Web Analytics Management

How Non-Profit Organizations Get Results with Web Analytics

Non profit revenue is driven by a more complex series of channels than most for profit businesses.

I’ve learned this after working with a number of non-profit organizations since establishing Semphonic’s Washington DC practice 5 years ago. In our engagements with National Geographic, The Nature Conservancy, American Chemical Society, American Society of Clinical Oncologists, the American Institute of Architects, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Biotechnology Industry Organization and others, I have learned just how bottom-line focused non-profit organizations have needed to be so that they can accomplish their mission.

Why is the non-profit revenue model complex?  It is a true multi-channel structure with revenue coming from donations, dues, conference and event registration, sponsorships, conference exhibitors, publications, grants, subscriptions, partnerships and merchandise. More and more of the non-profit focus, especially for national organizations is online and I have found that there is a high degree of sophisticated thinking around visitor segmentation, engagement and how this plays into focusing marketing and content. Read The Importance of Analytics, a case study about The Nature Conservancy’s use of analytics for donation strategy if you’d like to get a detailed perspective.

Perhaps this is “old news” to those of you who’ve been in the non-profit field, but it was a fascinating discovery for me…and it is one that makes digital analytics for non-profit organizations an incredibly rich and interesting endeavor…as well as seeing some real world results when analytics is conducted effectively.

With this as a back drop, I’m really looking forward to our upcoming webinar on Wednesday, May 9 1pm EST/10am PST, How Non-Profits Get Results with Web Analytics.

Linda Shum, AVP Interactive Design and Strategy at United Way of the Bay Area and Emily Fisher, Online Editor at Oceana are going to share how they applied the recommendations that came out of the Non Profit Analytics Challenge that Semphonic ran for the first time at  X Change last year.

Much of the focus of the session is going to be how to improve branding, boost donations, attract new members and engage volunteers.  I think it’s going to be a really informative session.  To register go to: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/796787512

If haven’t yet gotten your free copy of Semphonic’s recently published The Non-Profit Organization Guide to Using Google Analytics to Improve Branding, Donations and Member Activity, I hope you download it and find it to be a useful reference.

And stay tuned...we'll soon be announcing "open season" for this year's application process for the Non-Profit Analytics Challenge.

 

42 Rules for a Web Presence that Wins

42 Rules for a Web Presence that Wins by Philippa Gamse is a slender tome that gets right to the point on developing practical web site strategy.  Targeted primarily to the SMB market, I think there’s a lot in the book that larger organizations, as well as non-profit and government web site managers could very well be reminded of when it comes to web site management best practices. Specifically, as my paraphrasing of Philippa puts it:

• 95 percent of web presences leave money on the table, and usually the owner has no idea.
• Most websites fail to make the emotional connections with visitors who are crucial to creating and sustaining meaningful…and profitable…online relationships.

Having been working in the internet space since 1991, Philippa knows what she’s talking about and has a great historical perspective that transcends “flavor of the day” points of view that tend to proliferate in the online world.

What I like about Philippa’s point of view as a web strategist is that she is really focused on the bottom line and results, so she’s a natural fan of digital analytics, dedicating an entire section of her book to “Measuring Results.” Not only is she an advocate for using analytics, she continually and consistently ties it back to deriving intelligence that can be acted on. I can think of more than a few digital analytics managers who could use some of what’s here for ammunition to use for convincing stakeholders and senior leadership that there’s more to life than high level traffic reporting.

You can find out more about 42 Rules for a Web Presence that Wins or order the book from Philippa’s site Websites that Win International. I definitely think you should check it out.

So, will Web governance make your digital analytics program run faster, jump higher and make you smarter?

To conclude this year's Profiles in Analytics - Does Web Governance Drive Analytics, I wanted to leave you with some general takeaways on how to move towards a better Return On Investment on your program...regardless of whether your organization is driven by a solid governance model or not.

So, will Web governance make your digital analytics program run faster, jump higher and make you smarter?

Like any programmer will tell you “it depends.”

The Profiles in Analytics research indicates that enterprise-wide Web governance is generally a good thing. The operational processes, the roles and responsibilities, and the overall standards that come out of governance help get everyone in an organization on board with implementing strategy. This appears to help the institutionalization of digital analytics throughout the organization.

There does appear to be a gap between where enterprise-wide governance ends, and where digital analytics governance begins. Whereas Web governance creates a space for digital analytics to grow, the depth of influence and making real change is only beginning.  The dichotomy between the considered priorities of digital analytics teams and the time spent on tasks shows that there are constraints that detract from analytics reaching its full potential as a way for organizations to learn from their experience in the digital channel.

How to clear the constraints?

• Invest in a Web governance process that provides insight on where digital analytics should sit in the organization. The level of influence that digital analytics has within the organization is tied to the office or department in which it resides and the influence of an executive champion in fostering cooperation.
• Conduct an audit of digital analytics operations to understand priorities, roles, responsibilities, tasks and processes. Senior management and digital analytics management need to be on the same page. There needs to be frank and open discussions about constraints and roadblocks that prevent digital analytics in being an effective voice in providing insights throughout the organization.
• Facilitate cooperation between digital analytics team and potential partners within the organization where there are opportunities to complement and leverage resources. Digital analytics programs that succeed depend on a network of resource support beyond the direct team. IT, Procurement, Marketing, Content Management, Business Intelligence, Finance and Operations are among the groups that a Digital Analytics team must interface with and work with to operate effectively. It helps to have these relationships facilitated by senior leadership so it is clear to all that analytics are recognized as a management priority.

This year’s Profiles in Analytics research suggests that it isn’t enough for organizations to pronounce that they are “data driven.” There is a lot more work to do around overall Web governance, development of analytics management expertise, and figuring out the best place in the organization for digital analytics so that it can have real influence.

Interested in continuing the conversation? Email me at pkemelor@semphonic.com.

 

Has Digital Analytics Made it into the Digital Production Lifecycle?

Continuing on with Part 5 of this year's Profiles in Analytics - Does Web Governance Drive Analytics...or get the whole analysis, survey data and digital analytics profiles at Semphonic.

Has Digital Analytics Made it into the Digital Production Lifecycle?

For all of the aspirations on how to create digital cultures and data driven organizations, when it gets down to basics, simply making sure that data collection occurs is a back burner issue. While Web governance oriented organizations may have processes in place and top down commitment to ensure that analytics is part of the development cycle, that it is only at around 60 percent says that there is room for improvement.

While non-governance organizations have roughly the same compliance, that there is such a high level of dissatisfaction with the process of implementing code changes, tells you something about an underlying issue that can sabotage whether accurate data is available when senior leadership wants to use it for appraising the role of the digital channel.

The Details

It stands to reason that organizations with established Web governance have more formalized processes around production of new content and applications for the digital channel, than organizations that don’t have strong governance.

Web development process. Nearly twice the number of organizations with governance includes digital analytics in the process “all the time” versus those that don’t, as seen in the chart below. Still, at 25 percent, there is clearly more work that needs to be done in this area. Interestingly, once you combine “all” and “most” of the time responses, you get roughly 60 percent in all organizations.

The research shows that there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done in the area of integrating analytics to the digital development process. While there is an increasing amount of project management best practices aligned with enabling analytics, analytics itself is often implemented after a project has launched. With the advent of mobile applications and social media initiatives, there are new opportunities for using analytics, and at the same time a repeat of the poor practices that have left analytics out of the fixed Web development process.

Implementing data collection code changes. The research showed the biggest difference between governance and non-governance when dealing with the process for implementing changes to data collection code, as seen in the chart below.

Anecdotal research tell us that the application of data collection code, considered to be the least glamorous element of analytics, to be a universal and significant hold up in the analytics process.  Because there are often other projects in the queue ahead of analytics, or analytics is considered expendable if content or applications need to meet a deadline for launch, data collection coding may be held up for weeks and even months in certain organizations.  

The “not acceptable” level of satisfaction among organizations without governance is a situation that if addressed, could show immediate improvements to the availability of analytics and potential value of metrics created with the data.

Next week: So, will Web governance make your digital analytics program run faster, jump higher and make you smarter?

Get the entire research at Semphonic.

Does Web Governance Encourage More Efficient Operation of Digital Analytics?

Continuing on with Part 3 of this year's Profiles in Analytics - Does Web Governance Drive Analytics...or get the whole analysis, survey data and digital analytics profiles at Semphonic.

Does Web Governance Encourage More Efficient Operation of Digital Analytics?

Digital analytics teams in organizations with Web governance appear to be more efficient in serving a larger stakeholder base than those that are in organizations without Web governance. While staff size appears to be somewhat smaller in Web governance oriented organizations, there appears to be slightly more management expertise.  The experience of digital analytics team management coupled with overall organization Web governance could contribute to a more process oriented approach to serving stakeholders. This would enable more stakeholders to benefit from the use of digital analytics services.

In addition, stronger management of digital analytics teams could also lead to a tighter definition of roles and responsibilities within the team. This could foster greater specialization among team members that could be manifest in more efficient completion of tasks.

The Details

Digital analytics teams in Web governance-oriented enterprises appear to serve more stakeholders than those organizations without Web governance.  As indicated in the chart below, digital analytics teams in organizations with governance appear to serve more stakeholders in all categories except one.

Of course, some of the difference in stakeholders served can be attributed to organization size…larger organizations have more stakeholders. However, the research suggests that the influence of Web governance on staff size and management experience also plays a role in how many stakeholders are served.

Analytics staff size. Organizations with Web governance had twice the percentage of large staffs with 10 or more people. However, these enterprises actually had smaller staffs than did organizations without Web governance in the mid-range (2-10 staff size).

Digital analytics management experience. From a title perspective, managing a digital analytics team is largely a middle management function, with Director and Manager the most frequently indicated titles.

However, it is in the area of both analytics and management experience where there are potentially significant differences between teams in organizations with and without Web governance.

Organizations with Web governance tend to have managers with more management experience than analytics experience. Organizations without Web governance tend to have managers with more analytics experience than management experience.  A significant plurality of organizations, 30 percent, has managers with both ten and more years of analytics and management experience.

This overweighting of technical and management experience appears logical in context with the characteristics of the types of digital analytics teams one finds in large and Web governance-oriented organizations vs. those that are smaller and not inclined to Web governance. Managers in large organizations appear to be more involved with  strategic and operational functions; in smaller organizations with less staff, managers are in a more practitioner/manager role.

Is there an approach that works better? If there is an organizational strategy to scale analytics across the enterprise, than having more experienced managers who know how to manage programs and staff and are comfortable interfacing with senior leadership makes sense.

 

Next week: Are Web Governance Oriented Organizations "Better" at Using Digital Analytics?

Get the entire research at Semphonic.

Does Web Governance Drive Digital Analytics?

Continuing on with Part 2 of this year's Profiles in Analytics - Does Web Governance Drive Analytics...or get the whole analysis, survey data and digital analytics profiles at Semphonic.

Larger Organizations Invest in Web Governance

By their nature, large organizations recognize the need to invest in operations governance as a means to manage processes and people efficiently.  Web governance is a natural extension of a governance culture that already exists.  Smaller organizations tend to have less process and a flatter management structure. The concept of Web governance may run counter to how the organization approaches overall operational processes. In addition, as smaller organizations tend to run leaner from a staff perspective, they may not have the resources to dedicate specifically to Web governance.

The Details

There is a relationship between investment in Web governance and an organization’s size and annual revenues. Larger organizations tend to be more inclined to have Web governance councils than smaller organizations, as seen in the charts below.

51 percent of the organizations with over $501 million in annual revenue have Web governance councils compared to 17 percent that do not. On the other end of the spectrum, 77 percent of the organizations with less than $500 million in revenue do not have Web governance councils compared to 24 percent that do.

The trend towards Web governance is also borne out based on number of employees. 66 percent of the organizations with over 1,000 employees have Web governance councils compared to 25 percent that do not and 44 percent of the organizations with 100 or fewer employees do not have Web governance compared to 11 percent that do.

 

Next week: Does Web Governance Encourage More Efficient Operation of Digital Analytics?

Get the entire research at Semphonic.

 

Upcoming Events: Planning Your Migration to SiteCatalyst 15 and Profiles in Analytics in Washington DC

I’m just getting back from a nice end of the summer vacation spent in the woods of northern Pennsylvania. No electronics, clear night skies and great post-Irene weather. A really nice way to re-charge for what is going to be a busy first quarter at Semphonic.

Of course there’s XChange coming up in San Diego from Sept 12-15. Like last year, this is going to be a sold out gathering. I’ll be teaching two ThinkTank sessions on 9/12: Managing a Digital Analytics Program and Beyond Visits and Page Views…How to Develop Actionable, Web Metrics, Reports and Analysis. Look forward to seeing you there.

Right before XChange, we’re going to be offering a free webinar on migrating to SiteCatalyst 15. Join me, Paul Legutko and Chris Meares this coming Thursday, September 8^th at 1pm EST/10amPST as we take a look at what’s new, what’s missing, and what to prepare for during your transition. As Adobe starts to pick up the pace on migrations, make sure that you know what to expect.

Once you register, you’ll receive your free copy of our new SiteCatalyst 15 Transition Guide. Don’t forget to submit any questions that you have when you register. This way we’ll make sure that your questions get top priority.  To register now, just go to: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/938012200

And finally, on October 4^th, we’re kicking off our Profile in Web Analytics series in Washington DC with Nina Mishkin of American Express. Nina will be providing some great case histories, tips and techniques for how she measures success for one of AMEX’s most heavily trafficked global web sites.

This will be the first in an ongoing quarterly series that we’re putting on with the Web Managers Roundtable.  Comcast and The Economist will be first up in 2012. If you’re in the Washington DC area and you want to get inspiring and practical advice from folks who are doing great analytics work, you’ll want to check these out. More details to come.  

To register for the October event, go to: http://bit.ly/n9tsM4.  Seating is limited so sign up soon to reserve your spot.

I hope you’ll be able to join us for these events as you get back into the post-summer swing of things.