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Measuring the success of anything is impossible
without a clear goal. Simple. Measuring the
success of a website, and using a web analytics
system to do it, is impossible without a rather
well considered series of goals. Not quite
so simple.
Identifying the “Big Goal” is
the easy part. The Big Goal is based on the
area of the website under consideration at
the moment. The portion of our website that
sells low cost items and takes credit cards
measures its success in income. The area on
the site dedicated to considered purchases
measures qualified sales leads. The customer
service area is after cost avoidance and increased
customer satisfaction. The human resources
bit hopes to attract more experienced potential
employees. These are fairly straightforward
objectives to quantify. optimising these site
areas requires a little digging.
A web analytics tool becomes much more effective
when each Big Goal is parsed into its various
components. Given the goal of bringing in more
and better sales leads, we slice the process
into discrete milestones:
Attract
Attention
Build
Desire
Engender
Contact
Evaluate
Quality
A web analytics tool can help determine which
method of getting the word out is bringing
in the most potential customers. But merely
investing more in the technique that generates
the most traffic will be harmful to the bottom
line unless that traffic is properly evaluated.
The end goal is qualified sales leads.
Offering a chance to win a Jaguar XJ will certainly
bring more traffic to our website. But we must
be sure that somebody who desires a " truly
sensuous driving experience" is also a likely
buyer of what we have on offer. Our first milestone
must be matched with the last to determine
the value of the first.
A web analytics system will help identify
which promotions bring in which prospects.
Once the sales team identifies the best prospects,
it's time for the web analytics tool to do
the work it does best: the bits in between.
Having identified which campaign brought in
the most qualified prospects - the ones we
want our sales people to spend the most time
with - the ones who are most likely to buy
- the focus can shift to the persuasion process.
From a given banner ad or link, how well are
we moving prospects from click to consideration?
How well do we move them from curious to interested
to desirous? A web analytics system can monitor
a series of tests to optimise the words, the
layout, the calls to action, etc., which lead
the best qualified to our sales representatives'
desks.
One test-landing page might focus on the low
cost of our offerings, another on the high
quality, while a third one describes the successes
other customers have enjoyed. Which of these
encourages the best-qualified visitor to click
deeper, learn more and, eventually, fill out
the form asking to speak to a representative?
Is it better to publish a large number of
benefits and let the prospect ask the sales
team for clarification? Or is it better to
publish detailed information online and answer
those questions in advance of the call? Which
produces the most sales calls with the most
qualified prospects?
Web analytics shines a light on the sales
cycle and allows us to quantify the steps.
The ability to run multiple, continuous, side-by-side
tests gives us the chance to try a multitude
of messages highlighting different features
and benefits, different offers, and different
interest generating approaches. Imagine the
time and cost of doing that across multiple
trade shows or magazine advertisements.
And yes, there are technologies that can automate
the whole procedure. Firms such as Touch Clarity
take it a step further, matching offers to
website behaviour. Rather than simply measuring
which landing page layouts and features encourage
the most qualified prospects to contact the
sales team, this system builds a profile of
each visitor in real-time and learns which
offer will spark the greatest interest from
that visitor.
The World Wide Web is starting to get more
interesting.
About the author
Jim Sterne will be hosting the first round
table on web analytics for the Knexus community,
Europe's leading corporate business club and
network. http://www.knexusgroup.com/.
London 16 November 2005.
Jim Sterne is an internationally known speaker
on electronic marketing and customer interaction.
A strategy consultant to multinational companies
and online companies, Sterne focuses his twenty
years in sales and marketing on measuring the
value of a website as a medium for creating
and strengthening customer relationships. Jim
is the Founder and Director of Target Marketing http://www.targeting.com/ |
