Muse Marketing

A compiled annotated bibliography put together by a group of innovative and insightful marketers.

[musemarketing-blog]

Analytics

Website: Why Mobile Analytics?

Created by: PercentMobile

Rating: 3 Hats

This website written by PercentMobile is a brief introduction to mobile analytics. 

"Mobile web analytics refers to the use of data collected as visitors access a web page from a mobile device"

This article taught me that you are not able to effectively use traditional tools such as Google Analytics as it will only measure a portion of the actual traffic that visits your site from a website. Based on the information presented I give this site a rating of 3 hats.

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Analytics

Infographic: The State of Social Media and Web Analytics in Higher Ed

Created by: Highered Experts

Rating: 3 Hats

This infographic outlines the different areas most companies chose to monitor. It was measured that in 2011 96% of companies track websites where as only 4% don't. This statistic outlines the largely popular tool of web analytics and the importance in the use of it. Last year Google Analytics ranked the most popular analytics tool, which does not come as a surprise as it is the most popular search engine online. I found it interesting that 41% said they use analytics to improve their social media sites. I think this shows the increasing amount of companies who are now using networking sites and wish to optimize them. This infographic does a pretty good job at outlining the different ways in which companies use analytics so I give it a rating of 3 hats. 

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Analytics

Blog: Engage with Webtrends: Last One in is a Rotten Egg

Created by:Jascha Kaykas-Wolff 

Rating: 4 Hats

This blog is a follow up to a research document posted by John Lovett of Forrester on web analytic trends as well as forecasts for the future. Jascha Kaykas-Wolff believes that there are a growing number of opportunities in this field to expand as well as resources to provide customers valuable insights. "Being self aware is a critical component is getting the most from your data and the tools you are using" says Mr Kaykas-Wolff. An important element in web analytics is knowing how to effectively use the tools you have access to, otherwise you will be a disservice to your clients or company. This blog has good insights into the upcoming trends for web analytics as well as some helpful tips to keep you on top of the changing landscape therefore I give this blog 4 hats.

[musemarketing-blog]

Analytics

Digital Marketing Guide: Analytics

Rating: 4 Hats

This article acts as an introduction to web analytics by acting as a sort of Q and A about the nitty-gritty elements. An example of an important introductory aspect to analytics comes when a business first decides to receive third-party help: it can be helpful if a marketer brings the existing data they have about their business over to that analytics expert because there is potential information there that can be extracted and used.

Crucially, it makes clear that while the click is still relevant, it is the click-stream that provides greater incite in terms of the process of what brought the visitor to that particular page. It highlights the way that engagement is usually measured via time spent, but that the quality of the time spent is difficult to measure.

Another vital point is the benefit of taking the data collected through web analytics, compiling it in a way that maintains any and all individuals’ privacy and adding it to information from external sources in order to develop a greater depth of information.

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Analytics

Counting to Infinity: Why Media Need More Analytics

Rating: 4.5 Hats

This article is directed at markets and comments on the media industry, and the way that newspapers have moved from publishing print material to posting content online. There are huge implications in the way that media is bought and sold because of this change. It explains that analytics plays a key role because the means of measurement and evaluation change in this digital setting.

The New York Times has launched a metered system for its content, which will balance the reading of its news content between advertising as well as subscription. Importantly, analytics will be used to determine the access to content and payment offers that a visitor will receive. A per month page view threshold will be made and individuals nearing it will be asked to pay a set amount to view all of the site’s content to an unlimited degree. This segment amounts to 5 to 10% of all visitors. Other visitor’s content views will be paid for through on-page advertising. 

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Analytics

Title: Google Analytics Gets a Facelift

Author: Raelene Thomas on behalf of 6S Marketing

This blog post covers the new features of Google Analytics version 5, which was released in its BETA version in March of 2011. The article explains the new features and customization available in the tool, and how users make use of these aspects to their advantage. Raelene goes into detail about the reporting features that have been added, and the new insight that users can gain. The depth that this article explores Google Analytics is great for a beginner or intermediate user of the tool, as it uses language to clearly explain the features but goes into detail about the significance of new features as well so new users can appreciate this version of the tool that much more.

Rating: 5 hats

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Analytics

11 Google Analytics Tricks to Use for Your Website

Rating: 5 Hats

This article helps to underline the way that web analytics provides an abundance of data, but individuals do not necessarily know how to extract the most relevant numbers or information. It explains that many individuals only look at page views and number of visitors. There are eleven tricks that are offered to the reader in order to enhance their use of Google Analytics.

 The first is to set up goals, for example about conversion rates. This makes sense as a variety of objectives – corporate, marketing, etc. - are a part of a business’s success. There can also be goals set up for readers, best performing ads, and calls to action.

 Other tricks to maximize the useful data from Google Analytics include enabling site speed, site speed, real-time reporting (to find out about website visitors’ activities during a specific time). This article is extremely helpful because there are screenshots on how to enable all of these features, which is super helpful for a novice. 

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Analytics

Article: Web Analytics in Practice: Your online analytics strategy - how to get started?

Author: KAIZEN Analytics

This is a great article for those who are at a beginner level with analytics. It explains 6 factors one ought to consider when developing their analytics strategy (and why the strategy is so important to have in the first place!) There are some great links provided for free tools to conduct an analysis to get started with analytics, and learn more about how to develop an analytics strategy. There are clearly explained examples of 2 different approaches that can be used in setting objectives and goals, and how analytics can help to achieve those goals.

Rating: 5 hats

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Analytics

Title: 10 Fundamental Web Analytics Truths: Embrace 'Em & Win Big

Author: Avinash Kaushik

This blog article goes into detail and clarifies some "mistruths" about web analytics. Avinash goes into detail over scenarios and explains some applications of web analytics, through more tools than just Google Analytics. This article is slightly dated, so it explains analytics as a measurement tool as they were emerging in the market and developing in their complexity and insight. He goes into a great level of detail, but speaks at an educated yet still understandable tone. That makes this article very easy to understand, especially for a novice level analyst! 

Overall rating: 4.5 hats (due to slight dating)

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Analytics

6 Refreshing Alternatives to Google Analytics

By Paul Anthony, Web Distortion

Rating 4 Hats

A majority proportion of the internet community now use Google Analytics as a method of measurement; it’s ease of implementation and lack of cost have made it an essential analytics product.  But, there are a couple of other great analytics options available.  Paul Anthonly lists six of the best designed and freshest ones available.

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Analytics

HOW TO: Get Started With Google Analytics

By Meghan Peters, Mashable

Rating 4 hats

Great simple and concise guide on how to set up Google Analytics (GA).  Meghan explains how GA's measurement capabilities, using the dashboard, and examining datables and visualizations.  Since GA's functionalities are only superficially explained, the author has expressed interest in delving deeper into the full capabilities in the future.  

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Analytics

2011 Web Analytics Review

By Kissmetrics

Rating: 4 Hats

Global web usage trends is presented in an infographic below.  This was compiled from hundreds of thousands of websites across the globe that have participated in Google’s ongoing study of web browsing behavior.  The results of the study have been very insightful.  For example, global bounce rates and average time-on-site metrics are decreasing. 

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Analytics

Webinar: Reaching Your Goals with Analytics: Webinar follow-up

Rating: 4 hats

This webinar talks about one of the most fundamental analytics topics: how to translate your business objectives into measurable actions on your website? How to do data analysis? What are good trends to measure for websites without a shopping cart? How do we test alternate landing pages? Through this source you can watch the webinar and also check on some questions and answers about analytics.

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Analytics

Video: GA in 60 Seconds: Using Site Search

Rating: 4 hats

This short video provides information on how Google Analytics and Site Search can improve content discovery and landing page relevancy for your online advertising spend. You can also find about 89 video that created by Google Analytics on the page, which include topics such as Analytics & AdWords and Analytics for Agencies.

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Analytics

Case Study: PUMA Kicks Up Order Rate 7% with Insights from Google Analytics and Viget

Rating: 3.5 hats

This case study is an example of how Google Analytics and Viget help PUMA to overcome the challenges and achieve its online objectives. “PUMA has gained a detailed understanding of visitor behavior, enabling it to optimize its entire web site experience. For a global company that earned billions in revenue last year, these changes mean considerable gains.”

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Email Marketing

How A/B Split Testing Works

Use A/B Split Testing To Improve Your Email Marketing Campaigns

By MailChip.com

Rating: 4 hats

There may be a myriad of questions that arise in preparing to launch an email marketing campaign.  The only way to answer the questions is to experiment. The most common way to experiment is to run an A/B split test.  MailChimp provides a simple illustration that aids digestion:

The article informs that MailChimp's email optimizer gives users the ability to run A/B tests on subject lines, from names and send dates and send times.  MailChimp also provides provides A/B split test ideas.

[musemarketing-blog]

Email Marketing

5 Email Marketing Tips from MarketingSherpa Summit

By Darren Lancaster, GroupVine.com

Rating: 4 Hats

Daniel Lancaster distills the notes and ideas he gained from MarketingSherpa Email Summit into five tips that should be applied by email marketers.  It would have been even better if Darren had provided some examples and plan of action, but the crux of his message is nicely presented:

Clarity trumps persuasion – lose the marketing speak.  Email is a conversation, not an ad campaign so an appropriate voice must be used.

Plain text outperforms busy emails time and time again. Copy rich email with plain text beat out the graphics-driven email with single click actions by 46%. 

Make sure you have the 3 elements of a good email: capture, convince, close. Similar to creating awareness, enticing interest, and call to action.

Lazy people create email newsletters.   Individual readers want relevant content and opportunities for them.  Avoid congesting emails with irrelevant content to fill space.

Don’t get too distracted by social, email is still THE ubiquitous online channel. 96% of people polled were more willing to share their email address vs. only 12% of people willing to share their social handle.