Interview with John Marshall, CEO of ClickTracks

JUN052007

Interview with John Marshall, CEO of ClickTracks

I had the pleasure of talking to John Marshall, CEO of ClickTracks, about his company’s present and future.

The first issue we talked about was one that is difficult to avoid, even though it has probably been discussed to death already. You probably already guessed it, but I was interested in hearing John’s views about the effect of the new version of Google Analytics. He is convinced that many Google Analytics users would never consider paying for web analytics anyhow. Therefore it doesn’t negatively impact ClickTracks’ sales. John saw an increase in sales right after the free version was announced. He explains that people use a free tool as proof of concept and then graduate on from that.

John views WebTrends as the main competitor of ClickTracks.

I also asked John about the plans for ClickTracks Appetizer. He was keen to point out that the key thing about the solution is the free web analytics classes provided by the company. ClickTracks Appetizer is the vehicle that enables them to teach for free and is supposed to suit someone who is getting started in web analytics. ClickTracks is, however, starting to get into some slightly more advanced topics now—teaching more advanced segmentation, for instance.

Every month ClickTracks also announces a Web Analytics Day when advanced features are made available in ClickTracks Appetizer. That combined with free classes is pretty effective, and I was wondering if they had considered taking Web Analytics Day on the road. John told me they would like to, but they would have to team up with a couple of other companies for it to be doable. An idea is to perhaps combine it with tracks about search engine optimization and PPC management.

Many web analytics vendors are branching out and aiming to offer a complete package covering all aspects of online optimization, not just web analytics. I asked John whether ClickTracks has any similar plans, and he said that they are working on some interesting new things that will probably be announced in a couple of months.

When John was on the vendor panel at Emetrics London, he said that ClickTracks has the ambition of making their solution the iPod of web analytics. He also mentioned that their unofficial slogan is “web analytics that sucks less.” I thought both things were very colorful and asked him to elaborate a little. John went on to say that ClickTracks has always tried to attack problems in a different way. One such example is ClickTracks’ approach to funnel analysis, which strictly speaking perhaps should be named something different.

John explained that iPods were much bigger than competing solutions when they came out, plus they went against the convention that portable music players should use flash memory and instead used a hard disk. But it turned out that other players, which used what was considered more modern technology, didn’t have enough storage capacity for people to use them. In the same manner, ClickTracks is not afraid of taking a different approach if it will result in a better experience for the analyst.

The most meaningless report that John has seen is “top paths through the site.” ClickTracks has consistently refused to provide this report as it doesn’t add any value. People have, however, asked for it many times but they are, in John’s experience, starting to learn that it’s not that useful.

ClickTracks’ biggest challenge in 2007 is integration with other tools, and North America is a bit farther ahead in that process than Europe. About twenty of ClickTracks’ clients have integrated, or are currently integrating, with other enterprise systems.

Generally John thinks that companies in the USA are somewhat ahead of Europe, probably because of a stronger tradition of direct marketing and looser privacy regulation.

Approximately one-quarter of ClickTracks’ customers are located in Europe. ClickTracks has its European headquarters in the UK and will be expanding from there. The next country in line is for an office is probably Germany.

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Part of the interview is available as a podcast:
johnmarshall.mp3

Listen: Podcast

Written by +Lars Johansson

and posted in Author Lars Johansson, English, From WebAnalysts.Info, podcast, Web Analytics

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Occam's Razor
by Avinash Kaushik

Web Analytics Segmentation: Do Or Die, There Is No Try!

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My love for segmentation as the primary (only?) way of identify actionable insights is on display in pretty much every single blog post I write.
I have said: All data in aggregate is "crap".
Because it is.
One of my earliest blog posts extolled the glorious virtues of segmentation:
Excellent Analytics Tip#2: Segment Absolutely Everything.
Many paid web analytics clickstream analytics tools, even today (!), don't allow you to do on the fly segmentation of all your data (not without asking you to change javascript script tags every time you need to segment something, or not without paying extra or paying for additional "data warehouse" solutions).
So it was with absolute delight that I wrote a detailed post about the release of Advanced Segmentation feature in Google Analytics in Oct 2008: Google Analytics Releases Advanced Segmentation: Now Be A Ninja!
Of course Yahoo! Web Analytics, the other wonderful free WA tool, had advanced segmentation from day one.
And as recently as two weeks ago I stressed the importance of effective segmentation as the cornerstone of the Web Analytics Measurement Framework.
[Update: Please read this post first in its entirety. Internalize it. Then when you are ready to get a jump start on advanced segmentation, download three super cool segments directly into your account from this post: 3 Advanced Web Analytics Visitor Segments: Non-Flirts, Social, Long Tail]
The Problem.
You can imagine then how absolutely heartbreaking it is for me to note that nearly all reporting that I see is data in aggregate.
All visits. Total revenue. Avg page views per visitors. Time on site. Overall customer satisfaction. And more. Tons of data "puking", all just aggregates.
The achingly tiny percent of time that the Analyst does segmentation it seems to stop at New vs. Returning Visitors! I have to admit I see that and I feel like throwing a tomato against the wall.
Yes new visitors and returning visitors are segments. But they are so lame that I dare you to find any insight worth, well, a tomato based on those two. You can't. Because new and returning are still two big indefinable globs!
Even if your business actually is tied to understanding the first and then subsequent visits by a person then you are far better off segmenting using Visitor Loyalty (in GA count of visits).
But I am getting off track (this whole non-segmentation business drives me bananas!).
Deep breath.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
Segmenting your data is key to your success and that of your company.
It is not very difficult to segment your data. Many tools include some default segments you can apply to any report you are looking at.

For example when you look at your revenue or goal performance it takes a trivial amount of effort to look at All Visits but add to that report the Paid Search Traffic and Non-Paid Search Traffic and get deeper insights.
You can tell your boss: We made 900k, and while you are obsessed with Paid Search please note that 850k of the revenue came from Organic and only $25k from Paid.
PS: Our business is in trouble because we are over-reliant on Search!
See what I mean, a bit better insights.
Among things in the above image I love analyzing Direct (to understand value of the free traffic), Visits with Conversions (to understand my BFF sources and pages and behavior), and Non-bounce Visits (to understand people who give me a chance to do business with them).
But true glory will only come from going beyond the default segments.
Because default segments are created to appeal to everyone / the lowest common denominator, and we all know that there is no such thing as "everyone".
You are unique. The top three things your business is working on are unique. The multi-channel strategy you are executing is unique. Your investment in tools vs people in your company is unique (you are 90/10 instead of 10/90!). You are struggling with your own unique challenges.
You have to have a segmentation strategy that is unique to you. And if you don't then your employment with the company needs to be re-evaluated. (Sorry.)
So how do you go about identifying unique segments for your business or non-profit?
Ask a lot of questions. Tap into the tribal knowledge. Force your leaders (ok HiPPO's) to help you define Business Objectives, Goals and Targets. [Key elements of the Web Analytics Measurement Framework.]
Let me tell you that without the above there is no hope. The first two will tell you what is important and currently prioritized. The third will tell you where to focus you analytical horsepower (based on actuals vs targets).
If you have O, G & T then it is time to select the segments to focus on, the micro-groups of data you'll focus on.
The Segmentation Selector Framework.
My humble recommendation is that as a best practice you should pick at least a couple of segments in each of these three categories:
1. Acquisition. 2. Behavior. 3. Outcomes.
You'll choose to focus on the micro group that is of value to you, and just to you, in each category. You'll apply those segments to web analytics reports where you hope to find insights (and if you choose the right segments you will!).
Let us look at each category I am recommending.
Segment Category #1: Acquisition.

Acquisition refers to the activity you undertake to attract people (or robots!) to your website.

This would include campaigns you run, like pay per click marketing (PPC), email, affiliate deals, display / banner ads, facebook marketing campaigns.
Acquisition also includes search engine optimization (SEO), because it is an activity on which you spend time and money.
Ask yourself this question: "Where is my company currently spending most amount of time and money acquiring traffic?"
Bam! There's the most important segment you will focus on.
Why? If you do your analysis right you can lower cost (by identifying and eliminating the losers!) and you can increase revenue (by identifying and investing where things are going well).
See the process I followed there?

• Ask the question to identify what's important / high priority for the business.
• Create a segment (and then micro segments) for that one thing.
• Apply on the relevant reports to measure performance using key performance indicators.
• Take action. It will have an impact!

Don't just log into Site Catalyst or WebTrends and go on a fishing expedition, or treat every single thing with equal importance.

Paid search. A specific group of keywords. Television campaigns. Email campaigns to prospective customers in Florida, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. Coupon affiliates. "Social media campaigns" (context). Billboard ads on side on highways. Business cards handed out at trade shows.
All of the above are examples of acquisition strategies.
When you look at your web analytics data look at All Visits AND at least one of the above.
Two acquisition segments is normal.
If you make it three then choose one acquisition strategy that your company is experimenting with.
Say you have 1/10th of one person doing some tweeting or facebooking, :), then add that one segment to your top two. This will allow your management to look at what they are focused on and also one thing that sounds cool but they have no idea if it is actually worth it.
(Short term focus) Win – Win (Long term focus)
How To Apply Segments / Analyze Data.
The reports you'll apply your acquisition segment to will depend on the Key Performance Indicators you have chosen. But a typical set of metrics you'll evaluate will hopefully represent a spectrum of success, like for example. . .

The effort will be to try and understand if for our acquisition segment (say all my brand keywords or for email campaigns to increase sales of the most expensive products). . . .

• How many visits did we get (to get context)
• Of those how many were new visits (if that is a focus)
• How many could we get to give us one pathetic click (bounce rate!)
• What was the cost of acquisition (if you can get total cost give yourself a gold star)
• What value could we extract at a per visit level
• How many people could we get to convert (replace total goal completions with conversion rate if you want)
• What was the total value added to our business or non-profit

As you look at your acquisition segments in context of all visits you can quickly see how you can start to find insights faster. Don't focus specifically on the metrics I have used above but rather the thought process behind their selection.
This is not the end of your journey but it is a darn good start!
[If you have Web Analytics 2.0 pop the CD at the back into your computer. In dashboard examples look for Stratigent_Sample_Dashboard.xls, via my friend Bill Bruno at Stratigent. It has an excellent example of segmented acquisition display, you can immediately steal it for your company!]
Segment Category #2: Behavior.

Behavior refers to the activity people are undertaking on your website.

When people show up, what is it that they are doing? Is there anything discernable / important in their behavior that is adding value to your online existence? Or, the flip side, what do we want people do to on our site, and is anyone exhibiting that behavior?
Even people who sometimes have segment their web analytics data often forget to segment by online behavior.
Many, but not all, behavior segments fall into these two buckets: People who see x pages. People who do y things.
Here are some specific examples (all of which you can create in Yahoo! Web Analytics or Google Analytics in a few seconds without having to pay anything extra for vars and slots or having to update your javascript tag or having to buy an add-on, you can also apply them to all your data including all your historical data).
Visits with more than three page views. . .

This can be so valuable on content only websites (more page views more impressions of irrelevant display ads!) or even on ecommerce websites (more pages views the deeper you sink your hook into the visitor, engagement baby!).
Where do these people come from? Do they buy a lot? A little? Do they write reviews? Did we acquire them or did they just show up? If they see so many pages what type of content are they interested in (politics? naked pictures? sports?)?
So on and so forth. Segmenting one behavior, understanding its value.
Similarly another could be focusing on people how add to cart and then abandon the site.
Or people who enter the site on the home page and their behavior. . .

Or all those who did not enter the site via the home page!
Or people who use the site's product comparison chart or car configurator or, my fav, internal site search. Vs. those that don't.
Or people whose Days to Purchase (/Transaction) are 5 vs for those for whom the Days to Purchase is 1. . .

Or, cuter, those whose last visit to our website was 100, or whatever, days ago. Why? And what do they want?
Or people who visited the site more than 9 times (!) during the current time period. . .

Where are these sweet delicious people coming from? (Note: To a blog updated only twice a month!) What do they read? What do they buy? What can we learn from them and do more of?
Those are the types of questions you'll answer from your behavioral segments.
The more you understand what people are doing on your site, the more likely it is that you'll stop the silliness on your site (kill content, redo navigation, make cross sells better, eliminate 80% of the ads, learn to live with 19 days to conversion, don't sell too hard, and so much more).
It is also likely (I want to say guaranteed) that you'll find the delta between what you want to have happen and what your customers want. You'll choose to make happier customers, who in turn, in the naughtiest way possible, will make you happy.
And it all stars with being able to identify and focus on the right behavior segments.
Pick at least two.
But I have to admit in this segment category I truly "play" with the data a lot because it is so hard to know what the right segments are, because visitor behavior is such a complicated thing (they are constantly trying to mess with us Analysts!).
It is only after experimentation (a lot) that I end up with something sweet.
Segment Category #3: Outcomes.

Outcomes are site activities that add value to you (business/non-profit).

I find that here the problem is less that the Analysis Ninjas don't segment, rather it is that they are incredibly unimaginative.
But first what is it?
Segments with outcomes are people or visits where you get a order (at an ecommerce website) or you get a lead (at Organizing for America).
Those two are obvious right?
Segment out people who delivered those two outcomes. Give them a warm hug and a kiss. Now go figure out what makes them unique when compared to everyone else who showed up at your website, all those other people who you worked so hard to impress but failed to.
Take the insights and do more of what works for this group.
Or segment out everyone whose order size is 50% more than the average order size. . .

These are your "whales", people who spend a lot of money with you. Don't you want to get to know them a lot better? : )
But there is more.
Remember macro AND micro conversions!
No one is going to sleep with you on the first date. (Ok maybe a few will!)
So focus on micro conversions that lead up to a macro conversion… like people playing a product video (or on content site watching five videos!). . .

Or adding a product to their Wish List.
Or signing up to show up for a protest for your ultra liberal policies!
Or apply for a trial, or download a trial product.
You can also focus on micro conversions that all by themselves are of value to you, even if not as much as the macro conversion.
For example submitting a job application.
Or signing up for a RSS feed.
Or clicking on a link to go to a different site you want them to go to (like clicking on the amazon link to go buy my book – great outcome :)).
Of course if you are really really good you'll also segment my absolute favorite metric in the whole wide world: Task Completion Rate. It is the ultimate measure of outcome (from your customer's perspective).
Net, net. . . it is absolutely critical that you segment your data by the key outcomes important to your business. Not just because your site exists to add economic value, but also because I cannot think of another way you can earn the love of your boss or get promoted.
By understanding what it is about people who deliver outcomes you can understand what to do with all those that don't convert.
Outcomes. Outcomes. Outcomes!
Pick at least two.
If you pick three or four that is ok.
If you pick nine it might be a signal you don't know what you are doing (and you want to corner your boss in a non-HR-violation manner and ask her to help you focus on the most important).
In Summary.
Segment or die.
It is as simple as that.
The next time you start to do true analysis of your data I hope you have your minimum six segments in hand (two for each category). If you do you'll find that web analytics, this world full of web metrics and what not, suddenly becomes a lot more interesting (and you no longer feel like jumping out of your office window in frustration!).
Love, money and glory await you.
Not to mention how proud I'll be of you when I see your analysis. ; )
Ok now your turn.
Are you a segmentation God? What are some of your favorite segments? Have you used this three category framework in the past to find segments? Do you think they'll work in real life? In the context of segments what do you think is missing from this blog post? What did I overlook / not stress enough?
What's your excuse for not leveraging segmentation? (Best answer to this question win's a copy of Web Analytics 2.0!)
Please share your thoughts / wisdom / critique / guidance.
Thanks.
PS:
Couple other related posts you might find interesting:

• Excellent Analytics Tip#2: Segment Absolutely Everything
• Google Analytics Releases Advanced Segmentation: Now Be A Ninja!
• Excellent Analytics Tip#4: Make Your Analysis/Reports "Connectable"
• "Dear Avinash": Be Awesome At Comparing KPI Trends Over Time
• 10 Fundamental Web Analytics Truths: Embrace 'Em & Win Big

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I am a Workaholic-ANALYTIC.

 A Workaholic-ANALYTIC is a guy who only think in statistics and probabilities, use different online tools, in spanish translation is: adicto al trabajo analitico.

Alex Rojas Riva

The Data in Google Analytics should be match with the Data or Blogger Statistics.

The Data in Google Analytics should be match with the Data or Blogger Statistics: 

For Geo Location Audience is very different from the Public Data of the same month interval, and is a marked difference. This advice I extend to all other segmentations : 

Example:

In my case, my blog: Digital Marketing & A Bit of All,www.alexrojasriva.blogspot.com appears as follows :

March 7, 2014 - April 5, 2014 . 

Blogger                                          Google Analytics

Statistics -Vision General-Public       Audience-Geo-Location 
________________________________________________________________

America                                          America

 
Included Canada                              Not Included Canada 
Not Included Venezuela                    Included Venezuela 
Not Included Ecuador                      Included Ecuador
Not Included Peru                            Included Peru
Not Included Bolivia                        Included Bolivia

Europa                                             Europa

Not included France                          Included France 
Not Included Italy                             Included Italy 
Not Included Romania                       Included Romania
Not Included Greece                          Included Greece 
Not Included Turkey                          Included Turkey

Africa                                                Africa

Not Included Senegal                         Included Senegal
Not Included Equatorial                     Included Guinea Equatorial Guinea
Not Included Zambia                         Included Zambia

Asia                                                   Asia

Not Included Thailand                        Included Thailand
Not included Malaysia                        Included Malaysia
Not Included Indonesia                       Included Indonesia
Not Included Philippines                     Included Philippines
Not Included Japan                             Included Japan

Middle East                                        Middle East

Not Included Israel                             Included Israel
Not Included Iraq                               Included Iraq
Not Included United Arab Emirates     Included United Arab Emirates

My advice to Universal Analytics (Google).

Since Universal Analytics left beta version or trial period.My advice to Universal Analytics ( Google UA ) is to use the biometric system , iris or retina reading to unify once and for all the offline and online sales in its new tool, thus , will offer the same service for free with the same UA tool , most comprehensive analytical information of the client database, and allowing better segmenting on Universal Analytics tool (like by hardware: smartphone, laptop, PC, Tablet, by OS-software: include Ubuntu/Linux, by behavior: Offline, Online), just increase a field in the database of all customer website using Google Analytics tool , the same it should allowed on UA tool , allowing the transition from GA tool to UA tool, and also allowing use an iris reader developed by Google (new free app called RETINA UNIVERSAL ANALYTICS App, RUA App), also keep customers the free use , and updated interpretations of data closer to the existing reality.Every customer buying online will have to add a record reading your own iris , which will allow you to be unique , such as online and offline customer .When the customer goes to the physical store , with just a reading of the iris , which will be recorded by the smartphone Store and checked every certain period of time in case of lost or stolen smartphone regular customer, update data, suspected of usurpation of person in a physical store using a stolen or lost mobile want to buy using data from credit or debit card registered on the website before by the real client .After making a thorough check of the person is the real owner of the smartphone, is when only then we will know that all your data and the actual purchase you make will be added correctly to your buy offline behavior from the same client and your behavior will be recorded by Universal Analytics online, offline and on time.File reading iris client will be stored in the cloud , so if lost or stolen mobile Store is not very difficult to sell the next day at the store, and only checks with iris client when you have a purchase of a new customer and that also acts suspicious , since regular customers are well known to store employees , but new or recent customers is checked for safety and tranquility.Another tip , UA should not use fingerprint readers , as they have a higher percentage rate of duplication , but can be a second field to add to the database client to identify the same customer only , that is, double check identity .
Neither is recommended to use a number of client / customer card, because the customer always forget the number, or lose the card, or they forget to bring the card with them everywhere.
 With just my little recommended changes, Universal Analytics market win more customers Sitecatalyst Adobe Omniture, Clicktrack , WedTrends and Microsoft Analytics , ensuring the reign of the Analytics Market for many years .UA should never forget either encrypt the customer data, change the encryption from time to time, provide better customer service, be better simply because they are, and each of their products.

 Alex Rojas Riva

Mi consejo a Universal Analytics (Google).

Ya que Universal Analytics salió de version beta o periodo de prueba.

Mi consejo a Universal Analytics (UA de Google) es utilizar el sistema biometrico, lectura del iris o lectura de retina, para unificar de una vez por toda las ventas offline y online en su nueva herramienta, de esta manera, ofreceran el mismo servicio gratis, con la misma herramienta UA, informacion analitica mas completa del universo de clientes, y permitiendo segmentar mejor en Universal Analytics Tool, con solo aumentar un campo en la base de datos de todas las website de clientes que utilizan Google Analytics Tool, lo mismo se debe permitir en la herramienta UA, lo que permite la transicion de GA tool a UA tool, y ademas que permita utilizar un lector de iris desarrollado por Google (new free App called RETINA UNIVERSAL ANALYTICS App, RUA App), asi mantendremos los clientes que la usan gratis, actualizados y con interpretaciones de datos mas cerca de la realidad existente.

Cada cliente que compre online tendra que añadir un registro de la lectura de su propio iris, lo cual le permitira ser unico, como cliente online y offline.

Cuando el cliente va a la tienda fisica, con solo hacer una lectura del iris, que sera registrada por el smartphone de la tienda, y comprobada cada cierto periodo de tiempo en caso de perdida o robo del smartphone del cliente habitual, actualizar datos, sospecha de usurpacion de persona en una tienda fisica utilizando un movil robado o perdido por querer comprar utilizando los datos de tarjeta de credito o debito registradas con anterioridad en la website por el cliente verdadero.

Luego de efectuar el riguroso chequeo de que la persona es el verdadero dueño del smartphone, es entonces cuando solo asi sabremos que todos sus datos y la actual compra que realice se añadira correctamente a las compras offline del mismo cliente y su comportamiento sera registrado por Universal Analytics, offline, online y on time.

El archivo de la lectura del iris del cliente se guardara en la nube, asi si se pierde o roban el movil de la tienda no es muy complicado vender al dia siguiente en la tienda, y solo se chequea con el iris del cliente cuando se tiene alguna compra de un nuevo cliente y que ademas se comporta sospechoso, ya que a los clientes regulares son bien conocidos por los empleados de la tienda, pero los nuevos o recientes clientes se chequea por seguridad y tranquilidad.

Otro consejo, UA no debe utilizar lectores de huellas digitales, ya que tienen una tasa porcentual de mayor duplicidad, pero puede ser un segundo campo a añadir a la base de datos de cliente para identificar al mismo unico cliente, o sea, double check identity.

Tampoco es aconsejable utilizar un numero de cliente/tarjeta de cliente, porque siempre el cliente olvida el numero, o  pierde la tarjeta, o ellos olvidan llevar la tarjeta con ellos a todas partes.

Con solo hacer mis pequeños cambios recomendados, Universal Analytics ganara mas mercado de clientes que Sitecatalyst Adobe Omniture, ClickTrack, WedTrends, y Microsoft Analytics, asegurándose el reinado del mercado por muchos años.

UA nunca debe olvidar encriptar bien la data de los clientes, cambiar la encriptacion cada cierto periodo de tiempo, dar un mejor customer service,
ser lo mejores porque sencillamente lo son, y en cada uno de sus productos.

 Alex Rojas Riva