Google Analytics Launches New Features

Google Analytics announced today new product features that they will be launching in the next few weeks. Here are a few brief descriptions:

1. Increased goal completions. The days of only being able to implement 4 goals are over. Now you will have the ability to implement 20 goals; and be able to  assign specific number of viewed pages and/or time spent on site as a goal

2. Mobile websites will now be tracked regardless if the device runs Java Script or not. Mobile applications within the iPhone and Android will now be tracked through Google Analytics to understand how users are engaging with the application. Of course there will be additional coding required

3. Added advanced analysis features allows you to apply filters within the reports for easy analysis and drilling down into the data without having to export

4. Multiple custom variables will allow you to track and define visitors by specific attributes, interactions, and/or behaviors

5. The most attractive improvement that Google Analytics is launching is Intelligence. While reviewing your reports, Google Analytics will alert you when there have been substantial changes in metrics or trends within daily, weekly, or monthly reporting periods. You will also be able to customize and define your own alerts that you want Google Analytics to  monitor.

If you’d like to read more about the features in more depth, check out the Google Analytics Blog.

Web Analytics Wednesday in San Diego

What a success!

I’m happy to report that the co-sponsored event by Geary Interactive and Quantivo brought in some great individuals from all over San Diego county. We had a raffle drawing, where we gave away 2 books written by Eric Peterson and 2 $50 gift cards to the Apple store.

If you were unable to attend last night’s event, stay tuned as we plan our next event in the coming months!

Think About Optimizing…NOW!!

One question that I get asked when talking about site optimization is “when do you start planning a site optimization.”  My response is always the same:  as soon as the planning stage is complete.  A site optimization plan should be as well crafted as defining your KPIs, in order to minimize cost and maximizing visitor interaction. 

Another factor that a well crafted site optimization plan does is limiting the emotional factor on the analyst.  We all know that regardless of how well we plan a site, visitor behavior is something that is not easily determined.  As soon as the results are not as expected, our emotions take over and we tend to do anything to “fix” the problem.  Rather than being reactive to a situation, I like to take a proactive stance (having a Plan X), planning ahead on what to optimize.  Even if the results are favorable, you want to improve the quality of your traffic, while attracting a diverse number of visitors.  Remember that a static web site is bound to fail.

You might be thinking “OK, this is good, but what to optimize.”  What’s great about optimizing a site is that there are multiple points that can be used to improve the quantity and quality of traffic.  At a minimum, you should be looking at the following:

• The relationship between your media initiatives and your entry/exit points of your site, and look at what attracts or repels visitors when they are on the site.
• Look at the layout of your landing page and ask yourself “would I give out my personal information if I landed here?”  Ensure that your landing pages are not just relevant but that they convey a clear and concise message that entices visitors to move forward.
•  Look at the visitor experience that you’re providing  and look at modifying it by adding additional content, in order to not just attract new visitors, but also returning visitors as well. 

Thinking about an optimization plan before you launch a site is a way to “have in the ready“different options to attract not only returning visitors but a complete set of new visitors beforehand.  This allows you to spend more time analyzing your data and increase your site’s footprint.  What do you think?  Do you think about optimizing beforehand or once the results roll in?  Let’s get the discussion going.   

Geary Interactive Announces Three New Locations

Geary Interactive announced today it has expanded into Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle. These new markets extend Geary Interactive’s national reach and its promise to deliver real results to clients.

“We believe this growth highlights the success of our performance driven marketing model which holds us accountable for results,” said Andreas Roell, Geary Interactive’s board chairman and CEO. “Clients need marketing solutions that work and a team that can deliver. These offices will bring Geary Interactive’s digital marketing expertise to a whole new group of organizations.”

Already this year, Geary Interactive has been honored at San Diego’s #1 advertising agency, a fastest growing and largest privately held company, and ranked among the top B2B agencies.

To read the press release in its entirety, click here.

The Lovecraft angle: Fear in Marketing

I’ve been waiting for the moment in the recession when marketing articles start opening with HP Lovecraft quotes:

“That is not dead which can eternal lie / And with strange aeons even death may die.”

Ooops, wrong quote.   But in Anna Papadopoulos’ excellent article this week (Neuromarketing:  Why Fear Sells, Sex Doesn’t ), she begins with one of Lovecraft’s OTHER well-known maxiums:  The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear.

It’s an interesting article, especially for those of us who suspect that the practice of marketing is often armchair psychology (perhaps more Jung than Freud) mixed with applied economics.    In personal practice, I’ve observed that leading with the fear (YOU WILL DIE) vs the benefit/aspiration (YOU WILL GET THINGS/BE THINGS YOU WANT) (note: if this wasn’t the Geary blog my language might have been stronger there - we are dealing with primal drivers here, people) can indeed be very powerful - but can also trigger avoidance in your target.  And maybe that’s what horror writers know – fear in general, great.  Anything that makes you scared sticks with you, works on you.  All part of the death drive. Fear applied in a specific way to you – what?  Sorry, I can’t hear you over all the singing I’m doing to not pay attention to you.  Have I been to Perez Hilton yet today?   After all, how the heck did we GET into the economic messes we’re currently witnessing?  Not paying attention to the fear that is our credit card bills is definitely a factor.

Fear is the ultimate activator, no question.  After all, in the survival food chain, survival trumps reproduction (slightly).  But the trick is knowing how and when to inject the activation message in a susceptible moment.  For the ultimate fear card, I’ve sat in research with patients who were candidates for very serious medical therapies - and watched some move quickly into denial and rejection states when advertising suggested that they needed to take (x) action in order to live.  Highly motivating, yes.  But in the presence of true horror – fear made personal - the mind shuts down. Lovecraft understood that well.  After all, isn’t there always the point in his stories where everybody goes crazy with the overwhelming hopelessness of it all?   That’s a total lack of consumer motivation for you.

So how do us marketers use fear effectively (driver) rather than trigger avoidance?

Let’s consider projectability.  Vague horrors (”Is your food safe?  STORY AT 11″) can be considerably more palatable and intriguing than specific terrors (”You will die if you are not driving a Volvo”).  And the solution for the fear must be baked into the fear-inducing message - after all, we’re looking for solutions as consumers, not more things to worry about (with a strong product association).  I’ll argue that Global Warming didn’t ‘catch on’ as a general cause (too big! too scary!  must avoid!) until “An Inconvenient Truth” helped to frame the fear by having America’s favorite high school vice-principal stand-in (you know I’m talking to you, Al) tell us we COULD and WILL solve it.  Scared the hell out of us, sure, but the message of hope gave us the strength to carry on and drive home from the theatre.  And maybe turn off the lights we weren’t using when we got home. Now that’s activation.

So if you’re going to introduce a fear, think about the novel solution you’re proposing for the consumer.  And why they get to be closer to the aspirational self they want by being part of it.  (ah, there’s the sex.  Sort of).    After all, Lovecraft also said:  “I never ask a man what his business is, for it never interests me. What I ask him about are his thoughts and dreams.”

Speaking of which, thoughts?

I totally want to do an article about what marketers can learn from horror writers now.  Thanks Anna. 
Sarah

Omniture Summit: Geary Interactive is There

Geary Interactive is one of 2 finalists in the Omniture Developer Challenge. The application we created was a plug-in that brings search keywords, search engines and keyword rankings together with landing page data. This application will help media planners be more efficient by aggregating data into one dashboard. Geary’s own John Nguyen will be presenting the application to summit goers.

If you like what you see at the conference or want to see the search web analytics application for yourself, email info@gearyi.com.

Geary Interactive wins iMedia Financial Summit Shootout

As we recently mentioned two of Geary Interactive’s very own were sent to New York to compete against Crayon in a hotly contested agency shoot out at the iMedia Financial Summit.

Hot off the presses - Geary Interactive pulls off the win for their fantastic use of strategy and understanding of banking clients.

Check back for a video and write-up from iMedia about the event and congrats to the whole iMedia team for their hardwork.

Omniture wins ClickZ Award

Andreas Roell, Geary Interactive’s Chairman and CEO, was apart of the judging committee that awarded Omniture a ClickZ Excellence Award. Winning for their analytics platform, Omniture SiteCatalyst, the industry giant was hailed as “hands down the most innovative, ever-expanding platform in the space.”

 Congratulations Omniture for your win!

Geary Interactive Named a Top B2B Advertising Agency

Geary Interactive continues to prove it’s ability to provide digital marketing solutions for a wide variety of clients. Geary Interactive was named one of the top b2b agencies by B2B Magazine, and our newly acquired search marketing firm Fathom Online was also named a top search engine marketing vendor.

Why Geary Interactive is Excited About Merging with Fathom Online

With our announcement yesterday about our acquisition of Fathom Online, we at Geary Interactive thought we would share the top five reasons why excited about joining forces.

1. Search engine marketing is growing part of the online marketing mix, and Fathom has industry-leading expertise in this field.

2. Fathom has well-established relationships with all the biggies:  Google, Yahoo! and MSN.  Additionally, they have developed proprietary tools to help track and forecast market trends (Fathom Analytics and Keyword Price Index).

3. With this merger we are undeniably one of the few indepedent, integrated digital advertising agencies.

4.  We now have an full-service office in San Francisco which expands our national reach.

5. Fathom Online is as equally excited as Geary Interactive to capitalize on the projected growth of the interactive industry.

To put it lightly, we are ecstatic about this new partnership, and we cannot wait to move forward and utilize our combined industry know-how to maximize our clients’ campaigns.