are popular?
How much time do people spend reading blog articles?
What channels are most effective in driving traffic to the website?
How does that compare over time?
How many people are reading the blog? = unique visitors.
Which blog topics are popular? = page views.
How much time do people spend reading blog articles? = time on page/bounce rate.
What channels are most effective? = traffic source.
How that compares over time = time period.
What topics resonate with your audience
If the audience reaching your blog is the audience you're targeting.
If the audience is taking the action you want.
Changes caused by seasonality or other factors.
The activity on a page within a 30-minute period.
A session that only contains a single page view.
A page that was viewed only once within a session.
A page that was viewed more than once in a session.
An individual person browsing a website.
People who visit your website for the first time.
https://analytics.google.com/analytics/academy/
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6367342#access&zippy=%2Cin-this-article
Do you know or have you used a different tool?
Google launched Google Analytics in November 2015.
It is a platform that collects information from websites and apps.
Reports are available to provide data insights.
July 2023 Google discontinued the UA (Universal Analytics) and replaced it with the GA4 code
Events are at the core of GA4, allowing for more detailed and customizable tracking of user interactions.
GA4’s "user ID," allows for better tracking of user journeys and engagement.
GA4 incorporates machine learning and predictive metrics to provide insights into user behavior and trends
Enhanced reporting capabilities, improved exploration of data, and the ability to create custom reports.
Allows businesses to collect data in a way that respects user preferences and privacy concerns.
SEO is essential (if you have a website, you’re doing SEO because you want to rank in search).
Reporting on the content you produce and design changes you make can affect your site’s overall performance. It’s crucial to stay on top of this.
SEO analytics is a method of tracking the signals that dictate your overall organic search performance.
Content SEO
• Backlinks (or inbound links)
• Search visibility.
• Broken links
• Rank tracking.
• Competitor backlinks.
• Brand monitoring.
Free tools: Google Search Console, Ubersuggest.
Paid tools: Screaming Frog (free and paid), Site Improve, SEM Rush, Moz, Ahrefs.
• If you have a website, Google Search Console will show you what keywords you’re ranking for and how many impressions, and the CTR for each.
• You can create more content using those keywords.
Search Console lets you easily monitor and, in some cases, resolve server errors, site load issues, and security issues like hacking and malware. You can also use it to ensure any site maintenance or adjustments you make happen smoothly with respect to search performance.
Things to know
• Which social media channels are most effective?
• What kind of social media content resonates with my audience?
• How engaged is my online community?
• Who is my online audience?
• When are my audiences online?
Things you want to know
• Which social media channels are most effective? = follower growth.
• What kind of social media content resonates with my audience? = reach, impressions, shares.
• How engaged is my online community? = engagement.
• Who is my online audience? = demographics.
• When are my audiences online? = audiences.
Social analytics refers to the tools used to monitor the effectiveness of social media in the areas of content and promotion.
Content refers to activity in branded or business accounts –it’s vital to understand metrics so you can deliver content that will interest your customers and prospects.
Promotion refers to social media advertising to highly targeted and engaged audiences, often to grow or improve the social footprint or as an acquisition tool.
The platforms themselves: Facebook Insights, Instagram analytics, Twitter analytics, LinkedIn analytics, Pinterest analytics.
Paid tools: AgoraPulse, CoSchedule, Socialbakers, Simply Measured, Sprout Social, Hootsuite, etc.
Structuring your report
Monthly overview: A snapshot of overall monthly performance.
Platform breakdowns: Things to note on each platform.
Key learnings/takeaways: Highlights and insights.
Social listening refers to understanding what conversations are happening around your brand or products, your share of voice, the influence of those discussing it, and users’ sentiment towards the specific conversations or your brand generally.
• People don’t always understand how their data and private information is being used, but they are wary.
• Even when companies force terms and conditions, very few people actually read and understand them before checking the box “I agree”
• Respecting online privacy means that you only collect data you actually need, that you encrypt the data and store it encrypted.
• You should fully disclose why you’re asking for certain information and what you will and won’t do with it.
• Never sell customer data to third-party companies.
• Be clear and upfront about this; it’s a very powerful message and customers will respect you for it.
Online Privacy
• CASL was introduced in 2014 to prevent companies from bombarding Canadians with “commercial electronic messages” without their consent (aka “spam”)
• Companies can face significant fines.
• Companies must get express or implied consent from consumers before marketing to them.
• It’s why there’s often a checkbox on forms to allow for further marketing messages.
• Consumers must be able to clearly and easily opt-out.
• This doesn’t apply to social media because people can follow and unfollow accounts without needing to involve the advertiser.
• Applies to companies who market to Europe or have customers in Europe.
• It was introduced to give EU citizens more control over their data and how it’s used, especially for marketing purposes.
• It gives consumers the right to know when their data has been hacked and a “right to be forgotten” if they don’t want their data used.
• The legislation came into force across the European Union on May 25, 2018.
• Almost every company needs a GDPR compliance strategy.
• Cookies are files stored on your computer designed to hold a small, specific amount of data about a particular website or client.
• Cookies are used to help marketers understand more about their audience, track specific actions and queue marketing messages based on those actions.
• Companies have “cookie policies” –often in popup boxes.
• First-party cookies are cookies the company uses directly to track analytics (Google Analytics is an example)
• Third-party cookies are cookies used on a website by a company other than the website (think Facebook)
• Accessibility legislation has been introduced in many Canadian provinces.
• Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) in 2005.
• Accessibility for Manitobans with Disabilities in 2013.
• Nova Scotia Accessibility Act in 2017.
• On the web, means that specific protocols must be followed to ensure equal access to online information for all citizens.
• The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) introduced the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) with requirements to meet certain levels of standards (ranging from A to AAA)
• Website design: Colour contrast, usage and styles, and fonts.
• Website coding: HTML 5.
• Content: Links and link triggers, ALT text.
• Contest rules must be clearly posted and easily accessible in both long-form and short-form.
• Some Canadian contests exclude the province of Quebec.
• In Quebec, the Régiedes alcools, des courses et des jeuxsgoverns contest rules and eligibility for Quebec residents.
• If a prize is valued or worth more than $2,000, then rules apply with respect to contest notice, advertising, and judging
• You have to submit an application well ahead of the contest (months if possible) as these rules affect the contest directly and can be significant
• If you’re partnering with an organization to run a contest, it’s important to understand the legal requirements when it comes to the use of tradenames, logos and trademarks.
• Influencers must comply with advertising regulations that apply to them.
• They could face fines or penalties if they don’t.
• Rules around advertising transparency often involve disclosing if they have a paid relationship with a company through #ad, #sponsored, #partner
Regulatory bodies:
• In Canada: Competition Bureau.
• In the US: Federal Trade Commission.
• In Europe: Advertising Standards Authority.
First: Know what you’re measuring and why