Google Analytics (GA) is a remarkable resource but too many arts marketers aren’t able to leverage everything it has to offer. It’s not from a lack of trying or desire; in many cases, GA can simply seem overwhelming; fortunately, Google rolls out a seemingly endless stream of improvements and over the past year, many of those have been geared to one-click-simple changes; case in point, activating demographics and interest reports. Previously, this little gem required a slight modification to your tracking code which you then had to upload to your site (and there’s still an option for that via the “Admin>Properties>Property Settings” admin panel which will provide a boost to the data) but you can now activate with a single button click. It’s so straightforward, it won’t take more than 30 seconds to complete. Start off by logging into your GA account…
Navigate to the “Reporting” admin panel. Open the “Audience” menu item. Go to the “Demographics>Overview” admin panel. Click the blue “Enable” button. That’s it.
If all went according to plan, you should see something along the lines of a message saying “Congratulations! You have successfully enabled the Demographic Reports. While you can access them now, it may take up to 24 hours before there is data available in these reports.” Moving forward, you can return to the Demographics reports over the next few days and begin to see data trickle in. After a few weeks, you’ll be amazed at how much useful data was slipping by under your radar. If you’re curious about where the data comes from, the difference in standard and custom reports, and how Google defines the ready-made demographic dimensions head over to the related Analytics’ help page, which is genuinely helpful and provides a wealth of info that users with a wide range of understanding can grasp.
Knowing what visitors are searching for at your site is one of the most useful metrics you have to tweak content, adjust navigation architecture, and improve conversion but by default, Google Analytics (GA) does not track visitor searches. So even though you may notice the default menu item for Site Search via your Reporting admin panel, don’t be surprised if you pop in and see a metrics big goose egg staring back at you.
At this point, you’ll want to open a new browser tab or window and go to your website. Once you’re there, perform a site search using your default search tool (it doesn’t matter what you search for). What you’re looking for here is the query parameter in the search results URL, GA needs to track your search data.��The query parameter is located between the question mark and the equal sign; typically, it is a single letter such as “s” or “q” and in the example above, it is the former. However, it’s perfectly fine if the query parameter is a complete word such as “term, search, or query.”
Enter the query parameter. Click the “Save” button. Give it a 24 hours or so to take effect but once it does, you’ll notice those Site Search admin panels in the Reporting menu will begin producing some metrics fruit you can turn into sweet, sweet #GoogleJuice. If you’re wondering about the “site search Tracking” option, it’s worth mentioning here that if you have a complex search functionality that includes the ability to refine site searches, you’ll want to consider activating this option. You’ll need to enter the internal query category variables; GA has more info on what those are and how to enter them into this field via their Set Up Site Search.��That’s it, pencils down. When combined with activating demographics and interest reports, you have two very powerful and infinitely useful tools at your disposal to begin converting data into action.
#ClickClickDone #NAMPC filtering your own visits 1/5nampc.ArtsHacker.com
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One of the most fundamental enhancements you should make to your organization’s Google Analytics (GA) account is to create a filtered view that excludes all traffic from employees regularly accessing the site from work and/or personal computers. Doing so will provide a far more accurate picture for how your users flow through your site thereby allowing you to make necessary adjustments. Regardless of your GA skill level, this is super easy to setup and will take you less than 5 minutes.
#ClickClickDone #NAMPC filtering your own visits 2/5nampc.ArtsHacker.com
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Google the phrase “what is my IP address” and you’ll find the answer. Keep the IP address handy in a separate browser tab.
#ClickClickDone #NAMPC filtering your own visits 3/5nampc.ArtsHacker.com
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Log into your Google Analytics account and navigate to the “Admin” screen. In the “View” column, click the “Filters” option.
#ClickClickDone #NAMPC filtering your own visits 4/5nampc.ArtsHacker.com
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Click the “New Filter” button (easy, right?).
#ClickClickDone #NAMPC filtering your own visits 5/5nampc.ArtsHacker.com
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Select “Create new Filter.” Give the filter a name.�Tip: make it painfully obvious for the benefit of anyone figuring this out later. Select “Predefined.” Select “Exclude.” Select “traffic from the IP address.” Select “that are equal to.” Paste the IP address from Step 1. Click “Save.”�Tip: don’t trust yourself to type it in correctly, play it safe and go with copy/paste.�FYI: the IPv6 is a special type of IP address and if for some odd reason your IP address seems really long, then this is the option you need, but for most folks, you can ignore it. If you want to add additional IP addresses to the filter, such as your personal notebook or Wi-Fi enabled device, from home or a coffee shop you visit frequently, go back to Step #3 then rinse and repeat with the new IP address. Pro Insight: add IP addresses from anyone in the office that regularly visits the site for work related browsing. Bear Trap: do not include IP addresses from cellular networks or you’ll end up filtering out hundreds or thousands of legitimate views from everyone on that network.
One item often overlooked when setting up a Google Analytics account is whether or not to include the www or non-www version of the URL as the preferred domain. Preceding the domain name in a URL, www (pronounced “dub-dub-dub”) can inadvertently turn into a thorn in your side by way of inaccurate metrics if you haven’t one version or the other for your preferred domain. Fortunately, this is super easy to put in place but it will require you to make adjustments in both your Google Analytics (GA) and Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) accounts. Before you get started, you’ll want to confirm with your current web host which version is set up as the primary domain name. We won’t go into a discussion about which version is better and for now, rest assured that you can’t make a wrong choice (hint: check your analytics to see which version site visitors use most often) Whichever option is in place, you should have the opposite set up as a redirect; i.e. www redirects users to the non-www version and vice versa.
Check the value entered into the “Default URL” field and make sure the domain name matches the version you’re using for your primary domain per your web provider/ web host’s confirmation. Note: if you don’t already have your GA account connected to your GWT account, you’re missing out. You can verify if you have the accounts connected from the same admin panel, just scroll to the bottom of the page and look for the “Webmaster Tools Settings” section. If you don’t have a version set for enabled views, you can make that change here.
Google Webmaster Settings At this point, you may need to switch over to your GWT account if you don’t already have both www and non-www versions of your site set up in GWT. You’ll absolutely want to do that before getting started but keep in mind, if you need to add one of those versions, you’ll need to complete GWT’s verification process and to that end, having access to your website’s sFTP /FTP to add the verification file (my preferred method) will make life much easier. Conversely, you can ask your web provider/host to do this for you but that will add some time to the process. If this is the case in your scenario, you’ll want to stop and complete that process before continuing on to the next steps in the process.
At the top of the page, you’ll see the “Preferred Domain” section, check the needed option. To that end, I don’t recommend opting for the “Don’t set a preferred domain” selection, although not a show-stopper, you’ll be better off selecting the option that matches whatever your web provider/host has set up as your primary domain name. That’s it, pencils down. In the end, the good news here is if you ever need to update your primary domain to use either www or non-www, you can always go back and edit these settings accordingly.
CeciDadisman
What you really need to know and how to get started.
Why thissession?
Source: Capacity Interactive
Source: Capacity Interactive
Key Terminology
If you’ve only got 5
minutes...
Landing PagesIs your marketing driving people to the right pages?
AcquisitionHow are people getting to your site?
Social MediaHow many of your site’s visitors are coming from social?
If you’ve only got 15 minutes...
Creating dashboards
A note about exit pages and bounce rates.
Marc van BreeTracking your sales and marketing performance
@mcmvanbree | mcmvanbree.com
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Chicago Symphony Orchestra Austin Opera Chorus Austin My Munchkin Music OvertureWP Charfen, NetSpend
What I’ll coverEcommerce set up: what to expect
Cross-domain tracking: what it is and why you should care
Google Analytics IRL: gaining marketing insights
Special bonus: omne trium perfectum
1. Enable Ecommerce in your Google Analytics settings
2. Optional: Enable Enhanced Ecommerce
Getting Started
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Google Analytics doesn’t just start tracking ecommerce. You have to enable it in your settings. Enhanced ecommerce settings are optional, as well as the checkout labeling.
Add the codeTo collect ecommerce data from a website, you'll need to add code that sends the transaction and item data to Google.
That’s things like: item name, quantity, price, SKU, tax, shipping, etc.
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You also have to ensure you have added the correct code. 3 types of code: Google Analytics, Universal Analytics, Google Tag Manager. Find out more on ArtsHacker.
Integrated vs. 3rd Party
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Important to know how your ticketing provider works: is it integrated and hosted on your domain, or is it a 3rd party site on another domain Different providers offer different solutions. Tessitura, for example, does both.
Visit to third-party ticketing site ChipTix sets a cookie.
Source: yummy.comMedium: referralCampaign: n/a
Visit to yummy.com thank you page sets a cookie.
Source: ChipTix.comMedium: referralCampaign: n/a
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A GA cookie contains information like source, medium and campaign Without cross-domain tracking, the GA cookie gets reset every time you move from one domain to another This will render your ecommerce data nearly useless
Here’s how it looks with cross-domain tracking The cookie remains intact throughout the ticket buying experience This becomes important for your data
Withoutcross-domain
Me no pass cookie, me no has data#sadtrombone
Me pass cookie,me has data#omnomnomnom
Withcross-domain
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Without No data on where your sale originated: no source, no medium, no campaign No proper ROAS data for your advertising efforts No data on the checkout process effectiveness No data on customer behavior before the sale With Complete data on where your sale originated: down to the keyword terms Calculate your exact ROAS See where your customers drop off in the checkout process See what your customers do before the sale: check out the seating map, read the program notes?
You are not a developer. Don’t waste time.
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If this looks like gibberish to you; don’t waste your time on it. Even for an amateur enthusiast like me, this is too hard.
You are not alone. Get help.
Reach out to your ticketing provider
Invest in a developer
Remember the basics
I am here with you.
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Reach out to your ticketing provider Other clients may have successfully implemented cross-domain ecommerce tracking It is in their best interest to help you sell more tickets Invest in a developer Hire someone how knows how Google Analytics cookies work and how you can capture, use and manipulate that data The Google Analytics code is in JavaScript Remember the flow Ecommerce: you need to capture info after checkout: transaction and items in the transaction Cross-domain: the cookie needs to stay intact from your site to the third-party site and back
Google Analytics IRL*Inside an email marketing campaign with Google Analytics
*In Real Life
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What follows is an example of a 72-hour offer for Turandot tickets marketed through email (and some social)
Email Details(Remember, you won’t find email opens in Google Analytics)
SubjectSave 20% off Turandot in the next 72 hours!
List segment“No Turandot ticket yet”
Unique open rate16.4% (1,931 opens)
Unique click through2.3% (272 clicks)
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You still want to look at your email metrics, as Google Analytics won’t tell you open rates for example
Always tag your linksSimply visit the online Google Analytics URL Builder tool
1. Source2. Medium3. Campaign
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Tagging your links in email is crucial. Without it, email links become the dreaded “direct” traffic in your reports. Source, medium and campaign are required. Need more data? Like, what link drives more action/conversion, you can use “content” to mark individual links.
Traditional ticketing software results(sales report from Paciolan)
When looking through a regular sales report from the ticketing software, based on the promo code, these are the results we achieved.
But we’ll tell you a bigger story…Notice how total online revenue is higher than expected
Paciolan reported only
$5,822.40
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Looking at Google Analytics, however, tells you a different story! There’s more revenue than meets the eye!
Remember, selected seats...The campaign delivered 39 regularly priced tickets at an additional $1,770.50* in revenue
* Unlike previous screen, product revenue does not include taxes and fees ($32.00 total).
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The offer was for “selected” seats. What we found was that people also bought “regular” tickets (without the discount) for the show. That’s an additional $1770 in revenue from this email we wouldn’t have caught without ecommerce tracking.
There’s more!We have a second source and medium in the campaign…
Direct sales from Facebook post
and ad
A role for Facebook
Revenue = $107.50CPM = $0.48ROAS = $9.78
A quick accompanying post and 2-day sidebar ad test run.
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We boosted the organic post with a quick, two-day sidebar ad campaign We broke the bank and spent a whopping $11, while we got 23K impressions. That’s a dirt cheap CPM of $0.48. Based on the reported revenue in Google of $107.50, we made $9.78 for every dollar spent on advertising. P.S. This was before the “promoted post” era.
But wait, there’s even more! Let’s talk Multi-Channel Funnels and Assisted Conversions #imsoexcited
Our “72HOURS” campaign can be an “Assist
Interaction”
3x Assist Interactionsat an additional $215in revenue
Reporting also available:1. Number of days before purchase2. Number of visits before purchase
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Why did I not include “Direct” traffic as “Assist Interactions”? In the Multi-Channel Funnels reports, if a person converts on your site during a "direct" visit, the conversion is attributed to the "direct" channel. This differs from other Google Analytics reports in which the conversion is attributed to the previous non-direct campaign or source, if there is one.
Total “72 Hour” campaign revenueA more comprehensive picture with Google Analytics
$8,771.20 + (Reported in Paciolan: online, phone, and box office sales)- - - - - - - - - -$1,770.50 + (Additional reported in Google Analytics: regular online sales)- - - - - - - - - -$215.00 (Additional reported in Google Analytics: “assist interactions”)
- - - - - - - - - -$10,756.70 (Total revenue reported across systems*)* While close, the Google Analytics data was not completely consistent with Paciolan data. Fine tuning and calibrating is always part of the analytics and measurement process; next steps include eliminating those points that skew data
A quick word on Google AdWords1. Sign up for Google Grants for
Nonprofits #likeyesterday2. Connect your Google Analytics
account with AdWords for best data and keyword intelligence
3. Monitor your results
4. Adjust your campaigns (and apply lessons to your website as well)
Turandot at Long Center
Impr.: 1,527Clicks: 86CTR: 5.63%
Puccini’s Turandot
Impr.: 1,227Clicks: 67CTR: 5.46%
“Turandot at Long Center”delivers
most traffic
A testing playgroundMost marketers will stop here
Turandot in Austin, Texas
Impr.: 353Clicks: 7CTR: 1.98%
…but don’t stop!Impressions and clicks aren’t everything!
“Puccini’s Turandot”
delivers more revenue
‘til you get enough!
3 Closing Tips#somuchtotellyousolittletime
#1 Naming Conventions. Don’t stray.
Google will differentiate between upper case and lower case. Stick with lower case.
Be consistent
Think categories
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* Use “email” not “Email” * Don’t use “mailchimp” one time and “email-marketing” another for the same source * Medium “post” can be used for source Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media post. A campaign name can span many different sources and media.
#2 Use views and filters.
Keep one “raw data” view without filters.
When you add or change a filter, your data will change starting that day.
For cross-domain, display the full URL
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* Keep one “raw data” view without any filters. * Remember, when you change a filter, your data will change on the day you make the change. Not retroactively. * For cross-domain tracking, add a filter to display the FULL URL, so that you know what pages are your 3rd party ticketing site.
#3 Track offline. Like a rockstar.
You can track non-digital, outdoor or print advertising.
