Monday, February 24, 2014

Zappos and Web Analytics


Zappos
            Zappos is one of the most successful ecommerce websites.  In 1999, founder Nick Swinmurn was shoe shopping at his local mall and could not find anything that was the right style, color or size.  After an unsuccessful day of shopping, he went home and went online to try and find a website that sold shoes.  After searching online, he did not find anything that met his needs and that’s when Zappos was created.  Zappos was created to sell every style, color and size of shoe and offer free shipping.  Since buying shoes online can be difficult, they also offer free return shipping with 365 days of the original purchase (“In the beginning,” 014) .  Today, Zappos not only sells shoes, but also clothing and housewares.  Zappos has been able to successfully grow their business because of their focus on customer service.  Zappos is known for their excellent customer service and their ability to create brand loyalty.  When Zappos first began, word of mouth was their number one marketing tool followed by online advertising. 
            Zappos uses their website as their number one marketing tool.  On their website, there are multiple blogs from the CEO, employees and interns.  They also have testimonials from previous buyers about Zappos’ products and more importantly how great their customer service is. 
SEO and Keywords
            Along with using their website as a marketing tool, Zappos also uses search engine marketing. Zappos buys generic words such as “shoes” and also brand terms such as “Clarks” through Google and other search engines. Using web analytics, Zappos tracks sales from each keyword to determine which are the most effective and convert the most sales (Queensbury, 2010).
            Zappos also offers an Associates Program, which allows websites to add a text link or banner to their website that advertises Zappos’ shoes.  Each associate in turn earns referral fees if that link converts in to a sale. In 2010, the referral fee was 12% and an associate can make about $12 per referral.  Zappos makes this program easy for the associates and all they have to do is choose a banner and link it straight to its homepage or recommend specific shoes or a search box for Zappos shoes on their website (Queensbury, 2010).   
            Through their blogs, Zappos also gets great search engine optimization.  They have a corporate blog, which gives an insider view to the company’s culture and this helps with SEO.  This blog also is also a place for customers to provide feedback and help Zappos create a better website.
Email Marketing
            Zappos uses email marketing for retention programs and sends out emails about new styles and new brands that are available.  They have a general newsletter that covers everything about shoes, but they also have emails that customers can sign up for that are different targeted lists that fit their interests.  For example, if a customer is looking for a certain shoe or size and it is unavailable, they can sign up to receive an email for when that product will be available to them (Queensbury, 2010). These emails allow Zappos to collect more data on their customers.  
Targeted Ads
            Zappos has targeted ads for its customers who shop on their site. Demery, 2012 says, “But Zappos, which has built a reputation for a high level of customer service, prefers not to get too personal in the way it markets to customers, he adds. Instead, it will take analytics data it gathers about what customers view on Zappos.com and ‘dumb it down’ through its product recommendation engine to pitch ads for a general range of products a consumer is likely to buy.” Zappos uses analytics data to show customers what other products they might like, but they try to keep it simple and not to upset their customers. Since 75 percent of their clients are repeat customers, it is important that continue to focus on customer service and not offend their customers.
Social Media Analytics
            Zappos is also very active on Facebook and Pinterest and have a strong presence on both social networking sites.  After completing a sale, the customer has the option of sharing their purchase on their Facebook or Pinterest page.  Zappos also utilizes advertising on Facebook and uses data and analytics collected from Facebook to find new audiences.  Zappos’ Facebook marketing lead, Nate Luman saysAs a marketer focused on driving Web traffic through Facebook paid ads, I am constantly trying to discover new audiences to target. Tools like XA.net’s OptimalKeyword look for fan pages with overlapping Facebook users. Fan-page engagement data isn’t as important to me as it is for the folks on my team focused on community management. I have a hard time suggesting to ignore any Facebook data without first testing to see if it is relevant to your business. Just don’t get caught up in doing it because you can.” Facebook offers a lot of data and analytics to marketers and it is important to find which data is most useful for your site.  Zappos understands how to use this data and how to use it to drive more traffic to their website. Zappos sees a 3.5:1 ROI on paid Facebook advertisements.
“If we were to look at Facebook ads on their own, a 3.5 ROI is not sustainable and is well below our overall direct-marketing program’s ROI expectations. But when we consider where Facebook ads fall in the sales funnel and compare them to similar marketing efforts (mainly category-head search terms), they deliver similar performance, fuel other channels (drive long-tail search and comparison-shopping queries), and are one of our best marketing channels for driving new customers.” (Abramovich, 2012).

Improvements for Zappos
            I believe Zappos does a great job of utilizing analytics from both their website and social media pages. They are a great ecommerce website to study because they do so many things right. With customer service being their number one focus, they always keep it a priority even when using analytics. They understand the importance of analytics, yet they also understand the importance of not infringing on their customers’ privacy.
            Through email marketing, social media marketing and search engine marketing, Zappos collects data and analytics from all three of these sources about their customers.  With that data, Zappos focuses on making their website better and easier to use for their customers. 

References
Abramovich, G. (2012, June 28). How zappos makes $3.50 per $1 spent on facebook ads. Retrieved from http://digiday.com/brands/how-zappos-makes-3-50-per-1-spent-on-facebook-ads/

Demery, P. (2012, Octover 19). How zappos balances privacy and targeted ads. Retrieved from http://www.internetretailer.com/2012/10/19/how-zappos-balances-privacy-and-targeted-ads

In the beginning let there be shoes. (2014). Retrieved from http://about.zappos.com/zappos-story/in-the-beginning-let-there-be-shoes

Queensbury, K. (2010, March 23). Walk a mile in zappos’ new media shoes. Retrieved from http://addingtonoise.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/walk-a-mile-in-zappos-new-media-shoes/

Monday, February 17, 2014

Google and Privacy Concerns?


Google
            Google offers many different types of products to users that are mostly free.  These products include Gmail, Google Search, Google Maps, Google Analytics, Google Chrome, YouTube and Android. With all of these services available, Google is collecting information from each of these services about their users.  Through the years, Google has had many changes in privacy laws and is always in the news for their latest privacy updates. Clemons, 2012, says  “The company’s new privacy policy goes beyond anything the world has seen before, in which Google asserts the right to combine all the information it can obtain from any sources, including those never authorized by the provider, like the sender of email to a Gmail account. Additionally, a litany of misdeeds, some small, some creepy, and some bordering on indictable felonies, has come to light. Somehow, the combination of no adult supervision, unlimited access to private information, and a sequence of questionable behavior causes me to wonder if Google's present governance model may simply be unacceptable.” Google is constantly in the news and being criticized over privacy concerns for their users.   

Google Purchasing Nest
            The latest Google privacy concerns are around Google purchasing Nest, a home gadget company.  Nest is a home automation company that designs and manufactures programmable thermostats and smoke detectors. With Google purchasing Nest, users are concerned about giving Google access inside their homes. “The Nest thermostat, for example, has a motion sensor which activates the screen and changes temperature settings when it registers a body walk past. Some are worried about what Google could potentially do with that and other information stored by Nest products,” (Schuster, 2014).  Nest has a wealth of user data gathered from those who already own and use its devices. “Considering how much Google values contextual clues from its apps in order to improve its services, it would be surprising if Google wasn't tempted to tap into that information for use with its other products,” (Schuster, 2014).  Like other Google products, Nest would probably have an opt out of settings rather than an opt in program.
I can understand why people would be concerned with Google purchasing Nest, but consumers do not have to purchase and use Nest.  People that already have Nest installed in their houses are probably aware that they are collecting data about their home and usage of their products.

Gmail and Google +
            One Google program I use everyday is Gmail and Gchat.  Recently, Google has been in the news with concerns over privacy through Gmail. Google made a profile on Google + for all their existing Gmail users.  Through Google +, Gmail addresses are available to all
Google + users.  Which means, anybody can send a message to another Google + user without having to be in their Google Circle. A user can change their settings to allow their email address to be private, but it is up to the user to opt out.  This concerned a lot of Gmail users about their email being available to anybody.  Google experienced problems with their first social networking site Google Buzz and they eventually had to shut it down due to privacy concerns.  With Google +, just like other social media networks, it is up to the user to manage their own privacy settings.



Privacy vs. Convenience
            I personally use a lot of Google products everyday.  I do not own a Google Android phone or tablet, but I use Gmail, Google Maps and Google calendar.  I know some of my coworkers refuse to have any Google accounts because of the privacy concerns.  After conducting research this week, I believe the convenience of Google products outweighs my privacy concerns.  I believe there are privacy issues and concerns when you have a cell phone or use the internet, and if you want to use those services, it is up to you to protect your information.  To me, the benefits of using free Google products outweigh my privacy concerns.
There are ways to protect your information while using Google products.  “The search giant offers a couple of options on what information is associated with any given Google account. You can get an overview of all the data Google associates with your account by looking at the ‘Dashboard’ option on your main Google account page. Apart from the Dashboard, users can turn off the setting that allows Google to record their search history. This record logs all your search history and the results that you’ve clicked on from those queries,” (Kang, 2012).
            Kelly, 2014, writes how email is not personal information and says that the telephone book was more intrusive since it lists people’s names, phone numbers and addresses. She mentions that in order to not be in the phone book, a person had to pay a fee to not have their information listed. “Even if you believe that we’ve become a more stalky society, or that automated messaging means there’s more hassle in having your email out there than in having your phone number listed, fear of email dissemination misses the mark. But a lot of the griping about Google’s change relies on an outdated way of thinking about email as a communication tool.” Email is a pervasive part of our daily lives and we offer our email to anybody who asks for it.  It’s not really that private when you give your email to friends, potential employers, marketers and stores.  An email address is required to use a lot of products. “To use nearly any online feature, one needs a valid, working email address. We don’t necessarily want to provide the address, but to function in the digital community, we must. Our email addresses, therefore, are on hundreds, if not thousands of lists. And every day, bundles containing thousands of those email addresses are sold from one corporation to another,” (Kelly, 2014).
            The only way to keep Google from collecting data is to not use any Google products, which can be difficult if you use the internet.  Google’s Android is the most used mobile operating system and in order for it to truly be a smart phone, users have to use Google services.  I believe it is important for users to know what information Google is collecting and it is important they are proactive in updating their privacy settings. The only way to protect yourself is to understand the products you are using and keep your settings up to date.

References
Clemons, E. (2012). “’Say it aint so, joe, again and again and again…’: A legacy of continued bad behavior at google. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-k-clemons/google-privacy-case_b_1522874.html

“Google links its email service to social network, raises privacy concerns.” (2014). Retrieved from http://rt.com/news/google-new-feature-privacy-418/

Kang, C. (2012). “Google privacy policy: Who will be affected and how you can choose what information gets shared.” Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/google-privacy-policy-who-will-be-affected-and-how-you-can-choose-what-information-gets-shared/2012/01/26/gIQA69fNVQ_story.html

Kelly, H. (2014). “Your email address isn’t personal information. Get over it.” Retrieved from http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116211/gmail-feature-raises-privacy-concerns-about-email

Schuster, M. (2014). “Google’s nest buyout raises privacy concerns.” Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/01/16/google-acquires-nest-privacy/4518317/

Monday, February 10, 2014

Google Analytics vs. Adobe SiteCatalyst


Which Analytics Tool?
            When choosing an analytics tool, it is important to find one that fits a users business and website.  After researching analytic tool some things I realized that are important to keep in mind are metrics needed and budget.  Budget plays a huge role in choosing which tool works best for you.  Some are free while others can be pretty costly.  
Google Analytics and Adobe SiteCatalyst are two of the most common analytics platforms.  Each has its own unique features as well as drawbacks. 

Google Analytics
            Google Analytics is analytics tool that is available through Google, and both a free and premium version are available. Google Analytics generates detailed statistics about visitors to a website and is the simplest web analytics. It generates where visitors are coming from, what they do when they are on the site, how long they stay on each page and how often they come back to the page.   Over 50 percent of the top 10,000 websites in the world use Google Analytics (Dubois, 2010). It is also easy for a user to customize their Google Analytics page to see which statistics matter most to their website.  

Adobe SiteCatalyst
            Adobe SiteCatalyst is an analytics tool program through Adobe, which is best know for its creative suite that includes Photoshop, Dreamweaver and After Effects.  SiteCatalyst features drag and drop dashboard, embedded reports, and test and target for A and B type tests.  Drag and drop allows users to create, customize and distribute reports and dashboards instantly in different formats.  This makes SiteCatalyst extremely customizable and allows reports to be viewed on different types of screens including desktops, mobile devices and HD display monitors. SiteCatalyst also creates reports and data from different marketing channels and puts them all in one place.  SiteCatalyst also focuses on key performance indicators (KPIs) including purchasing metrics, customer loyalty, campaigns and visitor profiles.  SiteCatalyst features real-time visitor intelligence and allows users to see online strategies and how marketing initiatives are performing in real time. Another key feature is the ability to pinpoint the most successful ads, campaigns, channels and paths to conversion (“Adobe analytics,” 2014).  With this feature, it can help better budget a marketing campaign.  

Comparison
            As mentioned, it can be difficult to determine which analytics tool works best for the users website.  Below are direct comparisons of Google Analytics and Adobe SiteCatalyst broken down in to six different categories.

Cost
Google Analytics is free and will process up to 10 million hits per month. Google Analytics Premium offers more enhanced features and can process 1 billion hits monthly and has strong customer support, but costs $150,000 annually. 
Adobe SiteCatalyst does not offer a free version and costs over $100,000 per year.  The price does vary depending on traffic volume and the service level and there is not a monthly hit limit.  


Real Time Data
            Google Analytics “Real Time” allows users to see how many people are on their website at any moment as well as where they were referred, where they are located and what they are viewing. Google Analytics allows users to see which content or social media is driving the most traffic to their website (Chianis, 2013).
            Adobe SiteCatalyst offers Current Data reports which allow the user to view traffic on a 20 minute delay on conversion data.  This feature allows users to check a campaign or content almost directly after it launches (Chianis, 2013).

Customer Support
            Google Analytics does not provide customer support through chat or a phone line, but they do offer a user forum, help center, and “Digital Analytics Fundamentals” courses, which is a three week course that helps students learn all about digital analytics.  Chianis, 2013, says,  “For users who want to learn even more about Google Analytics, there is the Analytics Academy. This free online tool offers more in-depth training in Google Analytics and data analysis. Google Analytics Premium provides access to experts in account management, implementation and training as part of its Premium service.”
            SiteCatalyst does offer a 24/7 support and account management, but unlike Google, training is an additional fee.  Like Google, Adobe offers free video guides and tutorials.
           
Implementation
            Google makes it very easy for users to implement Google Analytics to their page.  It does not require anybody with special IT training.  All the user has to do is apply the Google Analytics Java Script to the website. 
            On the other hand, to implement SiteCatalyst, the skills of a trained profession are required and there is a significant amount of work required upfront.  The good thing is that since this process takes more time to implement it is highly customized so the data will be tailored to the specific metrics that the user is looking for from the website.  This can be more valuable than the metrics that would come from Google Analytics (Chianis, 2013).

Customization
            Google Analytics allows the user to create custom variables, but only allows up to five per page.  The variables can be set to expire at different times including after a page view, completion of an event or once it reaches a certain visit level.
            SiteCatalyst allows a lot more custom variables than Google Analytics.  The user can have up to 75 traffic variables, 100 event variables and 75 conversion variables. Chianis, 2013, says
“Variables can be set to capture whatever data you want, and can expire after a specific time (just like Google Analytics) but they can also be stacked on top of each other, giving you the chance to identify a sequence of events.”

Back Up

Google Analytics keeps data up to 25 months, while SiteCatalyst keeps all website data collected as long as you are a customer.

How to Choose?
            Google Analytics and Adobe SiteCatalyst both offer great features at different prices.  Google Analytics is great for a blogger or a small business that may not have the budget for SiteCatalyst, but a larger company looking to really customize their analytics might want to invest in SiteCatalyst. Google Analytics also offers free training and tutorials to those who may not know a lot about analytics, but SiteCatalyst offers customer service.  Both are great analytics tools that will ultimately help a business with their web metrics and analytics. Which platform do you use for your blog or website?


References

“Adobe analytics/marketing reports analytics,” (2014). Retrieved from http://www.adobe.com/solutions/digital-analytics/marketing-reports-analytics.html?promoid=KAWQH

Chianis, A. (2013).  “Google analytics vs. adobe sitecatalyst—which data analysis platform is better for business?” Retrieve from http://www.businessbee.com/resources/news/operations-buzz/google-analytics-vs-adobe-sitecatalyst-data-analysis-platform-better-business/

Dubois, L. (2010). “11 best web analytics tools.” Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/guides/12/2010/11-best-web-analytics-tools.html