CapitalGig

Last year at Blogworld, I attended a session entitled, “Just the Numbers: Understanding Analytics” with Google’s Avinash Kaushik. It was an outstanding discussion and Kaushik is a terrific speaker. Not only is he brilliant, he is super nice and even hung around to answer questions from those who flocked to meet him after his presentation.

Kaushik’s blog, Occam’s Razor, is a must read for anyone looking to crack the Web analytics nut. After all, it’s all about metrics, right? In fact, I hear this ALL the time: “Dave, I get the Web, but I can’t seem to sell it to those above me. All they care about is the return on investment (ROI).”

I agree. Some things are fairly quantifiable like traffic referrals, page views, media download numbers, and blog rankings. However, other things aren’t as easily measurable such as specific actions that may result from those who read a blog post, watch a YouTube video or join a Facebook group.

Kaushik is currently traveling and sharing some of his latest thoughts. At a recent stop last week in Columbus, Ohio, Kaushik spoke with roughly 200 including marketing execs from Procter & Gamble, Victoria’s Secret, Coca-Cola and Timberland. Advertising Age covered his remarks and ran this piece, Google’s ‘Analytics Evangelist’ Explains Why Websites ‘Suck’.

(As a side, ironically, the article is no longer available on the AdAge site. A quick search for it yielded several results of those who posted on it such as Joe Marchese, Shel Holtz, and HotelMarketing.com - and they all link back to the original AdAge article page.  So much for analytics here!  Good thing I made a hard copy because I wanted to share it on Tuesday night with the students in my class.  For you younger readers, confused by what a “hard copy” might be, I suggest you check out Wikipedia.)

During his comments, Kaushik explained that the reason why so many Websites “suck” is because of ”Hippos” or the ”Highest Paid Person’s Opinion.”  Hippos may see something they like online or read about the latest Internet trend in the Wall Street Journal and then jump to a “Hey, we need that!” approach without considering site goals or purpose. 

Instead, Kaushik suggests that when developing sites, marketers should get away from the “what” and focus more on the “why.” One way is to engage consumers and assess their needs via brief online surveys.  He recommends asking questions such as:  Who is coming to your website? Why are they there? How are you doing? What do you need to fix?

This is right on. We often ask clients, “What is the business challenge you are trying to solve?” Once that’s determined, we can identify the best digital strategy to employ in an effort to tackle it. When the obstacles are clearly defined, then the solutions are the ultimate measure of success!

In today’s Fortune Magazine, David Kirkpatrick asks ”Is Facebook worth your time?“ He argues that many adults probably won’t find utility in the social network and need a reason to sign up. 

One reason, he suggests, is the “news feed” which is a running list of what your friends have been up to since you last checked in.  Agreed, that’s pretty useful.  I value my friends, which means that I value their opinions and am interested in their activities.  So, for me, it’s a passive way to keep up with them in a fast-paced digital world.

For example, in my feed today I saw some terrific photos that friends uploaded from the Papal visit to the White House earlier this week, found out that 20 of my friends and I are all attending the same conference in June, saw a congratulatory note from one friend to another for a job well done, and learned about three new groups that had formed on issues where I have interest.

I recently saw an ad on Facebook asking viewers of NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” to sign an online petition to convince the network execs to change their decision to cancel the show.  As a fan, I have FNL listed among my favorites on my profile and assume the ad appeared as a result.  So, I obliged and added my name to the list of supporters. 

In addition to other online efforts to save the show, fans mailed in thousands of plastic footballs to the studio.  The network got the message and shortly thereafter, I was pleased to read about NBC’s agreement with DIRECTV to share production costs thus ensuring the show’s survival for a third season.  From the release…

In response to an evolving media marketplace and the changing needs of its advertisers, NBC Universal has created a more innovative, client-centric approach to its traditional Upfront presentation.

I  never would have known about any of that without Facebook.  Sure, this is a trivial example when compared to much more important global issues and I do agree that there are a lot of meaningless, fun and silly apps on Facebook (SuperPoke, I am looking in your direction).  I have certainly installed and uninstalled more than my share.  Read: Please, no more “Friends for Sale” or “Knighthood” invites!  However, I merely mention it to make the larger point that there is some utility there, as well.

Back to the question, “Is it worth it?”  As for me, the answer is yes.  Honestly though, I think the real answer depends on the user.  Kirkpatrick states the obvious here …

For the News Feed to work properly though, you need to have a fair number of Facebook friends and you need to regularly do things inside Facebook. And it is on that score that many adults fall down.

Of course, in order to benefit from the knowledge of others, one needs to know and engage with “others” (and not in a LOST sorta way!)

Seriously, nothing is useful if you don’t invest some time in it – whether it’s a face-to-face conversation, a phone call, a letter, an email or online in Facebook or Twitter. For anyone looking to connect, one needs to engage, find community and participate.

What he misses here is the movement toward social media aggregators (FriendFeed, Lijit, SocialThing) and OpenID that enables content to be shared between platforms and not limited to one site or the other. In this approach, the connection becomes more about the medium rather than the specific source site.

Kirkpatrick seems to criticize Facebook’s utility throughout the entire article, but concludes that for those looking to stay connected, it’s worth a “dive in.”

Well, it’s not just about diving in, you need to move your arms and legs in order to swim!