Analytics In The Palm Of Your Hand

This weeks’ featured app on the Analytics App Gallery is the BAM Analytics Pro app for the iPhone. If you have ever needed to reference your site metrics in a meeting or situation where it wasn’t appropriate to fire up the laptop and open up your account, then you may find a Google Analytics smart phone app valuable.

This app, developed by Blast Advanced Media (one of our Certified Partners), uses the Google Analytics API to quickly and securely access all of your reports, apply your Advanced Segments, and even create Custom Reports right within the app. You can view common preset date ranges, set a custom date range, or compare to a previous date range for additional context. All the functionality you could need within a clean, user-friendly interface. Here's a sample of custom reports functionality:

BAM Analytics Pro can be purchased here on the iTunes app store for $1.99. Our Google Analytics Certified Partners are some of the most inventive users and developers of our free API. Many of their business-driven tools and applications make it to our Analytics App Gallery, where you can find a variety of solutions that compliment and enhance our product.

Great work BAM!

Posted by Jesse Nichols, Google Analytics Team

YouTube Promoted Videos serves its 500,000,000th video view

Editor's Note: As of December 1st, 2011, you will start to see Promoted Videos referred to as TrueView in-search and TrueView in-display.

YouTube served its 500,000,000th Promoted Video view this week. Using Promoted Videos (available in your AdWords account), businesses can promote a video against search results on YouTube. But Promoted Videos offers a discovery component as well, allowing advertiser’s messages to be promoted against related content (BBQ grills shown against recipes for hamburgers) that someone may be viewing as they browse videos on YouTube. For more information on new product enhancements, please see the full story on the YouTube blog.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew

How to Change Your Facebook Business Page Name (a Facebook Friday Post for those with 100 or fewer fans)

If you've recently created a Facebook business page and/or have fewer than 100 fans, you now have the option to change your facebook business page name!  I've mentioned how important it is to "name with care" when it comes to your facebook business page.  In the past, once you named your facebook business page, you couldn't rename it later.

Here is the page on Facebook (released this week, thanks Ashley for sharing this tip) that goes over this change and a few other important ones for those of us who manage facebook business pages: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=422741434821&id=10381469571

If you have a facebook business page and need to change the name (AND have fewer than 100 "fans"), here are the instructions:

1. Login to Facebook
2. Click on "account", then "manage pages" on the top right
3. Select your facebook business page
4. Click on "edit page" below your business page profile picture (on the left)
5. Click on "basic information"
6. Update your page name (be sure you type everything exactly as you'd like it!)
7. Click on "Save Changes"


Laura Catherine Otero is a marketing professional and blogger in Charleston, SC who has been active in social media since 2005.  If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to this blog via Email or  RSS.

She is accepting clients in need of:
Website Design
Social Nedia Management
Facebook Business Page Design
Twitter Profile Design
Blog Design
Logo Design
Print Design
Press Release Writing & Distribution
Email Marketing
And More

Contact Laura to discuss your unique marketing needs!

Laura can also be found on Twitter (@LauraCatherineO), Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

How Can Companies Address Cultural Diversity in Marketing

There are companies that have dedicated groups to deal with Latinos, for example. And sometimes they have separate groups to handle multiple minority group. In some cases there is a multicultural marketing group as distinct from the main marketing group. Some companies have had niche marketing units for a while and then have disbanded them. Some recreate them after a while and then merge them into discrete business units. There may not be one recipe for how to organize the marketing function to account for cultural diversity among consumers but the following are important requirements:

1.      First and foremost there must be members of the cultural groups of interest within the organization at most levels of decision making. These individuals should, at least conceptually, be vigilant about issues that affect their cultural communities. Hispanic in our case.

2.      There should be cultural expertise in the organization that goes beyond objective culture to address the subjective culture of the groups in question. Ideally these would be cultural anthropologists that also have marketing expertise. As a minimum these should be practitioners that have some in-depth training about the focus culture, even if they are members of the culture itself. Being a member of a cultural group does not necessarily imply that the person understands his/her own culture. That is because culture is not evident even to its own members. In house cultural expertise used in marketing strategies and tactics can help connect effectively with culturally diverse consumers and avoid costly errors. Also, it helps organizations avoid the assumption of similarity that many marketers tend to make because “after all we are all human.” I have made the point elsewhere that using culture as a connecting mechanism becomes a shorthand for better communication with culturally diverse groups.

3.      As purposeful marketing claims increased importance in the marketplace, organizations are redefining their mission to become better citizens. As the grocery store a hundred years ago had the purpose of serving its community businesses now are coming back to that enlightened point. As a sense of purpose guides the organization the bottom line is also covered. Purposeful marketing requires now that companies act upon the multicultural reality of the United States.

4.      Integrating decision making in organizations will be an increasingly important endeavor. This is particularly true in marketing as Latinos and other emerging minorities cannot be seen as niches anymore but as driving forces of the entire economy. The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) can no longer compartmentalize culturally diverse groups as smaller opportunities than the defunct “general market.” There is no such thing as a general market, there are segments of cultural groups compounded by subcultures and lifestyles. These need to be understood in a coherent scheme where culture is part of the segmentation scheme, and where culture is part of the strategic thinking of the company.

5.      The cultural experience of the company needs to be an ongoing effort. Companies need to keep their radar out in culturally diverse communities to understand trends and changes. Executives need to go on ethnographic interview outings to see where and how their consumers live. They need to experience firsthand consumer practices and ways of behaving. It is not just the research/insights group that needs to be in contact with consumers, it is the decision makers. To do otherwise makes the work of researchers and insight gatherers futile because they will not resonate at the decision making levels. Marketing needs to go back to the village, larger now but still a village in a psychological sense.

There does not seem to be a way to ignore the cultural transition the United States is experiencing. Marketers are at the point where they need to strategize and segment in a comprehensive way. Marketing to Hispanics, for example, is not anymore a secondary priority, because that is where the future resides. But a new approach to marketing in a diverse society should be done so that complexity and cultural overlaps are recognized.

Happy Halloween

IT'S HALLOWEEN

It's Halloween! It's Halloween!

The moon is full and bright

And we shall see what can't be seen

On any other night.

Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls,

Grinning goblins fighting duels,

Werewolves rising from their tombs,

Witches on their magic brooms.

In masks and gowns

we haunt the street

And knock on doors

for trick or treat.

Tonight we are

the king and queen,

For oh tonight

it's Halloween!

~Jack Prelutsky

What's in a logo?

Well first of all lets be clear - your logo is not your brand. Yes - At the core of every brand identity is a brand mark, or logo. It is probably the most important element of your brand aside from the name, but there is an extended list of individual pieces that must fit together to complete a brand and tell the brand story aside from the visual identity.

With that being said, your logo CAN and does stand for alot...it is the first recognizable symbol that represents your organization, it is the "cover of the book", if you will. Some logos or brand marks do a tremendous job of promoting brand awareness, expressing the feel of the organization and support the overall graphical impact of the brand.

Here are some fun, simple and clever logos that do a great job of marrying the brand name, colors and feel into the mark.








If you feel that your brand isn't saying what you think it should or you're not sure how much of a visual impact your logo or graphic materials make, get in touch with us. We would be happy to take a look and give any suggestions to further improve your organization.

Until next time,
Jeremy

How to Schedule Blog Posts using Blogger or WordPress.com (A Tutorial Thursday Post)

If you maintain a blog, you may be able to relate to the feeling of overwhelm that occasionally visits regarding the creation of good content/posts.  This feeling may a member of the “I don’t know what to post” family, or even worse, the dangerous perfectionism bug.  Perfectionism when blogging can tear away at an otherwise great post until your self-doubt sinks in.  Before you know it, you’ve wasted time find yourself getting frustrated. Here’s the lifesaver: scheduling blog posts in advance using the “schedule” feature available on blogger and/or wordpress.com.

This tutorial is here to help us move beyond these negative feelings, and into a positive, prepared blogging mode!  Let's talk about how to schedule blog posts using blogger or wordpress.com.  

STEP ONE – Take Time and WriteTo get started, seize the moment on a particularly creative day (when you’re feeling “in the zone”, smile) and get to writing! Don’t just write one post…write until you run out of creative energy and/or time that day. I have found that Saturday afternoon is a good day/time for me to block out some writing time for blogging.  I’m relaxed and in my home environment.  There aren’t deadlines (per se).  Think about playing your favorite music in the background, pay attention to your lighting (mood and natural light are both great), ask your family to give you a little quiet time to work away and be creative. 

For example, if your Monday theme is “motivation”, do your best to create 3 or 4 “Motivation Monday”posts so you’ll have them ready in queue.  I found that right away, I enjoyed blogging and working this way so much more than waiting until the morning of to create a post. 

STEP TWO – Blogger Instructions – How to Schedule Your Blog Posts Using Blogger

Create your post just as you normally would, but do not post/publish just yet.

Once you are happy with your post and are comfortable with it being published “as is”,  click on “post options” on the left-hand side (opposite the space where you type in your labels/tags).  This will expand the space to show the handy scheduler! Fill the “scheduled at” radio button and type in your desired publish date/time.  Now it is ok to click on the “publish post” button. 

Your post will automatically go LIVE on your blog at the scheduled date/time.  If for some reason you want to make changes to your post or change the date/time for publishing, click on the “edit posts” from your dashboard, then “scheduled” on the next screen (top right). 

STEP TWO  - WordPress.com Instructions – How to Schedule Your Blog Posts Using WordPress.com

Create your post just as you normally would, but do not post/publish just yet.

Once you are happy with your post and are comfortable with it being published “as is”,  click on “edit” next to the “Publish Immediately” option under “Publish” on the top right-hand side of your screen.  This will allow you to schedule a date/time for publishing.  Once you’ve entered your desired date/time for publishing, click on “publish”

Your post will automatically go LIVE on your blog at the scheduled date/time.  If for some reason you want to make changes to your post or change the date/time for publishing, from your dashboard, click on “posts” and “all” to display your posts (both published and in queue).



Laura Catherine Otero is a marketing professional and blogger in Charleston, SC who has been active in social media since 2005.  If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to this blog via Email or  RSS.

She is accepting clients in need of:
Website Design
Social Nedia Management
Facebook Business Page Design
Twitter Profile Design
Blog Design
Logo Design
Print Design
Press Release Writing & Distribution
Email Marketing
And More

Contact Laura to discuss your unique marketing needs!

Laura can also be found on Twitter (@LauraCatherineO), Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Swissotel's High Value Visitor Segment

Thanks to the Conversion Room Asia-Pacific Blog and Vinaoj's team in Singapore for this insightful, enterprise-class case study.

Need a little inspiration for ways to get a LOT our of Google Analytics? Well, Advanced Segments is a great place to start. As you might know, they allow you to dissect your traffic into audiences that you actually care and want to know more about. And here's a great example of use by a major hotelier.

Barbara Pezzi, Director Webmarketing, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, is back to share with us how Swissotel properties in Singapore used advanced segments to better understand the needs of their UK and Australian visitors. By using advanced segments and her detective skills, Barbara was able to determine that Australian visitors were seeking deals, while her UK visitors were more interested in the quality of the rooms. She was able to optimise her AdWords campaigns and messaging based on these insights, and quickly managed to see a 68% increase in revenue and a 92% increase in conversion rates.

Posted by Vinoaj Vijeyakumaar, Google Analytics Solutions JAPAC

Why U.S. Hispanics Use Social Networking Sites

By Felipe Korzenny, Ph.D. 

This article was originally included in "Latino Link" by Joe Kutchera in 2010 (PMP Publishers) and it is reproduced here by permission.


In 2009, The Florida State University Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication and DMS Insights, in collaboration with Captura Group,  collected online national level data about Hispanics’ use of social networking sites.The main motivation of this study was to find out what reasons, attitudes, preferences, and demographics contribute to the time Hispanics spend on social networking sites online. The national online Hispanic sub-sample was composed of almost 541 Hispanics who answered the questionnaire in English and 351 who answered in Spanish.

The dependent variable of this study—that is, the behavior we were attempting to explain—is the number of hours that Hispanics/Latinos reported spending while “visiting social networking sites on an average week.” This specific study included a mix of 80 general attitudes, preferences, and reasons and behaviors relevant to online activities and participation in social networking sites.

We observed that, in general, the more time Latinos spend using the Internet, be it in Spanish or English, the more time they spend on social networking sites. Thus, online familiarity and activity appear to create a propensity for participation in social media online. The key reasons why Hispanics spend time on social networking sites is for messaging, blogging, self-expression, making new friends, and sharing cherished images. The reasons that were least important for using social networking sites included promoting my business, promoting causes, asking questions, answering questions, commenting on people’s activities, telling stories, chatting, and using classifieds.

That messaging and overall self-expression constitute central reasons for Latinos to connect online makes sense. In this and other research, we have found that self-expression is one of the strong motivators of Hispanics generally. Thus, the Internet has become a most important liberating technology that allows repressed social needs to be expressed. Hispanics, in particular, are fond of sharing their experiences.

Other factors strongly associated with time spent on visiting social networking sites included reading magazines in English, being younger, and being concerned about one’s diet. That younger Latinos spend more time on social networking sites is not surprising. What is surprising is that, while age is important, it is not nearly as important as other factors and reasons as more older Hispanics get turned on to social networks online. Reading magazines in English seems to imply that the type of people who are on social networks tend to be generally “print or text” oriented and curious about the world around them. Interestingly, concern about one’s diet may be partially addressed by social networks where Hispanics share issues and information of importance. Perhaps those who are more socially active are also more concerned about their health and appearance, and hence their diet is very important to them. Accordingly, food and fitness advertisers are likely to benefit from being more active and visible in social networks where Latinos share their experiences. Notably, gender was not found to make a difference in this analysis.

Marketers and service providers can capitalize on research like this by understanding that, by facilitating messaging and self-expression online, they are likely to attract the interest of Latinos. There are few reasons that are most important for attracting Hispanics to social networks online, and this research should serve as a step in that direction. Advertisers should consider embedding and linking to social networks where Hispanics participate to facilitate interaction and self-expression. Merchant websites should also consider the importance that Latinos assign to self-expression and sociability and facilitate these activities on their sites. As a corollary, I should emphasize that it seems like the age of corporate and organizational censoring is being replaced by an age of openness.

What is Your Brand?

What is your brand?

Lets put aside for a minute what you SAY your brand is...

What do your customers say your brand is? How do you make business decisions? How does your staff act? How are your products different? How do people FEEL when they do business with you? What do people EXPECT from you?

If you had to say your were like someone, would it be:

: Superior product development and category domination




: Swaddling customers in 5-senses experience

: Consistency and "on every corner" access



: You get what you pay for
(isn't an Escalade really just a pimped out Suburban?!?!)




: Always low prices ... Always!!!

: Our service is so good, we'll even escort you to the bathroom



: Hip but affordable (Almost like going to Europe)



: First to market (real or perceived) - continually reinventing yourself

Your brand isn't just your logo or your tag line. It's not just your beautiful branches and well-mannered staff. Your brand is your total experience. As you prepare for 2011, look in the mirror ... talk to your customers and prospects ... soul search. Are you who you want to be next year?

Want a good hard, objective, look at your brand? Click here!!!

Take care,
Eric

For the UK: Learn how to expand your business internationally

Today, Wednesday October 27th, we’ll be hosting a live online course on international expansion opportunities for small and medium businesses in the UK using AdWords. This interactive presentation will be delivered by an Online Media Specialist and will take approximately one hour, including time for Q&A.

During the course we’ll provide you with information to help you start selling your products in other countries using AdWords and other Google tools. We’ll also talk about important things to keep in mind when advertising your products internationally.

First, we’ll have an overview of expansion opportunities in Europe and then we'll walk through different tools and practices to facilitate your business expansion. You’ll learn how to build multilingual campaigns using Export Adviser and Google Translation Kit.

The course will take approximately 1 hour today, Wednesday from 3pm - 4pm BST / GMT+1 (London).

If you're based in the UK and interested in this course, sign up now!

Posted by Jason Shafton, Inside AdWords crew

Next Week: Ad Tech New York

If you're an enthusiast of "Mad Men" (a television drama about advertising in New York in the 1960s), and Google Analytics, well then you're probably enjoying the dichotomy that is advertising today: a mix of decades-old media creatives and buys, and cutting edge online tracking and social graphing, and a ton in between. Getting a birds eye view is wildly interesting and educational. And the ad:tech Conference in New York City next week might be a good event for you to attend. And the best part is that it not only gives a bird's eye view, but also offers compelling and educational sessions for the savviest online marketer.

Happening on Wednesday and Thursday (November 3-4), it's a fun, relevant, informative conference, where "brands, agencies, publishers and service providers come together to share, network, learn and do business." You'll see traditional advertising agencies there, as well as the latest in online. Just take a look at the different conference seminar tracks titles:

• Brand
• Social Media
• Digital Demographics
• Media Strategy
• Performance

And we'll be there as well with a sponsored workshop called "Improving Your Online Advertising with Insights from Google Analytics" on Thursday at 11:45am. In it, Phil Mui, our senior product manager, will present some developments in the product, as well as existing features, that will appeal especially to online marketers and advertisers. Register here. We hope to see you there.

Posted by Jeff Gillis, Google Analytics Team

The Report Center is retiring soon

Back in June we began moving AdWords reports into the Campaigns tab. Since then, we’ve copied over every key AdWords report, letting you quickly download your data from the same pages where you manage your campaigns.

In the next few weeks we’ll finish the transition and retire the Report Center entirely. From then on you’ll schedule and download all of your reports from within AdWords campaign management.

We’ve made the transition to this new style of reporting gradually, collecting feedback from advertisers and making adjustments accordingly.

For example, we heard that you had a hard time finding specific reporting options in your account. To help, we’ve added relevant FAQs to the download menus in the Campaigns tab, enabling you to find the views and metrics you’re interested in more easily.

If you’re currently downloading reports from the Campaigns tab, you’ve already adjusted to the bulk of the changes, and you’ll find that each of your scheduled reports have been copied to the Control Panel & Library. We’ll delete any old versions of scheduled reports from the Reports tab, and stop sending the emails associated with them, by early November. Shortly thereafter, we’ll remove the Report Center entirely.

To prepare for the retirement, you can compare the scheduled reports in the Reports section of your Control Panel & Library to the old versions of your scheduled reports in the Report Center, then make any necessary adjustments to make sure you’re getting the data you want, in the format you want.

If you’re looking for additional resources to guide you through the changes, you can visit the AdWords Help Center for articles on each report. We’ve also published a before and after guide to keyword reporting to give you a step-by-step tutorial to running one of the most popular AdWords reports.

Thanks again for your patience during the transition. If you have any additional feedback on AdWords reporting, please continue to send it our way.

Posted by Gordon Zhu, Inside AdWords crew

How to Schedule Tweets in Hootsuite (A Twitter Tuesday Post)

I haven’t always been a fan of automating tweets.  In fact, I still use automation with great care.  That said, scheduling a selected number of tweets for those days when you will not have the time/ability to be active on twitter is a real lifesaver and a great way to keep your presence on twitter when you are out-of-pocket for brief periods of time.   There are also a few other times when scheduling tweets is helpful.  We'll go over those at the end of this post.  Let's talk about how to schedule tweets in Hootsuite!

First, just a little background on why I found scheduling tweets in Hootsuite to be an important part of my social media mix...

I realized I was guilty (on occasion) of “flooding” the tweetstream of some of my followers (those following a smaller number of people).  The reason for this “flooding” was quite simple…I (like most of us) try to get as much done as possible with my time on Twitter, which comes in waves.  For example, I will often retweet, respond, DM, etc. in a matter of minutes before going back to my daily activities.

Tweeting/responding/retweeting in this manner can display as a flurry of activity that can be quite distracting.  Manners are as important online as they are in person (if not more).  Filling someone’s stream with my tweets may come across as rude.  Something had to be done! 

Enter Hootsuite scheduling.  If you aren’t using Hootsuite yet, I encourage you to give it a try. You’ll find it’s much like the #NewTwitter, but more advanced with neat features like scheduling.  Sign-up for a basic personal account is free.  We'll be talking more about Hootsuite in upcoming Twitter Tuesdays and Tutorial Thursday.  There are too many great features to cover in one post!

Instructions on How to Schedule Tweets Using Hootsuite:
1. Compose your tweet as you normally would in Hootsuite (making sure your Twitter account is selected), but do NOT click on the "send now" button.  Instead, click on the scheduler icon (looks like a calendar, see below).

(click above to enlarge)

2. Once you've clicked on the scheduler icon, a screen will appear with more options.  Enter the date and time you'd like your tweet to appear.  Click "OK".

(click above to enlarge)

3. Click "schedule".  Your tweet has been scheduled using Hootsuite and will appear as a tweet at the designated day/time.


4. If you need to make a change to a pending tweet or want to remove it, you will find your "pending tweets" in your "pending tweet" column (see below) on your twitter hootsuite screen.

When to Consider Using Scheduled Tweets in Hootsuite:

1. If your day will be focused on another activity (seminar, appointments, family activities, etc.), consider scheduling a few tweets to appear throughout the day.  I think it's important to still have your phone or mobile device handy at some point during that day so you can respond to any replies or DMs you may get as a result of your tweet.  Not absolute necessity, but helpful. 

2. If you have several replies to send out (such as "thanks for the RT")...consider spacing your thank you tweets a few minutes apart instead of a few seconds apart.

3. If you have multiple "follow friday" tweets to send out.  Last week was the first time I used Hootsuite's scheduler for my follow friday tweets.  I really enjoyed spacing the #FF out with such ease!

4. When you want to tweet about a new blog post or website addition.  Instead of just one tweet about your blog post, create a few tweets (each a bit different) and schedule them a few hours apart. Be careful not to over-promote.  People don't like that (smile).  

5. Have another occasion you have found scheduling helpful? Comment below!

Laura Catherine Otero is a marketing professional and blogger in Charleston, SC who has been active in social media since 2005.  If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to this blog via Email or  RSS. Laura can also be found on Twitter (@LauraCatherineO), Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Donations & Sponsorships – Make Them Count!

In marketing, we have to justify every dollar we spend with the quantitative or qualitative results that our investments produce. However, there are some budget items that we may not have total control over… such as a local high school team sponsorship or donations to top customer events. These types of donations and sponsorships can eat up a good portion of your budget, so let’s take a look at how you get more from them…

FIND YOUR PURPOSE : One simple thing you can do to stretch your donations is to set qualifying criteria for your donations and sponsorships. These guidelines should be created or approved by senior management, be in-line with your brand, and act as the criteria for all donation requests. For instance, your focus may be to support local economic growth or education in a defined market area. Communicating your cumulative donation efforts towards a specific cause will better allow you to communicate your donations and help to differentiate you from your competition.

THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX: Get creative. If you are presented standard sponsorship options, respond with alternatives outside of the normal sponsorship packages. Think of using employees as a “street team” to get your donation and message out at an event rather than just including a logo item in grab bag. Focus on making your brand more visible and interactive than a standard sponsorship or donation.

GET RECOGNIZED: Lastly, look to see if your state banking or credit union association has a “Community Service” Award and apply! The exposure and creditability gained can from such an award will greatly stretch your donation dollars by miles.

Start getting more from donations and sponsorships!

Jamie

PM POV: AdWords Reports Launch

This is the first of a new series of intermittent posts by Google Analytics Product Managers - the people leading the prioritization and production of features and improvements to GA. We wanted to add a little color to what you're seeing and let you know the how and why behind the process we take. In this first post, Jayanth Mysore tells what happened behind the scenes during the prioritization and development of the AdWords reports. Enjoy.

In June, we launched the new AdWords reports in Google Analytics. Today, I thought I’d share some of what goes on behind the scenes -- how we went from an idea to the actual reports that you see in Google Analytics today.

How did it begin? Many of you use Google Analytics expertly, and in innovative ways. You told us all the ways in which the product was lacking...in emails, blog posts, tweets, and in Q&A sessions and face-to-face meetings at conferences like SES and eMetrics. We’ve found that expert and innovative users are often the best at articulating what’s going to be most valuable to all users. So, we listen carefully to feedback, and one area we heard -- and learned -- a lot about was AdWords reporting.

For example, many of you told us that you were writing intelligent filters that would allow you to see actual search queries. Some of you were looking for ways to understand the effectiveness of campaigns on the content network. And many of you were struggling with how to make day parting decisions. We heard all this and said “We need to help here, here, here and there. Let’s go build!”

Next, we built a version of the reports and asked a few hundred of you to try it. This version did even more than what you see in the reports today because we wanted to test some promising, but challenging ideas. We can’t always put all the features we’d like into a product update. Sometimes we have to leave something out because it runs too slowly and making it run faster requires extensive design work. Other features simply won’t work for all Analytics users. Still, we wanted to test everything and determine which aspects of this we could offer everyone and how soon.

Our test users are terrific -- very innovative, highly trustworthy and they never hesitate to point out things that are too slow or too hard to use. We worked closely with these users and studied the usage data to figure out what we could and couldn’t do. It became amply clear that providing a list of AdWords dimensions to segment the reports was very very valuable. We wanted our users to have this right away. Other features were also valuable, but would require time to fully develop. In the end, we decided that we’d rather give users something significantly better immediately, and keep working to offer more down the road.

Finally, we rolled out the new reports gradually over weeks. We take user experience very seriously, no matter where in the world you are. During these initial weeks, we monitored usage, latency, bugs filed, tweets, e-mail feedback. The other thing we did was to translate the product so that all of you, across the world, could use the new reports.

Finally, when we were ready, we hit the go button, flipped a bit to expose the feature, blogged about it....and you all saw the new AdWords reports in the Traffic Sources section.

Work doesn’t stop after the release. We immediately started working on some of those hard problems I talked about and we’ve already made some progress. In August, we made the new AdWords dimensions available in Analytics Intelligence.

We continue to work on these reports, so stay tuned. And, thanks for your active usage of the product. You all make our day!

Posted by Jayanth Mysore, Product Manager, Google Analytics Team

10 and counting...

Greetings and HAPPY MONDAY!

The calendar is making noise this morning...it has started the count down to 2011.  Just like in school, we are in the next "grading period" and have a new chance to make our mark and decide to be great!  We have 10 weeks left in the year...

So, I thought I would share my TOP 10 To-Do's for the remaining 10 weeks...

10.   Finish your 2011 plan...with a unique addition of your Jump Start plan for the 1st 90 days of 2011
9.     Share you budget wrapped in an ROI evaluation for the entire year
8.     Make social media an important component of your 2011 plans...in ways that fit your organization
7.     Consider branch level marketing plans...that include a "budget" for local initiatives...that puts the planning and decision in the hands of the local manager and relieves you on saying no...they budget it!
6.     Make sure your sales support mirrors your marketing planning
5.     Strategically analyze one product line for the coming year
4.     Create one new internal communication process...there can never be too much communication!
3.     Create one new "thank you" process for staff
2.     Determine the best marketing investment you made this year...and consider doubling it next year!
1.     Get your shopping done early!!

Here's to a great 2011...

"Whether you think you can or you cannot...you are right!"

Cheers!

Bruce

What a Week!

What a week!

• Missouri beats Oklahoma for an upset of the third NCAA BCS #1 team in 3 weeks
• The Cleveland Browns beat the defending Super Bowl champion Saints
• The Texas Rangers go the World Series for the first time in team history after defeating the "Beast of the East," the 2009 World Series champion Yankees
• The San Francisco Giants head to the World Series after getting by the 2009 World Series runners-up, Phillies

What a week for upsets!!! What a week for the little guys!!!

What a week to change perceptions!!!

So, if they can do it...

We all have a Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, PNC, Wachovia, Regions, or Citi in our backyard. And they have a marketing budget with zeros that your bank or credit union will never see!!! But with the right game plan, motivation and team training, you can make them practically irrelevant in your market.

Marketing is more important today than ever. As you continue "reviewing the game films," training your team and finalizing your 2011 game plan - take heart in this week's lesson. There's a reason we play the game. The "big guy" can always fall.

Take care,

Eric

Web Analytics TV #13 - For the Ninjas

Well it’s another episode of Web Analytics TV. In this exciting series with Avinash Kaushik and Nick Mihailovski, you ask and vote on your favorite web analytics questions via the Google Analytics Google Moderator site and we answer them.

In this episode we introduce our new ninja award program (and ninja chop to go with it). Going forward, we will pick our favourite question and award the person the Analysis Ninja of the Episode award! They will get an autographed, personalized, copy of Web Analytics 2.0.

Our first winner is Sushant from New York for his excellent question on tabbed browsing and it’s impact on session level data. Congrats and please keep the great questions coming (and win!).

Here is the list of last weeks questions.

In this action packed episode we discuss:

• (2:35) Combining (A AND B) OR (C AND D) in advanced segments
• (4:03) Is there a way to tell how many people have opted out of being tracked by GA
• (6:18) How does tracking Google Analytics and Urchin work together
• (7:53) How is tabbed browsing tracked in Google Analytics?
• (10:30) Do Website Optimizer A/B tests only track direct traffic?
• (11:27) Are there any survey/voice of customer tools that integrate with GA?
• (12:47) Does the async code execute faster than the traditional snippet?
• (14:40) You can’t track users who have opted out of GA
• (15:13) Why table report filters get removed when you navigate away from a page
• (16:30) Why are there differences between Unique visitor reports? Which to use.
• (18:00) Can Google Analytics track live chat forms?

Here are the links to the topics we discuss:

• How you can automate requesting multiple advanced segments with the API to get AND precedence with Advanced Segments.
• Kampyle - Google Analytics, Voice of Customer Integration
• Live Person - Google Analytics, Integration

As always, if you need help setting up Google Analytics or leveraging the advanced configuration options, we recommend hiring a Google Analytics Certified Partner.

If you found this post or video helpful, we'd love to hear your comments. Please share them via the comment form below. And, if you have a question you would like us to answer, please submit a question and vote for your favorite question in our public Google Moderator site. Avinash and I will answer your latest questions in a couple of weeks with yet another entertaining video.


Post content Posted by Nick Mihailovski, Google Analytics Team

Query Paths in Search Funnels

Hot on the heels of the new Search Funnels features that were recently launched, here’s another new feature: The Top Paths (Query Paths) report.

Broad match keywords in your AdWords account may be matched to a variety of keywords your users are searching for. You bid on certain keywords, but what about the actual queries that these keywords were matched to? You can see Keyword Paths within Search Funnels - and now, you can see Query Paths as well.

Within the existing Top Paths reports:

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Select the Top Paths (Query Paths) option in the Dimension drop down menu to show you the actual queries that were matched to your ads and clicked prior to a conversion.

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Note: this option will only show queries for search ads that were clicked, and not for impressions.

This data gives even more insight into the searches users make before finding and then purchasing on your site. With this information, you should be able to better target these users by seeing how they find you, and gain confidence in bidding on keywords that convert or assist in the conversion path.

Posted by Gordon Zhu, Inside AdWords crew

Thank you!

Thank you is such an easy phrase to say and it means so much to those you say it to. When you say "thank you" it can make a world of difference, it is a motivational phrase. No matter how hard you've worked to get where you are today there are others that have had their hands in your success.

You've met your ROI goals, you've completed the 2 month long project early, you landed the big deal...all with the help of others along the way. Now what? Offer praise to those who have helped you, say thank you!

Say "thank you" and doors to success open!

Here are some easy ideas to thank those who help you everyday, you'll be surprised at the reaction you will get back just by saying thank you...

• personally thank someone, from your kids, to the person who pours your coffee at the coffee shop
• hand write a thank you note, that just doesn't happen much any more
• use space in your newsletter to thank individuals or teams for their time, commitment and end results
• it's the little things, done with vigor and meaning that move people to greatness

Make this an everyday practice and you will be amazed at the upbeat attitudes that will surround you.

Make it a great Friday. Enjoy your weekend and until we talk again.

Debbi

See potential placements for Google Display Network campaigns

Since the inception of the Google Display Network, contextual targeting has helped you to reach users effectively. This type of targeting allows you to show your ads next to related web content that users visit across millions of sites on the Display Network.

Today, we’re announcing an AdWords feature that provides you with example sites in the Display Network where your ads may appear when using contextual targeting. The example sites are based on the keyword list you provide when creating your campaign, and are available for campaigns that are solely running on the Display Network. Starting this week, the feature will be available to a limited set of advertisers, and will become more broadly available in the coming weeks.

Since contextual targeting happens in real-time across millions of sites in the Google Display Network, with this feature, you get insight into the types of sites where your ads can appear. Seeing example sites before your campaign runs can help you to refine your keyword lists to ensure optimal targeting. Along with example sites where your ads can appear, you can also see a suggested bid for your ad group. The example placements we provide are meant as a guide to help you get a sense of where your ads can appear. They’re not an accurate representation of actual placements, which can vary with the dynamics of the ad auction once your ads are showing.

While this feature provides a deeper level of transparency before your ads run, as always, once your campaigns begins to run, you can access site- and URL-level reporting that shows the specific places in the GDN where your ads actually appeared.

To see potential placements when creating your campaign, your can click the "See potential placements" button when selecting keywords for display-only ad groups in the new ad group creation interface. Please visit our Help Center to learn more.

Posted by Gordon Zhu, Inside AdWords crew

Appreciate yourself

There are certain things in life that just give you that "fulfilled" feeling. Times were you think that it can't get any better than this. Like having a child, getting married, owning your first brand new car, or winning an award.

Times like that don't have to go by so infrequently. They don't need to only be "special occasions". What do you get up in the morning for? Why do you do what you do? Today can be the perfect day to reflect on your life, your values and goals. Personally, I am not thankful enough for the things I have or for those who love me. That is why I have to take a pause from time-to-time and appreciate the things I DO have, the satisfaction my life HAS brought. I love my family, I love my job, I am grateful for all of my possessions. In my eyes I am blessed with a great life. Sure there are things I wish I could change, nothing is perfect. But its not about perceived perfection, it is about being positive and realizing how much life you DO have and the things you DO enjoy.

Think about the things you have, the places you've been, the successes you have celebrated. Don't take what you've earned in life for granite. Give your spouse a kiss and your kids a hug, call a friend or relative just to tell them you are grateful for them. Heck, go make a piece of toast and appreciate that you have the ability to put that bread in the toaster. Take a moment...appreciate yourself! Everyday is a day to celebrate something.

Until next time,
Jeremy

The Sales Funnel Revisted

For my whole career, both in marketing and sales, I have understood the concept and importance of the sales funnel. Conceptually speaking, the traditional sales funnel starts with awareness being generated at the top of the funnel (the widest part) and then having the prospect work down the funnel through the stages of interest, consideration, commitment and eventually having a sale made at the narrowest part of the funnel. The funnel framework worked fairly well in providing the foundation for understanding what metrics should be concentrated on and where resources should be deployed.

But what happens in a world where prospects have so many more tools at their disposal to evaluate your offerings on their own or where they skip stages of the process all together?
In addition, while the traditional sales funnel usually ends when the sale is consummated, should that really be the end of sales and marketing's engagement with the customer? Shouldn't we also measure post sales activities that build share of wallet and recognize the challenges of an unengaged customer or one who attrites?

A couple months ago, the people at Focus.com asked 14 sales and marketing experts to view the sales funnel concept in a world of the Internet, social media, word of mouth marketing, massive choice and competition? They reached out to their Focus Expert Network to submit their version of the sales funnel with one condition . . . the funnel and the rationale for their depiction had to fit on one page.

The results just released this week were, to say the least, both innovative and thought provoking. Some experts provided an interpretation that redefined the steps of the sales process and the sources of leads, taking into account the impact of the Internet and the need to more closely integrate sales and marketing. Matt West from Genius.com had a traditional shaped funnel but added the important steps of lead nurturing and cross-selling while discussing the challenge of unknown prospects 'above the funnel'.

There was more than one version that visually looked more like an hour glass, reflecting the important post-sale steps that are required to get a new customer engaged and to build the value of the relationship through repurchase or evangelism. Matt Heinz from Heinz Marketing stated that, "the traditional sales funnel only reflects half the story", ignoring the impact of referrals, repeat business, renewals, etc.

My favorite, however, was probably the entry from Michael Damphousse from Green Leads who threw away the visual of the funnel altogether and provided a diagram of a 'DemandGen Cloud', reflecting that prospects have the power and capability to insert themselves anywhere they want in the sales and marketing funnel. He also reflected that once in the funnel, the prospect can jump to any step they want as a result of web content and word of mouth. He emphasizes the importance of harnessing the chaos to maximize results.

So what does this have to do with banking? First of all, it reflects the impact of the new communication channels such as the Internet and social media. It also emphasizes the importance of going beyond generating a sale, and instead, generating a relationship. Finally, it reflects the diversity of ways to look at the interaction of sales and marketing in any sales process. This is especially true in more complex sales such as small business, commercial, investment services, etc. Whatever funnel you prefer, however, one major challenge needs to be addressed. Whatever the steps, sales and marketing must be in alignment and finance needs to buy off on the metrics and business case. With this uniform and integrated view, the sales process will definitely not be optimized, and it may actually fail.

What does your sales funnel look like? I would love to see even more creative examples of what your interpretation of today's sales funnel might be. Share it with me at jmarous@aol.com and I will post some of my favorites. Oh yeah, the same rules of a one page limit still apply.