Web Analytics – a domain of Marketing (working paper) Dr. Paul Harrigan Academy of Marketing Conference 2010, Coventry, UK.

Introduction PhD, University of Ulster, 2005 – 2008 Lecturer in Marketing, University of Southampton, 2008 – My PhD investigated e-CRM in SMEs Published/ing in this area at the minute ….But forming an interest in a parallel area….Web Analytics

What is web analytics? ‘Web analytics for marketing encompasses the proactive tracking of customers on the Internet, management of the vast amounts of inherent data and analysis of customer behaviour to build customer insight and inform marketing strategies and tactics’

What is web analytics? Origins lie in vast amounts of log data that the Internet produces - previously just seen as a ‘by-product’ of Internet activity Now the ‘by-product’ can be ‘recycled’ to drive marketing activities online Allows an organisation to understand their website Also allows understanding of customers’ movements and behaviours before and after they visit their website. I’ll not get into the technical side of it…. 1) because it’s complicated and 2) because I don’t yet understand it!

Practice driving Theory In practice, digital and Internet technologies are absolutely driving marketing….. ….into areas that theory doesn’t properly cover Sophisticated technologies are allowing marketing practitioners to understand consumer behaviour online IT people have the skills, marketing people don’t

Possible benefits of web analytics (taken from e-CRM theory) Improve an organisation’s inherent marketing orientation and customer focus Improved market awareness Increased personalisation of relationships Enhanced customer service Improved customer loyalty Cost savings in marketing Increased sales Increased profitability Authorial influences: Harding et al. (2004), Jayachandran et al. (2005), Teng et al. (2007), Letaifa and Perrien (2007), Morgan (2007).

Research objectives…. Define web analytics What is the need for web analytics? Justifying using web analytics The strategic direction behind web analytics Future directions of web analytics Ultimate aim should be to recognise and reclaim this as a Marketing domain, not an IT one, in both theory and practice.

Methodology Exploratory research, so a grounded theory approach to begin with Current paper draws on qualitative data gained from a selection of (n=10) in- depth interviews carried out in Interviews carried out with expert practitioners in web analytics field in London and the SE Mixed methods research…..quantitative phase to follow in 2010 once landscape has been scoped and issues

Past and Present of Web Analytics Defining it…. ‘Web analytics is really about behavioural marketing. In a digital world you can’t control what people do, so the best you can do is track their behaviour, analyse the data, and try to be a step ahead’ (Respondent 1) The need for it…. ‘The best performing sites on the Internet in 2008 only get a figure of around 60 per cent of people completing a sale, if that was the purpose of their visit to the site’ (Respondent 4) Defining it…. ‘Web analytics is really about behavioural marketing. In a digital world you can’t control what people do, so the best you can do is track their behaviour, analyse the data, and try to be a step ahead’ (Respondent 1) The need for it…. ‘The best performing sites on the Internet in 2008 only get a figure of around 60 per cent of people completing a sale, if that was the purpose of their visit to the site’ (Respondent 4)

Strategic Web Analytics? Previously…. Web analytics used to be used for three things: justification, strategic direction, and usability’ (Respondent 4) Regarding strategic direction, the respondent actually stated that ‘no one knew what this actually meant’. Now…. ‘Web analytics is used for three things: strategic direction, user engagement, and justification’ (Respondent 4) Previously…. Web analytics used to be used for three things: justification, strategic direction, and usability’ (Respondent 4) Regarding strategic direction, the respondent actually stated that ‘no one knew what this actually meant’. Now…. ‘Web analytics is used for three things: strategic direction, user engagement, and justification’ (Respondent 4)

Marketing skills in Web Analytics ‘Marketing people don’t know what a tag is….and IT people don’t know what marketing is!’ (Respondent 4) ‘The organisational focus is still not on web analytics’ (Respondent 2) ‘The biggest single problem in WA is that people get data blind’ (Respondent 1) ‘There is so much data, but very few people have got insight. To get that you have to spend about 2/3 times on analysis people than on software’ (Respondent 1) ‘Marketing people don’t know what a tag is….and IT people don’t know what marketing is!’ (Respondent 4) ‘The organisational focus is still not on web analytics’ (Respondent 2) ‘The biggest single problem in WA is that people get data blind’ (Respondent 1) ‘There is so much data, but very few people have got insight. To get that you have to spend about 2/3 times on analysis people than on software’ (Respondent 1)

Future of Web Analytics Two issues…. –the role of ‘45 per cent of organisations are now running Google Analytics; the question is: can you trust data from a company who is trying to sell you advertising?’ (Respondent 2) –website vs. web vs. multi-channel analytics ‘web analytics is expanding - it is ‘about more than just website traffic; it’s also about web traffic’ (Respondent 1) ‘More than that, it is becoming about ‘tracking and analysing mobile internet behaviour’ (Respondent 1) Two issues…. –the role of ‘45 per cent of organisations are now running Google Analytics; the question is: can you trust data from a company who is trying to sell you advertising?’ (Respondent 2) –website vs. web vs. multi-channel analytics ‘web analytics is expanding - it is ‘about more than just website traffic; it’s also about web traffic’ (Respondent 1) ‘More than that, it is becoming about ‘tracking and analysing mobile internet behaviour’ (Respondent 1)

Thank you Feel free to ask questions… Dr Paul Harrigan Lecturer in Marketing | School of Management University of Southampton, UK, SO17 1BJ t: +44 (0) e: paul.harrigan.soton.ac.ukpaul.harrigan.soton.ac.uk w: …..Check out the new Marketing DNACheck out the new Marketing DNA