How Can I Drive Performance without a Goal

Something that has been talked about in the Web Analytics industry long before I came along is how to make Web analytics actionable. There have been many articles and books written about remaining goal-driven when developing a new website or creating/implementing a strategic online campaign. As a biased analyst, this is something that seems logical to me. Yet, I often see others struggle with the idea.

Let me see if I can help clarify this type of idea. When it is time to launch a new website or acquisition campaign, what is the goal? What are you trying to accomplish at the end of the day? I think for lead and e-commerce sites this is a self-explanatory goal: to increase leads or increase online orders. What about those sites that do not have a lead form or Commerce store for transactions to take place? Well, that’s when it’s time to get creative and do some research to find some information about the visitors to your website. I think, and please correct me if I am wrong; at the end of the day it’s every business’s goal to increase revenue. If that can not be accomplished online, then find out what visitors do on your website that provides value to them making the transaction. Maybe it’s visiting a page on your website that provides information to that person or visitor.

When the call to action or desired action is unclear, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate your website goals. If there is nothing on the site that measures success, then something needs to change so that a success metric can be measured and ideally monetized. Everything on a website can be measured, and it’s time to take advantage of it if you are not doing so. What are some goals you have used to track the success of a web development project?

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.

Geary Interactive Acquires Fathom Online

Geary Interactive has acquired award-winning Fathom Online, a next-generation search engine marketing and technology services firm. The addition of Fathom strengthens Geary’s existing capabilities and produces one of only a few truly integrated, independent digital agencies. Moreover, Fathom Online advances Geary Interactive’s position in the industry to one of the largest independent agencies in terms of annualized billings.

Launched in 2002 and headquartered in San Francisco, Fathom Online is an acknowledged pioneer in search marketing. The firm’s advanced search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) services, as well as its comprehensive digital marketing technology suite, including its Keyword Price Index^® – a modeling tool, and Fathom Analytics – an on-demand marketing intelligence platform, optimize multi-channel, digital media advertising programs to cost-effectively drive business results for B2B, consumer and technology marketers.

“Search engine tactics are the most popular element of a digital marketing campaign. In order to effectively generate search demand and convert customers’ search clicks, the campaign must also include a strong integration with web development, paid and organic digital media planning and data analytics,” said Andreas Roell, president and CEO of Geary Interactive. “The combination of Geary and Fathom Online provides a compelling platform for today’s digital marketing landscape. Together, we offer powerful capabilities and deep relationships with publishers and engines, expanded end-to-end customized marketing solutions, a national presence and extensive industry category experience. Additionally, the combined entity has enhanced growth opportunities and a more diversified customer base, giving us a competitive edge.”

To read more about Geary’s acquisition of Fathom, click here.

Social Media Rules SXSW ‘08

Pulling down the window shade to shield my particularly-sensitive eyes (and head) from the intense Austin sun, I write this entry on the flight back from the 2008 South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive conference. Albeit a massive event with endless panels, events, and parties parties parties - there seemed to be one theme in particular that I encountered repeatedly over the past several days: social media. Most of the panels I attended revolved around these topics in one way or another - and pretty much 9/10 people I met from the conference were somehow involved in social media. Most were start-ups offering niche social networks or aggregation of social media (social networks, blogs, and video). I was pleased to encounter social media in a multitude of different situations as it is becoming a core interest and marketing concern for many Geary Interactive clients.

I attended one SXSW panel titled, “Social Marketing Strategies Metrics, Where Are They?” lead by Tom Parish of Tom Parish Inc, Brian Magierski of BSG, Michael Smith of USAA, Ynema Mangum of BMC Software, and Rohit Bhargava of Ogilvy. The only conclusion that I was able to leave the room with was that there basically is no consensus as to social media metrics should even be. The perceived value of social media is user engagement from a qualitative perspective rather than quantitative. Rather than counting number of visits, we should be considered with amount of time spent on the site/blog. And not only that, but what is the level and quality of user contribution? Are they generating content that adds to the value of the site? Therefore “traditional” online analytics methods and metrics are inherently flawed for social media measurement.

Although social media currently resides at the periphery for most online campaigns — I see it rapidly approaching the center. And as it does, there will most certainly be new and different analytics methods developed to better capture the essence of what makes social media efforts a success — or failure. I’m also curious to see how all of the social networking aggregators come into play here and how they effect analytics numbers for the sites they are pulling from.

However the issue of getting C level executives to even consider entering the realm of social media dominated the panel discussion. I was surprised and simultaneously grateful that at Gearyi we have such progressive clients, whom give us the opportunity to utilize newer and more innovative online strategies like social media. While social media might not make sense for all industries or clients, it’s going to be tough for most organizations to ignore the impact that social media is having on how users interact with each other and the web. That interaction may be the very thing that the C level execs find most intimidating — suddenly the users have a voice, and a very strong one at that. Therefore transparency and moderation now surface as primary concerns. This brings us to another consideration for social media ventures: moderation.

In the process of developing community sites, one resource that is often overlooked is a community manager/moderator. At least one, living, breathing human being will be required to manage the community site. But who is best fit to take on that daunting role? SXSW panelists Miles Sims and Jake McKee explained several options: You could hire someone internally (or with your agency) who does this as part of many other job requirements and responsibilities. But, chances are, that unless the resource can be fully dedicated to managing the community, you can rest assured that moderation on the community will be very minimal.

This might work for more some communities, however, there are many others that require constant moderation to keep things from becoming unruly or even illegal. In the case that intense moderation is required, it’s best to allocate more than one, full-time dedicated community managers to the site. These managers can be internal employees, agency reps, or even volunteers from the site itself.

There is also the option of having the community platform provider manage the community. For example, Small World Labs offers community management among their many other services at different levels and pricing depending on the requirements and size of the community. If it were my community, my top concern in this situation might be the level of brand knowledge that can be provided. Agencies and clients work hard to build partnerships based on a solid, mutual understanding of a particular brand. It could be quite risky to bring in a third party for community management when that party may not have such intimate knowledge of the brand’s identity.

One way or another, it’s crucial to have a community deployment AND management strategy in place early-on. You can help steer the community in the right direction and pre-empt extensive moderation is to provide community members with a clear understanding of what the purpose and/or mission of the community is. Users are more likely to contribute (and contribute quality content) when they feel as though they have a “job” to do as part of a greater effort or movement. Let them know what you are hoping to achieve with their content and why their voice matters. It’s not enough to simply create a community for your website and to hope that users will figure out what it is they are supposed to be doing there.