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Success is in the Segments

Our 10th analytics class focused on how to best analyze and understand data.

The top-level message I came away with is a data metric shouldn’t be evaluated in isolation, which is meaningless.  For example, knowing only that users spent an average of five minutes on a page offers no insight to validate or adjust your strategy. It may mean only users from a paid referral on one day of the year…

It is time to come back to school. A new schedule full of interesting classes. The first week started with Analytics class.

 Analytics is a discipline that is all about generating meaningful information and actionable insights from large amounts of data.  Since we’re looking at digital media, we’re of course primarily concerned about data from the web.  Obviously trying to make sense of the limitless amount of data on the web would be an impossible proposition, so Analytics introduces tools to help us sort from large and general to specific and relevant.

 For example, we are interested in understanding where all website (app) traffic is coming from (how did users come to the site, how long did they stay, what hash-tags or keywords were they looking for and etc.). It is exciting because it allows firms to use data to gain insights and make better decisions about what their customers want. This in turn can drive revenue and reduce unnecessary costs.

It’s second semester in IMMT and we’ve hit the ground running in our new courses. Prior to last Friday, I understood the general concept of analytics and their relationship to Interactive Media, but had never taken the time to narrow in on specifics. I’m excited to dive deeper into this subject, not only because it seems interesting, but because it is absolutely essential to getting ahead in today’s increasingly digital environment.

Analytics is defined as ”the use of data to gain insights and make better decisions.” In the Interactive Media world, this data refers to user clicks, shares, views and other forms of measurable information in the digital space. These stats are crucial for knowing and understanding a business’ audience and target market- who they are and what they want. One example of this is the use of heat maps to determine where users click and how long they might stay on a certain page.

Once this valuable data is attained, it’s important to put it to use. This information can be taken a step further by creating better SEO and setting a company apart from its competitors. Analytics can also be used to create a strategic business plan, which largely involves the use of “SMART” goals. A SMART goal is a clever acronym used to refer to goals that are: 

Specific- The more focused and detailed, the easier it is to break down the goal into manageable steps.

Measurable- Use numbers to accurately determine success.

Achievable- What is the plan of action for attaining this?

Realistic- Are there any factors that will definitely prevent this from happening?

Time-bound- There needs to be a deadline!

An example of a SMART goal would be: “Within one year, our software service will have a 15% increase in subscribers, which is roughly 20 new institutions each month. We will achieve this by reaching out to more educational institutions in North America and abroad.”