Update: Video on new Google Analytics multi-channel funnel reports

Thanks to Google we're all used to measuring campaigns on a 'last click gets all the credit' basis (or occasionally first click). That is, all conversions (i.e. sales, leads, form completions, etc) are tied back to the last (or first) media channel that a person responded to respectively clicked on before converting.

Unfortunately, this method ignores all other touch points that a consumer might have responded to leading up to a conversion which also contributed to some extend, resulting in the undervaluation of certain media channels and ultimately the misallocation of marketing budgets (i.e. some channels are more likely to introduce a product rather than closing the deal and these miss out using last click attribution, see graph at the bottom comparing first and last click attribution).

Google is trying to address this through their new AdWords Search Funnel feature, however the Google reports do not include any organic channels or direct to site visits which do play a significant role in a consumer's path to purchase. In fact, organic search terms that include brand keywords and direct to site visits stimulated by some other form of media (i.e. TV, radio, print, etc) account for the majority of conversions on most websites (so we think they should be included).

To solve this issue for one of our clients, NDS (Carecareers), we used some custom JavaScript to record a stack (or path to purchase) of all campaign touch points across paid and organic channels in one of the Google Analytics custom segmentation variables (see chart below for a sample of the raw data). For simplicity sake we only recorded top level channel (i.e. SEO, SEM, direct, etc) in this case but this could be as granular as you want (i.e down to ad groups or even search terms).

The data on its own however is not very useful, you just end up with a long list of unique channel combinations (the above is only showing the tip of the iceberg) so we had to export the raw data from Google Analytics and analyise it using the Tableau business intelligence software. To make sense of the data and accommodate the various different purchase path combinations we decided to follow the ClearSaleing model and classify all touch points as either introducer, influencer or closer (see graph below and at the very bottom).

Looking at the simplified example above we realized that paid search responses play an important role both as introducers and as closers, but not so much as influencers (we're thinking that unbranded terms make up most of the introducers and branded terms most of the closers but we don't have the data yet). Conversely, the importance of organic search, direct to site visits and emails (activity just started) might have been understated in the standard last click based reports up until now as they are more likely to act as influencing channels (SEO might pay off after all).

Given the above results and relatively simple data collection and analysis method we think there's really no excuse for marketers anymore to keep relying on last click media attribution so please drop us a line at insights@datalicious.com if you would like to find out more.

Have you heard of Facebook Instant Personalization before? No, me neither until about 5 minutes ago when I was surfing Yelp and saw the below layer pop-in at the top of the page (kinda cool to be honest). Looks like Yelp can use my Facebook profile to customise my Yelp experience now! 

Facebook writes "Just as your News Feed on Facebook is built uniquely for you, instant personalization sites let you easily bring your friends and interests with you.

Partners adhere to Facebook's guidelines and may only use your public information to serve you a personalized experience. This basic information includes name, profile picture, gender, networks, list of friends, and other information shared with everyone, and is the same information that you currently share with your friends on Facebook."

For more information visit the official Facebook Instant Personalization page.

Update: Sydney course nearly booked out, a few more spots available in Melbourne.

Do you think your data could work a little harder for you? Are you sometimes wondering what it all means?

Well, we're proud to annonce the launch of our new ADMA course, Analyse To Optimise: Measurement & ROI, designed to enable you to turn data into actionable insights that will actually have an impact on your company's bottom line.

During the two day cours you will learn how to define a metrics framework and find or develop the right data to be able to bring your metrics to life as well as extract some actionable insights from it. We will examine a multi-channel campaign flow and how it can be turned into a media attribution model to help drive media effectiveness as well as techniques to increase conversions to improve overall return on advertising spend. 

Apart from cutting edge theory we also included plenty of hands on exercises throughout the course that will enable you, upon successful completion of the course, to impress your clients and managers with real insights and not just spreadsheets.

Sydney
When: 5th & 6th of October 2010, 8:30am-5:00pm
Where: Cliftons, 190 George Street 

Melbourne
When: 9th & 10th of November 2010, 8:30am-5:00pm
Where: Cliftons, 440 Collins Street

For more information on the course and to book please visit the course page on the official ADMA website or email education@adma.com.au.

We had a pretty interesting presentation from Gomez yesterday on the impact of site performance on overall conversion which is backed up by a Gartner report earlier in the year called E-Commerce Websites: Features That Make Consumers Buy.

Key findings of the Gartner report

• Consumers expect to have detailed and accurate product information 
• Consumer expectations demand good performance from retailer websites
• The Akamai "7 Second Rule", page abandonment spikes after that
• Consumers would like to see more single-page shopping carts
• Consumers' product reviews are becoming a must-have element

According to the report page load speed is the 3rd most important influencing factor. "Historical Akamai research showed consumers abandoned pages if they took longer than seven seconds to load. Delay the presentation of the product information that the consumer is looking for, and you run the risk of losing not only the sale but your customer."

Apart from the performance testing features, we also really liked the cross browser testing and preview functionality as well which allows you to generate JPGs showing how your website looks across various browsers and operasting systems as well as mobile devices. Have a look at the below screen shots for the Datalicious blog to see how the site renders on an iPhone, iPad and Blackberry as well as load times across the various Posterous elements.

Download the full Gartner report on eCommerce Site Features That Make Consumers Buy.

Just came across this piece of historic evidence and it's just too good to hold back.