Potential of AI (Generative AI) in Business: Learnings and Insights
Sept 20 2012 ona show me the numbers
1. Show
me
the
numbers:
Grow
your
business
with
metrics
Susan
Mernit
Oakland
Local/House
of
Local.org
September
2012
ONA#2012
2. What
we’re
discussing
• How
can
I
look
at
core
metrics
and
use
them
to
grow
what
I
do?
• What
are
the
basic
tools
and
?ps
to
work
with?
• How
do
I
make
decisions
based
on
metrics
data?
• What
are
best
prac?ces
to
follow
working
with
metrics
in
an
ongoing
way?
• What
are
some
good
?me
management
prac?ces
around
metrics
repor?ng
2 All
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3. QuesIons
Answered
How
can
I
look
at
What
are
the
basic
How
do
I
make
core
metrics
and
use
tools
and
?ps
to
decisions
based
on
them
to
grow
what
I
work
with?
metrics
data?
do?
What
are
best
What
are
some
good
prac?ces
to
follow
Ime
management
working
with
pracIces
around
metrics
in
an
metrics
reporIng?
ongoing
way?
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4. Metrics:
A
must-‐have
• Metrics
are
core
for
site
operators,
media
entrepreneurs
&
everyone
who
makes
decisions
about
9me/money
and
return
on
effort
Metrics
data:
reality
check
on
the
impact
of
what
you
and
your
team
are
doing
over
9me—and
right
now
4 All
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5. Some
core
measurement
tools
Google Analytics
Facebook & Facebook
Insights
Twitter & Tweetreach
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5
6. • Star9ng
point-‐-‐Google
Analy9cs
dashboard
measures
site
data
including
• Traffic
• Audience
• Content
• Geography
knightdigitalmediacenter.org
6
7. Essen9al
GA
metrics
to
evaluate
– Time
spent
– Pages
viewed
– Returning
vs.
new
visitors
– Referral
source
– LocaIon
– Unique
visitors
– Page
views
– PlaRorms/access
But
it’s
a
matrix:
Metrics
are
most
meaningful
in
rela9onship
to
one
another
7 All
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8. Being
strategic
about
data
helps
to
drive
site
growth
• Google
AnalyIcs
–puVng
two
numbers
together
– Referral
traffic:
Where
are
the
most
engaged
users
coming
from?
(referral
traffic/Ime
spent
metrics)
– Content
behaviors:
What
is
average
9me
spent
per
story?
How
do
content
stats
per
story
(NOT
averages)
relate?
– Content:
What
keywords
drive
traffic
for
my
site?
– What
are
top
entrance
pages
(correlate
with
search
engine
traffic)
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8
9. Decisions
you
can
make
based
on
Google
AnalyIcs
data
• Type
of
content
(topics,
trending
issues,
cost)
• Geographic
focus
(review
of
locaIon
&
mission)
• Social
media
markeIng
outreach:
Focus
on
top
social
media
referral
sources
based
on
– Top
referrers
– Best
Ime
spent
metrics
from
specific
referrers
– Campaign
reviews
(newslebers)
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9
10. LocaIon:
Checking
for
geographic
focus
The
LocaIon
tab
(under
Audience
Demographics)
shows
where
your
audience
is
from—
essen9al
for
sales/
funders
10 All
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11. Oakland
Local
City
data
Date
shows
both
city
focus
&
regional
reach
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11
12. Understanding
Mobile
Under
Audience,
Google
Analy9cs
will
tell
you
what
percentage
of
your
audience
Is
via
mobile—and
which
plaKorms—cri9cal
for
development
plans
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13. Considering
tablets,
apps,
responsive
themes
Understanding
current
user
base
mobile
access
is
part
of
research
for
potenIal
development—and
a
great
jusIficaIon
for
everyone
moving
into
responsive
themes
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13
14. GA:
Checking
content
&
interest
vs.
referrals
&
landing
pages
IMPACT:
Improve
understanding
of
top
content
and
referral
sources
14 All
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15. Example:
Top
story
with
drive
by
traffic
Let’s imagine:
You run a story on a local issues—say foreclosure—that is one of yr top
trafficked stories for the week.
Story gets 12,000 page views (good traffic for a smaller site)
Average time spent reading this story is 1.11 minutes
Average time spent reading most of your stories is 2.45 minutes
What gives? Check out that data
That week, Google.com sent 35,000 visitors according to yr referral data
Average time on site for Google refers: .52 seconds
This story was one of your top 3 landing pages
Assumption: lower time spent reading due to Google refers
Benefit:
Data
can
not
only
set
baseline
norms
for
performance
but
can
explain
impact
of
broad
and
deep
reach
for
specific
stories,
different
audiences
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17. Facebook
provides
INSTANT
feedback
Content
&
Audience
Ads
&
social
marke9ng
• What’s
popular
(views)
• Tracking
response
on
social
• What’s
being
referred
(viral)
markeIng/promoIon
posts
• Who
is
your
audience
• Tracking
likes
&
reposts
(followers
&
demographics)
Apply
Facebook
data
to
recruit
new
adverIsers,
fine
tune
your
content,
define
audiences,
drive
traffic
to
website
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17
18. Facebook
Insights-‐Admins
can
access
Insights
is
the
equivalent
Of
Google
Analy9cs
for
Business—not
personal-‐Facebook
pages—need
30+
followers
Data
is
exportable—correlate
with
Google
Analy9cs
in
your
analyses
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19. Use
the
FB
demographics
data!
Who’s
talking
shows
demographics—key
for
adverIsers—and
for
targeIng
content
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20. Making
inferences:
How
does
Facebook
data
compare?
Looking
at
Facebook
locaIon
data
for
Oakland
Local
compared
to
Google
analyIcs
data
shows
strong
consistency
for
audience
locaIons;
• Does
that
suggest
the
demographic
data—
• age,
gender—might
be
accurate
as
well?
• How
does
FB
demographic
data
correlate
with
• self-‐selected
user
survey
data?
How
does
audience/locaIon
data
correlate
with
site
editorial/business
goals?
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21. Twitter: Some metrics tools, but not that many
Twiber
can
show
you
menIons,
retweets,
interacIons—but
data
Is
limited.
Third-‐party
tools
offer
more
analysis,
ReporIng:
• Tweetreach
• Tweetmeme
• Twibergrader—a
few
of
MANY
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23. • Shows
most
retweeted
• Shows
top
retweeters
• Shows
top
tweets
and
how
far
each
reach
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24. Tweetreach
report
First
screen
How
many
people
are
you
reaching
via
TwiVer—and
who
are
they?
Tweetreach
gives
you
data
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24
26. Workflow
and
process
best
pracIces
Source: http://fobango.com
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27. Create
a
reporIng
dashboard
to
track
stats
over
Ime-‐
Excel
Spreadsheet tracking
key metrics month by
month, quarter by
quarter.
Build or download a
template to collect
data
Check data weekly
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28. Your
dashboard
should
track
Let’s
discuss:
how
does
this
work
• Google
Analy9cs
as
a
weekly/daily
report?
• Unique
visitors
• First
Ime
vs.
repeat
visitors
• Time
on
site
• Pages
per
visit
• Bounce
rate
• Top
10
Content
(by
page
views
or
by
unique
visitors)
• Number
of
comments
(conversion
goal)
• Number
of
member
blog
posts
(conversion
goal)
• New
members
(conversion
goal)
• Top
referring
sources
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29. Your
dashboard
should
track
Let’s
discuss:
how
does
this
work
as
a
weekly/daily
report?
• Facebook
Insights
• Followers
• Demographics
• LocaIon
• Likes/virality
• Tweetreach
• Top
Tweets
• Top
Tweeters
• Most
retweeted
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30. When
do
you
check
stats?
• Daily
or
weekly
• Monthly
– 30
minutes
or
less
– 90
minutes
– Review
all
stat
sources
– Look
at
basic
– Build
a
monthly
report
weekly
stats
– Compare
6
month
trend
• Top
content
data
• Google
AnalyIcs
• Top
referrers
• Facebook
Insights
• Tweetreach
• Time
spent/
bounce
metrics
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rights
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31. Want
to
learn
more
about
GA?
Videos
on
the
Official
Google
AnalyIcs
YouTube
Channel
are
a
quality
resource.
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32. Putting knowledge
To work—
Things
to
Ask
&
Try
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Source: http://blog.podio.com
33. Workflow:
Monthly
reporIng?
• What
does
a
monthly
report
about
your
site
look
like?
– Construct
a
monthly
report
across
all
data
sources
highlighIng
metrics
you
consider
meaningful/
important
– Make
some
inferences/asserIons
and
test
them
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34. Pung
info
to
work-‐-‐Start
with
basic
analysis
Planning
• What
is
your
site’s
greatest
strength
according
to
Google
AnalyIcs?
• Example:
High
number
of
returning
visits,
high
Ime
spent
on
pages
metrics
• Use
stats
to
portray
your
strengths-‐Create
a
1
pager
• What
is
a
problem
you
see
in
your
site
that
Google
AnalyIcs
shows
you?
– Example:
High
bounce
rate,
poor
referrals
from
social
media
despite
puVng
investment
there
– Use
stats
to
portray-‐-‐Create
a
1
pager
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35. Followup
• Should
we
have
a
peer
learning
circle?
– If
yes,
contact
susan@oaklandlocal.com
– More
on
metrics
(including
the
basics):
hbp://slideshare.com/susanmernit
– 1:1
discussions—contact
metrics@oaklandlocal.com
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36. Contact
info
• Susan
Mernit
mernit@gmail.com,
susan@oaklandlocal.com
@susanmernit,
@oaklandlocal
hbp://oaklandlocal.com
hbp://houseoflocal.org
hbp://susanmernit.com
hbp://susanmernit.tumblr.com
Susanmernit,
instagram,
pinterest
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