Analytics as a narrative
Image by Chris Haslup
Analytics
11.01.2010
Far too often, numbers are thrown around without enough context to give the numbers meaning. The practice of analytics seeks to uncover, develop and interpret the context of the data to make sound decisions from the numbers. Analytics is not reporting but rather a storytelling process in which data is gathered, analyzed and reported on to compose the narrative and to inform decision making. The goal of analytics is to help businesses make decisions based on their success measures and objectives.
The secret to successful analytics is clearly defining a desired outcome. This may seem obvious, but marketing campaigns and websites are too often developed and launched without a clear objective. When you know your goal, an analyst is able to determine what needs to be measured to ensure that the campaign or website achieves that goal.
Telling the tale
The storytelling process begins with data collection. Once that data is gathered, the analytics narrative can begin to develop. At this point, it is good to review the goals and objectives to ensure that the metrics chosen are actually measuring the successes or shortcomings of the project. The metrics are what tell the story. For instance, if your goal is for a user to submit a contact form, analytics can tell you the percent of users who completed the form. You can also compare the interactions of users who submitted the form versus those who did not to determine if a certain interaction is more likely to encourage users to complete the action. As you dig deeper into the analysis, a clear picture of your website’s effectiveness will emerge.
After the data is gathered and analyzed, the next step is to summarize the story by building reports. The reports are a summary of the story, providing all key information needed to make decisions that will promote a desired outcome. The report should provide information that helps determine the most effective marketing campaigns—which landing pages provide the highest goal conversion or where your users are coming from. Over time, trends will develop, allowing marketers to refine and optimize campaigns.
Everyone wins
The beautiful thing about analytics is that it promotes continuous improvement. This aspect of analytics ensures that marketers are telling the most compelling stories to the right market. Analytics allows consumers to tell marketers what they like and the story becomes a dialogue. Through this process of analytics, everyone can win. Marketers target the right consumers, and consumers are able to quickly find what they want.
