Number Stories: Win Friends and Influence HiPPOs with an Effective Measurement Strategy
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Transcript of Number Stories: Win Friends and Influence HiPPOs with an Effective Measurement Strategy
Number Stories
Mike Powers Director of Electronic Communications
Indiana University of PennsylvaniaConfab Higher Ed 2015
Win friends and influence HiPPOs with an effective measurement strategy
@mjpowers
Measurement Strategy: Overview
Content strategists are storytellers.
Effective measurement begins and ends in
storytelling.
How do numbers turn into stories? How do stories
turn into action?
Managing effective measurement
1. Plan for measurement
2. Collect data effectively
3. Present persuasively
Planning
Why measure? To answer questions about our content
Questions come from your goals
#squadgoals
#squadgoals
#plutogoals
#minigoals
Image by Pascal Pinck
Higher Ed Goals
Higher Ed Goals
1. Get students
Higher Ed Goals
1. Get students
2. Help students, faculty, alumni succeed
Higher Ed Goals
1. Get students
2. Help students, faculty, alumni succeed
3. Get money to keep doing 1 and 2
Creating the Plan
PLANNING
What’s the story?1. What are your goals?
2. What is your content?
3. How will this content achieve those goals?
4. What would success look like?
5. What would failure look like?
6. What measures would show success or failure?
7. What are your targets?
Example: Promoting a new MA in Content Strategy
Example: Promoting a new MA in Content Strategy
1. What are your goals?1. Bring in enough students over the next four years
to make program viable
2. Acquire a reputation for excellence in CS that brings in students and helps them find employment
2. What is your content?• New microsite about the program
• Press releases about the program, faculty
• Blog posts about CS written by faculty members
• Presentations by faculty and student at CS conferences
• Online ads
3. How does content achieve your goals?
3. How does content achieve your goals?
Ad
Blog
Earned Media
3. How does content achieve your goals?
Come to Microsite
Ad
Blog
Earned Media
3. How does content achieve your goals?
Come to Microsite
Learn More
Ad
Blog
Earned Media
3. How does content achieve your goals?
Come to Microsite
Learn More
Ad
Blog
Earned Media
Request Info
Request Visit
Apply
4. What does success look like?
Image by velkr0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/velkr0/
4. What does success look like?
Image by velkr0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/velkr0/
• Highly qualified
• Diverse
• Likely to succeed
5. What does failure look like?
Image by Andrew Allio https://www.flickr.com/photos/allio/
5. What does failure look like?
Image by velkr0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/velkr0/
• Not qualified
• All the same
• Unable to afford the program
6. What measures would show success or failure?
Enrollment? Test Scores? Diversity Data?Image by gozalewis https://www.flickr.com/photos/gozalewis/
Interim Goals
A. Do prospects understand content?
B. Does content communicate value propositions?
C. Does content appeal to/engage prospects?
D. Does content encourage conversions?
A. Do prospects understand your content?
Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/
Readability scores
Screen capture of HemingwayApp.com
Make sure all content meets a set readability standard.
Cloze test
Test sample content for readability with typical users.
Inherent Value TestUser testing technique to understand if your site communicates your value/values.
Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/l-i-n-k/3654390818/
B. Does your content appeal to and engage your prospects?
Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dm-set/4200811849/
Bounce Rate
Time on Page
Return Visits
Social Media Engagement
New Users Pageviews
C. Does content encourage conversions?• Inquiries
• Visits
• Applications
• Page value
Home Page Admissions B.S. in Math
Visit Campus Visit Sign-Up Form
Thanks for Registering
Home Page Admissions B.S. in Math
Visit Campus Visit Sign-Up Form
Thanks for Registering
$100
Home Page Admissions B.S. in Math
Visit Campus Visit Sign-Up Form
Thanks for Registering
$100$20$20
$20$20$20
You can’t measure everything.
Choose wisely, using your goals.
7. What are your numeric targets?
• If you want 50 students (donations, etc.)
• How many applications?
• How many inquiries?
• How many web sessions (visits)?
50 Students
If 10% of applications result in
1 matriculated student …
?? apps × 10% yield
= 50 students
?? apps × 10% yield
= 50 students
500
???? inquiries × 20% yield
= 500 applications
???? inquiries × 20% yield
= 500 applications
2,500
??????? sessions × 1.2% goal conv. rate
= 2,500 inquiries
??????? sessions × 1.2% goal conv. rate
= 2,500 inquiries
208,334
Or, profile the visits you want
Applicants All Users Goal
Visits to Site 5 2 3Avg. Session
Length 9:34 2:13 3:21
Add those goals to your plan, and launch
Data Collection
414 Measures
You probably have years of Google Analytics data
at your fingertips.
Google Analytics Isn’t Enough• Data for context
• A place to put it all
• Sustainability
Context
DATA COLLECTION
Context
Context
Football Game
Football Game
Football Game
Football Game
Football Game
? ? ?
Things happen that are not online• Mailing arrived in mailboxes?
• Day off in high school?
• Alumni returned for homecoming?
Keep a journal of on- and off-line events• Annotation in Google Analytics
• Running list in Evernote or other software
Keep a journal of on- and off-line events• Annotation in Google Analytics
• Running list in Evernote or other software
Keep a journal of on- and off-line events• Annotation in Google Analytics
• Running list in Evernote or other software
Keep a journal of on- and off-line events• Annotation in Google Analytics
• Running list in Evernote or other software
Daily Screen Caps (with Dates)
A Place to Put It All
DATA COLLECTION
A place to put it all
Why?!
Context often means non-analytics data• How many applications?
• How many showed up for an event?
• How many students haven’t yet registered for spring?
• How much did we spend on advertising/promotion?
A master spreadsheet gathers
• non-sampled data and
• non-analytics data
in the same place.
Sampling
Sampling
Sampling
Sampling
A place to put it all
A place to put it all
A place to put it all
A place to put it all
A place to put it all
A place to put it all
A Note on Correlation
Football Game
Football Game
Football Game
Football Game
Football Game
IE Market Share vs. US Murders
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
12,000
13,000
14,000
15,000
16,000
17,000
18,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Internet Explorer Market Share Murders
Data from FBI: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/, W3Schools: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
Correlation is not causality
Correlation is not the absence of causality
Correlation is not the absence of causality
Football Game
Football Game
Football Game
Football Game
Football Game
Link tagging can help you move beyond correlation
in some instances
Google URL Builder
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867?hl=en
Google URL Builder
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867?hl=en
http://confabevents.com/events/ higher-ed?utm_source=twitter&
utm_medium=social-media&utm_content=test&
utm_campaign=number-stories
Next Stop: bit.ly
http://bit.ly/1hmQBim
Use this technique for• E-mail (no need to shorten)
• Social media
• Text messages
• Print ads
• QR codes (!)
Then look for the traffic in Google Analytics
Sustainability
DATA COLLECTION
Sustainability
If you can’t sustain data collection, you won’t answer your questions.
10 minutes for analytics
Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/58827557@N06/15479719427/
Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/editor/1252393940/
Use student workers
Automate with Google Sheets & GA Add-on
Or with Google Sheets & Super Metrics Add-on
Take a one-month sample
Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dafnecholet/5374200948/`
Look at less
Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/matley0/2694746491/
Reporting
Reporting on Analytics
• Focus
• Tell a story with data
Focus
REPORTING
0
400
800
1,200
1,600
1/16/2011 1/23/11 1/30/2011 2/6/2011 2/13/2011
Web Sessions Campus Tours
0
400
800
1,200
1,600
1/16/2011 1/23/11 1/30/2011 2/6/2011 2/13/2011
Web Sessions Campus Tours
• Focus on just a few measures
• Use them in comparison
Design effective charts
Edward Tufte
Maximize “Data Ink”
Use length, not angles to represent values
Minimize “Chart Junk”
Show Data in Comparison
Story
REPORTING
Our number stories are stories about our
content and how people use it.
Source: http://mayaeilam.com/2012/01/01/the-shapes-of-stories-a-kurt-vonnegut-infographic/
Source: http://mayaeilam.com/2012/01/01/the-shapes-of-stories-a-kurt-vonnegut-infographic/
Source: http://mayaeilam.com/2012/01/01/the-shapes-of-stories-a-kurt-vonnegut-infographic/
Source: http://mayaeilam.com/2012/01/01/the-shapes-of-stories-a-kurt-vonnegut-infographic/
The structure of the stories we’ll tell
1. Here’s where we were
2. Then we changed x
3. Here’s what happened
4. Here’s what we need to do next
Example• 40% of new students didn’t bring the right materials
to orientation, even though it was on the website
• We rewrote that content and provided a checklist
• This fall, only 20% of students didn’t bring the right materials to orientation
• Next, we’ll look at the way this content is labeled
Example• We’ve had an increase in students who start an
application but don’t complete it.
• We increased the number of reminder e-mails we send them.
• But—traffic from e-mail actually dropped afterward.
• Next, we’ll cut back on the number of e-mails and make the ones we do send more personalized.
Wrap Up
1. Plan for measurement• Understand your goals
• Understand how your content gets you there
• Use that analysis to find a small number of appropriate measures
• Set numeric targets
2. Collect data effectively
• Collect contextual data
• Organize your measurements centrally
• Have a plan to sustain data collection
3. Present persuasively
• Focus
• Tell a Story
Questions?