5 Tips For Getting More From Your Data You Already Have

Sixteen Million. That’s the number of Google results for the term “Big Data.” And when you look at the historic interest in Google trends, the story is pretty clear  – Big Data is here to stay.  But do you really need more data than you already have? I doubt it.

Chasing The Big Data Rainbow?

Over the past few years, I have seen agencies, marketers and brands collect and analyze more data than ever before. And now with the development of new platforms, channels, KPIs and measurements, I’m finding an ever-growing hunger for new data sources. I constantly hear marketers either complaining about not having enough data or screaming for more.

But have they gotten all the insights out of their existing data yet? Probably not. Yet they clamor for Big Data!

Now, don’t get me wrong — I think Big Data it is a good thing. It will help us all better understand and connect with consumers. And to a data nerd like me, that sounds pretty amazing.

However, Big Data often means more data. Lots more data. And from what I have seen, marketers are not making the most of the data they already have, so why do they need more of it?

I believe that most marketers are asking for more data just for the sake of asking. Perhaps it’s the very lure of Big Data that is distracting them from digging deeper into the data they already have. Maybe they are caught-up in chasing the Big Data rainbow?

Stop Complaining And Start Digging!

The truth is most marketers can get a lot more value from their existing data than they realize. That’s because data has great depth if you know how to slice/dice/segment it. Sources like Google Analytics and Google AdWords contain considerable insights just waiting to be uncovered.

You just need to give your current data a closer look. That means you need to stop complaining about not having enough data/needing more, and start digging a bit deeper into what you already have.

To demonstrate what I am talking about, I’ve included some example insights you can gain from your current search data.

1. Look At On-Page Engagement By Day-Of-Week

Chances are that you know how much traffic you are getting each day. But do you know what day of the week consumers are the most engaged with your on-site content?

Knowing which days of the week are your best performers is valuable insight. For starters, it can tell you what days it makes sense to increase your ad spend, and what days you should save your money or invest in different channels.

Fortunately, today’s analytics platforms allow you to export your data in granular segments. This will enable you to use a tool like Spotfire, Tableau, or even Excel, and create a report like the one below, which is looking at “Engagement (pages-per-visit) by day of the week.”

As you can see in the graph, this brand has greater engagement during the weekend and tailing into Monday. This is a pattern we see for a lot of CPG and beauty brands, and it often points to pre-purchase research/couponing.

(Methodology: Analyzed 200K PPC visits over a 3 month period on branded terms. Measured by PPV and grouped by day-of-week. Category is CPG.)

2. Examine Day-Of-Week Ad Copy Engagement

We get some especially interesting insights when we look at the same brand as above, during the same period, but evaluate its Adwords CTR Performance (behavior on the search engine results page).

As you can clearly see, the patterns are the same — low during the week and gradually increasing as we head into the weekend. However, what makes this view interesting is that we do not see high activity on Monday. In fact, Monday has the worst CTR of the week.

One possible hypothesis is that the purchase cycle is starting over again. Perhaps the consumer starts with general, competitive research on Monday. Then, as she gets closer to the weekend, she decides to eventually engage with the brand site.

(Methodology: Analyzed 1M+ PPC visits over a 3 month period on branded terms. Measured by Google Adwords CTR and grouped by day-of-week. Category is CPG)

3. Isolate Local Ad Copy Engagement

I’m sure you are measuring and optimizing the CTR of your search ads – that’s pretty basic.  However, have you ever broken your CTRs out by region? The regional consumer insights you can uncover are a great asset to the brand and your traditional/direct marketing teams.

The graph below shows the CTR for the same brand used in the above example, only here it is grouped by state. Interestingly, this view of the data shows a huge difference in the CTR by state. In some cases, we determined that the CTR was related to the ad copy creator’s heritage – ads created by a Midwestern native are more appealing to a Midwestern audience.

In some other cases, we found that the difference in CTR can be a reflection of regional brand awareness – if they don’t know you, they are less likely to select you.

Findings like the latter can help you create a more targeted media plan focused on increasing brand awareness in a particular region. After campaign kickoff, you can utilize the same search data to measure success. (Click image to enlarge.)

(Methodology: Analyzed states with at least 10,000 PPC impressions in position 1-2 over a 3 month period on unbranded terms. Category is CPG.)

4. Analyze Device-Specific Engagement

One of my favorite things to look at is targetable attributes such as device. The theory is that if you can use previous campaign data to identify a device with the best engagement, you can then increase your bid on highly converting devices and reduce your spend on devices that just don’t seem to work on your site.

For instance, take a look at the below example comparing conversion rates of various mobile devices. Clearly, Apple devices are outperforming the competition when it comes to engagement (X-Axis) and overall volume (size of circle). (Click the image to enlarge.)

(Methodology: 6 months of PPC traffic in unbranded campaigns against the same landing page, using different devices in North America during weekdays. Sample size: minimum  4K visits per device. Y-Axis: Conversion Rate.  X-Axis : Pages per visit. Color: Manufacturer. Size: Overall volume.)

However, when we look at the conversion rate (Y-Axis), Samsung is clearly outperforming Apple.

Surprisingly, we can also spot some interesting performance metrics among the Kindle Family (blue dots). While engagement and volume are low, Kindle’s conversions are better than, or on par with, Apple’s.

Insights like these open up room for a lot of questions: “Is our site performing better on Android? Do we have a checkout/conversion metric issue on iOS? Or does our Android audience just have more purchase intent?”

But no matter what question is most applicable to your brand, you can use these insights to better optimize your campaigns and focus on devices that matter.

5. Look At Day-Of-Month Trends

Marketers are always looking at historic data, but by only focusing on the past 30/60/90 days, we could miss out on some important behavioral patterns. For instance, if you aggregate your historic data by day-of-month (instead of day-of-week as in #1 and #2), you can uncover some great insights into your consumers.

There are many theories about why people may spend more on certain days of the month versus others, and each time I apply it to a brand, I discover new patterns and behaviors. For example, the below graph for a high-end consumer electronics brand demonstrates the paycheck theory, where people make most purchases around the first of the month.

(Methodology: 12 months of PPC (Green) and SEO (Orange) data showing conversion rate against the same landing page, *mostly unbranded traffic (*Thank you secure search!).)

Challenge Yourself To Get More Value Now!

I hope these five suggestions have inspired you to dig deeper into your current search data, instead of chasing the Big Data rainbow and wishing you had more. The next time you – or someone else – start to complain about needing more data, remember that you can always get more value from the data you already have. Challenge yourself to do exactly that!

Have you examined how local weather impacts your web traffic/impressions? Or whether or not industry news items affect purchasing? Or my personal favorite — does a change in organic rank impact your paid CTR? Tell me how you are getting more value out of your current data!h

Google’s New Look Search Results: Still An Experiment

More and more searchers, SEOs, webmasters and advertisers are seeing the new Google design test we’ve covered here a couple times where the ads blend in more to the search results and the font size is larger and the underlined links are gone.

Last night, at Search Marketing Expo West, Google’s head of search, Amit Singhal told the audience that “we’re always experimenting” and this design test is just that, one of Google’s experiments.

In our live blog coverage, Matt McGee summarized it as:

We are always testing things. We need to experiment to improve the product. Rest assured there’s a team of PhDs gathering every piece of data we can about our experiments and if it doesn’t benefit users, we don’t do it.

But even so, Google is showing this search result design to more and more people. Twitter, Facebook, the forums and my email are filled with complaints and questions about this new Google design.

Personally, I am able to see both the current design and experimental design when I use different browsers. Here is a side by side, showing the new ad format, larger fonts, and no underlines. Note, you can click on the image to see a full size retina view of the comparison:

For more Google experiments on their design, see our Google user interface category.

How Email Marketers Can Make Birthdays Come More Than Once A Year

As you evaluate your 2013 email programs and work on your 2014 initiatives, be sure to take a hard look at how much of your revenue from email is attributed to triggered programs, as compared with promotional emails.

From my experience, 20% is a good, general target for the amount of overall revenue that should be attributed to triggered programs.

Triggers are key to a successful email program; they have higher engagement metrics because they are based on user behaviors or data and higher ROI because they have minimal ongoing operational costs.

Triggers With Opportunity

Welcome email(s) will typically have the highest volume and revenue, followed by abandoned shopping cart trigger(s). Moving down the list, there is more variance depending on your business and the kinds of triggers you have implemented.

I recommend performing an analysis of send volume and revenue-per-email (RPE) against all of your triggered campaigns, and then honing in on the triggers that have anomalies.

For instance, a trigger with high volume but low revenue-per-email (RPE) would indicate a need to revisit its timing, creative and the overall click-through experience. A trigger with low volume but high RPE might indicate a need to identify and target a larger audience for a similar send.

A great example of the latter instance is the average birthday email. Who doesn’t love a treat on their birthday? And who doesn’t love to treat themselves for their birthday? It’s because of these behaviors that birthday emails are high performers for RPE. But even with this high performance, so many retailers still have incomplete databases that lack birthdays for most subscribers.

And, it’s no surprise. After all, we know the less information we ask upon sign up, the more likely the subscriber is to opt-in, so marketers made a strategic decision to go after a higher opt-in rate with less information (and who can blame them). But, it’s time to make a change – your revenue depends on it.

Acquisition

Following is a successful case study from Lee (disclosure Lee is a client where I work, DEG) that takes a look at how they increased the number of birthdays on file by 340%.

To begin to gather the non-existent information, Lee sent a responsively-designed email to everyone on file without a birth date with the subject line “Happy Birthday! Or is it?”

The link directed the subscriber to a landing page designed solely to capture the birth date associated with the subscriber.

Upon entering the appropriate information, the subscriber is rewarded with a coupon code and offered a link to start shopping as depicted below:

Results

This email’s open rate was 34% higher than the average open rate for Lee’s promotional emails, and the click-through rate was 142% higher than average. Of the subscribers who clicked through, 81% completed the form. As an added bonus, this campaign also generated revenue, which was not a primary goal. This email has been so successful, it is now sent once a quarter, with variations on creative.

Through campaigns like this, Lee has successfully increased the number of birthdays on file by 340% in less than a year. In turn, the email sent on the subscriber’s actual birthday (see below) deploys to a much larger audience, resulting in increased revenue.

Beyond One Birthday Trigger

After increasing the volume of birthday sends, consider how you could extend the life of this program beyond the one email on the subscriber’s birthday. For example, Lee chose to add a half-birthday celebration into the mix. Increasing the sophistication of triggers involves setting up a series of emails and the birthday campaign is no different!

The half-birthday email is a “surprise and delight” campaign because it is an unexpected trigger for the recipient. The following email was sent with the subject line “A (half) birthday gift for you!”

Next, Lee plans to add a pre-birthday trigger about a month in advance of the date, encouraging the subscriber to create a wish list (which can be shared via email as a hint to friends and family). The Tory Burch company has already implemented a pre-birthday wish list email, as you can see here:

Adding a pre-birthday trigger will complete a three-part triggered birthday campaign for Lee, extending the life of the birthday program with relevant triggered messaging that continues to increase the amount of revenue attributed to triggers.

Trigger Optimization

When evaluating your revenue from triggered email, focus on campaigns with high RPE and low volume. Where appropriate, create campaigns to increase the volume of subscribers to qualify for those triggers.

From there, ask how that triggered program could be more sophisticated beyond its current state. It could be as simple as adding a reminder campaign to subscribers that haven’t converted on the first email, to extend the one-time trigger into a multi-email campaign and further drive revenue from your triggered campaigns.

What You Should Be Tallying On Your Social Media Scorecard

Ah, the simplicity of American baseball: three strikes is an out, and a team’s chance at the bat is comprised of three outs. In cricket, the math is a bit more extensive: an inning is considered complete once ten batters have been struck out, and matches can last several days. It’s no wonder that as far back as the time of the American Revolution, enterprising printers back in England were producing scorecards so that spectators could keep track of the games.

The idea of businesses using scorecards can be traced to the 1950s in postwar France, with what were called Tableau de Bord. With this tool, managers were asked to map out a business unit’s mission/vision, the objectives that could be said to lead to the fulfillment of the mission,Key Success Factors (KSF), and Key Performance Indicators (KPI).

In the early 90s, a couple of Harvard professors, Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, proposed the idea of a “Balanced Scorecard.”

Norton and Kaplan felt that too many business measures were focused on financial metrics, which they considered lagging indicators. In addition to the financial metrics, they proposed that a business should be vigilant with other key metrics such as employee learning and customer satisfaction.

By keeping an eye on this more holistic picture, business leaders would make better strategic choices.

Social Media Measures

In the realm of social media metrics, the what and how’s of measurement are hotly contested. There are those who believe there should be a focus on transactions, while others argue for a larger value mapping. Likes, follows, and pluses, by themselves, might be rightly referred to as vanity metrics. When it comes to more substantive measures, there may not be enough data to discover where correlation really does represent causation.

Organizations like Dell have done a remarkable job in creating attribution models that can show with high probability the contribution of social media to their sales. In these models, for instance, it can be demonstrated that a customer that is a Facebook follower is much more apt to spend more with the brand. While that may lead to a correlation/causation argument, it might be considered a good beginning.

In a recent conversation with Brian Melinat, Manager of Social Media Analytics and Listening at Dell, I learned more about that organization’s use of a social media scorecard. According to Melinat, the Dell scorecard has three main sections:

• Footprint: The quantity and quality of connections and content posts
• Engagement: Traditional social media engagement metrics
• Impact: How social media is driving revenue and other traditional business KPIs

The impact section is most closely aligned to traditional marketing metrics, and in particular, where transactions can be linked to social media. While the social media team is glad that they can provide those traditional metrics, they still try to bring focus to the bigger picture of social value. Melinat explains:

Social’s not just another Marcom channel which we want to milk for traditional metrics; there’s a community that needs to be nurtured. Dell believes a social business creates more value for customers, partners and the organization. In order to realize the full potential of a social business, you do need to look at these core engagement metrics and the health of the community and foster that in the real sense, versus just looking at the dollar figure. 

ROI Of Social Media

Some people say you shouldn’t worry about the Return on Investment (ROI) of social media, and plenty of others say that if you can’t tie your activities back to making dollars, the endeavor is folly.

Whichever camp you fall in, as a marketer you will be called upon to make some difficult choices: should I spend a dollar on this or on that?

Melinat shares his own ideas:

As much as a lot of people will ask for and want the ROI right out of the gate, you need to mature to that point. Dell has focused on building a social business foundation for over 8 years that generates actionable insights and allows us to directly listen to and communicate with our customers better than ever. The amounts you’re going to see for those hard dollar figures are less than the real value you’re getting. You need to establish some metrics and recognition that there’s core stuff going on in social before you turn all your attention to trying to dollarize everything.

Creating Your Own Social Media Scorecard

To create a scorecard for your own organization, it’s a good idea to actually look back to those core tenets of the Tableau de Bord: identify your organization’s bigger purpose and vision, and map out the ways that your goals can be fulfilled through social media.

Melinat recommends two additional steps: assess your social media properties and current initiatives, and understand who needs the information and for what purpose.

Dashboards

A dashboard was originally an actual board at the front of a horse-drawn carriage that protected the driver from the mud thrown, or dashed-up by the horses’ hooves. When it was carried over into automobiles, the board was given some padding and punctuated with gauges.

For marketing professionals and executives, the idea of a dashboard means that the critical information will be available in a quickly readable way.  If we consider how the word entered our language, it’s very possible that it might once again prevent a little mud from hitting your face.

Research Report: Enterprise PPC Campaign Management Platforms 2014

Digital Marketing Depot, our sister site, recently released the updated version of its Market Intelligence Report, “Enterprise PPC Campaign Management Platforms 2014: A Buyer’s Guide.”

Now in its Fourth Edition, this report consists of original research based on interviews conducted in November and December 2013. Advisors included David Rodnitzky, CEO of 3Q Digital (formerly PPC Associates) and Ginny Marvin, Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land.

More than half (52%) of digital marketers currently use a paid search campaign management tool – and another 14% plan to adopt one in the coming year, according to the recent Marketing Land technology adoption survey.

For those planning to adopt a platform to manage paid campaigns, this report serves as a guide both to the industry and the capabilities and features of these software tools. It covers industry trends, such as the impact of Google’s Enhanced Campaigns; key mergers, acquisitions, and IPOs during the past year; and, how to choose the right platform for your company needs.

Nine leading vendors are profiled, from the company level to the product level: Acquisio, Adobe, DoubleClick, ESV Digital, IgnitionOne, InsideVault, Kenshoo, Marin Software, SearchForce.

If you’re looking to adopt a PPC Campaign Management Platform at the enterprise level, take a look at this report. Find out the latest and learn what you need to know before you decided to adopt this marketing technology. It’s free for download, register here.

SMX Advanced Registration Open – Best Rates Available Until March 28

Ready to exchange ideas, influence the industry and build your network? Join the most accomplished search marketers in the world for Search Marketing Expo – SMX Advanced. The conference will be held June 11-12 at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle, WA.

The focus of SMX Advanced is unique. Conference sessions and keynotes are designed for sophisticated search engine marketers; they are fast paced, detailed, and don’t review basic concepts. You’ll choose from in depth sessions on organic search engine optimization (SEO), paid search advertising (PPC), and more.

At SMX Advanced, opportunities abound to get your questions answered and share your own ideas with the best in the industry. We’ve purposely kept this an intimate conference so you’ll be sure to meet the people you want to meet. Headlining this year’s conference is Google Senior Software Engineer Matt Cutts, who will participate in the always popular and engaging “You&A” keynote, and address questions from the SMX Advanced audience.

Register for SMX Advanced by March 28 and you pay just $1695. You get all of the sessions, keynotes, network activities and special events that make Search Marketing Expo conferences famous. It’s a fantastic value, plus your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Buffer Adds Content Suggestions To Web Dashboard & Emails

Calling it “a work in progress,” Buffer has started showing content suggestions for users in both the web-based dashboard and in emails.

The new feature adds a set of suggested social updates that can be posted to Twitter, Facebook or whatever social accounts you’ve connected to Buffer.

The rollout has been slowly expanding over the past few weeks; I started seeing the suggestions on the web a few days ago. Buffer says it’s showing five suggestions on the web, and including three suggestions in emails to users that have those notifications turned on.

Here’s how Buffer explains how it chooses recommended content:

Right now, these suggestions are kind of a look inside the online reading habits of the Buffer team.

On most days, you’ll find a mix of social media and marketing posts, some productivity and lifehacking content and an inspirational quote or two thrown in for variety.

The content suggestions are also usually heavy on images — it’s no secret that visuals tend to increase engagement on social networks.

Users that don’t want to see Buffer’s content suggestions can to go to Settings > Optional Features to turn them off.

About a month ago, Klout shifted direction and also began focusing on content recommendations that can be shared on social networks.

Google Confirms Giant Banner Ad Test Is Dead

Back in October, Google started experimenting with large banner ads at the top of branded search results on Google.com. If you haven’t noticed them lately, there’s a reason. In his SMX West keynote discussion with Danny Sullivan yesterday, Google’s Amit Singhal said the test failed and is over.

Presumably the click-through rates (CTR) on the graphic banner ads weren’t high enough to justify keeping around. Though CTR seems like an odd performance metric to place on a banner that functions more as a graphic introduction to the organic listings and has no call-to-action.

The test only ran in the U.S. and was small with about 30 advertisers participating and banners showing on about 5 percent of search queries.

We will post the video clip of Singhal’s discussion of the test when it’s available. If you’re interested in taking a stroll down memory lane, Marketing Land captured many of these banner ads during the test in the Slideshare below.