© COPYRIGHT 2013 SAPIENT CORPORATION & AZZARD CONSULTING

Successful content with a metrics driven approach

KEVIN P NICHOLS, DIRECTOR AND GLOBAL

PRACTICE LEAD OF CONTENT STRATEGY

@ SAPIENTNITRO

REBECCA SCHNEIDER, PRESIDENT

AZZARD CONSULTING

AZZARD CONSULTING

AZZARDCONSULTING

Today’s Agenda

1. Introduction

2. Definitions

3. Content Personalization

4. Taxonomy and Metadata

5. Production and Content Lifecycle

6. Content Effectiveness

7. Governance

8. Mobile (Smart Phone and Tablet)

9. Pitfalls

10.

Feedback and Contact Info

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1. Introduction

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Introduction

Rebecca Schneider

President, Azzard Consulting19 Years experience in Information ManagementIndustries: Retail, Auto Manufacturing, Financial Services, Technology

Kevin Nichols

Director, Global Practice Lead, Content Strategy, Sapient/Nitro18 Years experience in the Web Development IndustryKey Clients: MIT Open Courseware, Hewlett Packard, Sprint, Intel

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ROI for Content Strategy is one thing. . .But, how do we leverage metrics for content development?

We will answer which metrics are necessary to: • Measure content efficacy

• Refine personalized content experiences and ensure future success

• Develop useful metadata and taxonomies

• Measure what’s important for publishing and content lifecycle

• Ensure effective content governance

• Understand the unique nature of content within the mobile and tablet experience

Finally, we’ll cover metrics and analytics pitfalls.

Why do this presentation?

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2. Definitions

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Defining Content Strategy

Content communicates an idea which is recorded.

Content Strategy focuses on ways to meet the needs of content consumers, exercising oversight and management of content distribution.

Content GovernanceContent DeliveryContent Experience

What is the content experience for the end-user; what goes into a digital solution, to which user(s) is it targeted?

What model is necessary to acquire, create, maintain and optimize content?

What are the operational processes and mechanisms required to ensure the continued success of content?

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Metrics• Tangible measures of inputs and outputs.

Key Performance Indicators• A set of metrics used to quantify success of an organization’s activities.

Analytics• Conclusions drawn from metrics.

Metrics Definitions

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Quantitative measurements: numbers, facts. It’s the “what.”

Examples:• Web & Mobile

Conversions

# Visits

Time on Site

• Media Click-through Performance on Advertisements/Banners

• Search Internal, Organic, Paid – keyword usage

When to use• There is a need to demonstrate a quantifiable return on investment.

• Too much anecdotal information is being used to make decisions.

Hard Metrics

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Soft Metrics

Qualitative: stories, feelings/motivation. It’s the “why.”

Examples• Primary Research

Focus Groups

• Secondary Research Marketing Trends

• Social Listening – Digital Anthropology Online Behavioral Analysis

• Surveys Customer Satisfaction

When to use• Trying to understand customer behavior (needs, motivations, perceptions).

• Further understand the hard metrics data.

Warning: do not use qualitative measurements to the exclusion of all else.

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3. Content Personalization

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Tailoring the online experience to a specific user:

Terms to describe aspects of personalization:

Content Personalization

Targeted offers

IntelligentCustomersegments

Business Rules Dynamic Pages

Contextual Ads

Ad Server

Relevant

Guided Selling

RecommendationsPersonas

Targeted Messaging

Targeted Content

User Generated Content

Cross-Sell

Intent-Based search

Up-Sell

User Types

Counter Offer

Need Based Shopping

Social Marketing Behavioral Targeting

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Content Personalization

Favorite Metric:

Click stream (customer journey through site)• Clearance Page > Men’s Coats > Shearling Coat >

Add to Cart > Purchase Completion

Other Metrics:

Length of Visit Per Page• Decision/Compare: Lawnmower Comparison

Depth of Visit• Research: Samsung 50” Flat Screen TV (Product

Specifications)

Where does the customer go? Where can content be personalized?

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Content Personalization

What is the customer interested in? Their reason for coming to site?

Favorite Metric:

Customer Interaction History (profile or cookie-based)• Accessories for previously purchased item: bracelet charm

• Similar products (artist, genre): music, books

Other Metric:

Top Keyword Searches• “Clearance”

• “Earphones for iPod”

Photo from Pandora

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Content Personalization

Favorite Metric:

Purchased Product

• Product as part of series: Game of Thrones Season 1, Season 2 to be released, etc.

Other Metrics:

Site registration

• Register for special content: Whitepaper

Viewed Product Information

• Product/Brand Blitz: Car Promotion Microsite

Where and when does the customer convert (e.g. filling out user profile, adding item to shopping cart, purchasing product)?

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4. Taxonomy and Metadata

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Improving taxonomy (navigation, search) metadata (filters/facets) and to further enable findability.

Taxonomy & Metadata

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Taxonomy & Metadata

Favorite Metric:

Top successful searches• My Little Pony, iPad Cover

Other Metrics:

Organic, Paid search keyword ranking versus conversion (which keywords yield higher conversion rates)• Notebook vs. Laptop

Click-stream to specific product category. Are users going down the right path?• Homepage > Furniture > Children’s

• Homepage > Children’s > FurniturePhoto from puuikibeach.

What’s working for users? Are they finding what they need?

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Taxonomy & Metadata

Favorite Metrics:

Bounce rates (entered a page from outside the site, then immediately left)

• More useful than exit rates.

Luxury hotel page, but looking for a B&B (“breakfast in bed”)

Other Metrics:

Exit rates (looked around the site, then left from a particular page)

• Exit rate can be considered successful (when leaving after accomplishing a task)

Product purchase: iPad Cover

Product non-purchase: Wrong item? Wrong size? Stock availability?

Previous page prior to search (potential navigation problems)

• In home décor page, but then search for floor lamp

What’s not working for users? Where’s the breakdown?

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Taxonomy & Metadata

Favorite Metric:

Search terms used frequently that return no results

• Bathroom plunger (toilet plunger)

Other Metric:

Search terms used often in ad hoc description fields

• Mutual fund distribution, Roll-over

What terms should be added to taxonomy or metadata to enable better findability?

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Taxonomy & Metadata

Favorite Metric:

Refined searches

• kitty toy > cat toy

Other Metrics:

Search terms that are variants of a preferred term

• soda vs. pop; bubbler vs. water fountain

Terms used in taxonomy, but not in SEO metadata. Does the SEO metadata need to be updated?

• bed lifters, bed risers, bed storage

Organic, Paid keyword rankings

• manila file folders, green hanging folders

Photo from taiyofj

What terms do users employ in search?

Have they been leveraged?

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5. Production and

Content Lifecycle

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Entire end-to-end process in which content is acquired, created, managed, published and optimized or retired.

Publishing & Content Lifecycle

ManageContent

PublishContent

EnhanceContent

Acquire/CreateContent

Governance

EvaluateContent

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Favorite Metric:

Time (cost) saved in optimizing (refining content)

• Revision pushed to web

Other Metrics:

Time (cost) saved in all other steps of the content lifecycle

• Acquiring Length of time for content gathering

• Creating Length of time to create new content

• Maintaining (content review cycle) Number and duration for review cycles

• Publishing New content pushed to Web

Publishing & Content Lifecycle

What is the benefit to improved content lifecycle processes?

Image from FreeDigitalPhotos

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What is the benefit to new product introduction?

Time reduced to take product to market (due to content bottlenecks)

• New Surface Windows 8 Pro (launched in various channels)

Publishing & Content Lifecycle

Photo from SpicaGames.

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Publishing & Content Lifecycle

How can content quality be improved?

Favorite Metric:

Drop in number of errors in content.

• Tagging: outfit vs. welding kit

Other Metrics:

Decrease in content redundancy (also reduces cost)

• Sales vs. Marketing

Decrease in time necessary to respond to user feedback, errors in content and/or changes to published content.

• Alert to correction (spelling errors,

etc.)

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Publishing & Content Lifecycle

Favorite Metric:

Increase in internal organizational satisfaction due to better findability, ease of content creation, maintenance, etc.

• Survey Tool (Foresee)

Other Metric:

Number of users in organization using CMS.

• Ratio of users vs. total number

What is the ROI of robust localization processes?

Reduction in localization costs due to streamlined CMS processes

• Cost per word reduced for localized content

How can internal user satisfaction increase?

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6. Content Effectiveness

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Content Effectiveness

WWW.COMPANY.COM IN-STORE

She clicks the e-spot to view more She clicks on the product to view more

details.As she adds to her

“favorites”, recommended

products become even more relevant.

As she approachesher local store, she

receives a push notification on her

phone, letting her know about new accessories.

Entering the store, Michelle is greeted by

Ken, a sales associate. He has Michelle’s

“favorites” ready for her to view, which he pulled up

on his tablet.

Using her iPad, Michellevisits .com to

look for new products.She notices an e-spot on

the homepage for a featured product that is

her favorite brand.

Michelle saves product to her “favorites” and

continues to browse the product catalog.

Michelle has saved 6products to her

“favorites.” Michelle updates her customer

sends her “favorites” to the nearest retail

location.

Using the sales associate tablet, Ken

is able to pull up Michelle’s profile,

where he accesses her store loyalty

coupons.

Michelle, an existing

customer, receivesa text message

from retailer.

SMS

Mobile Web

Desktop

MobileApp

Tablet Web

Tablet App

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2 4 653

Focus on the content journey, content quality and overall fit for the user.

TRIGGER

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Content Effectiveness

How is content relevance measured to determine the most effective messages?

Favorite Metric:A-B Test of one message versus another.

• Test two different value propositions, headlines or product images to see which

performs the best.

• Shopping Cart Icon vs. Shopping Bag Icon

vs.

Image from TheNounProject.Image from TheNounProject.

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Content Effectiveness

How is content relevance measured to determine the most effective messages? (cont.)

Other Metrics:

Rate at which content is viewed (frequency and duration)

• Product specifications vs. Product “quick look” – which results in a conversion?

Multivariate testing of content on high-priority pages.

• Test placement of various items on a page, various messaging and/or several different labels or headings.

Should filters be listed at the left or on top?

Determine the most popular content: Content that is ‘trending’ with traffic and engagement time:

• Use a trends app to measure which content is most used.

Popular whitepapers, Investor relations information, Cat videos!

Know the most successful content– in the eyes of the customer:

• Rate at which a specific piece of content will result in a conversion

Product videos that generate a high rate of purchase

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Content Effectiveness

Favorite Metric:

Actual browsing path versus assumed (pre-defined browsing path)

• Home > Support > Drivers

• Home > Product > Support > Drivers

Other Metrics:

Number of visits to convert (E.g.: purchase a product) and time to convert

• Customer returns after completing research

Where and when a customer exits prior to conversion

• When forced to register on news site after viewing several articles, is conversion completed?

Bounce rates

• Where and when a customer jumps to search from navigation. What key terms are then used in search?

Retention

Purchase

Preference

Consideration

Awareness

How do you determine an effective content journey and if the customer arrived at a desired destination?

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Content Effectiveness

Favorite Metric:

Rate at which content is being shared via social• Email, post to Facebook

Other Metrics:

Rate at which content is downloaded• User Manual/Instructions

Survey the user on site or page performance with user feedback tools• Foresee

Determine problematic areas through bounce rates and exit rates• Cart abandonment

How do you determine user satisfaction with site or experience?

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7. Content Governance

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Operational and organizational models needed to manage and ensure the continued success of content.

Content Governance

Governance Committee

Working Groups

BrandAccessibilit

yLegal Taxonomy ContentStrategy

Operations Technology Marketing Publishing TaxonomyStrategy

Executive Sponsor

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Content Governance

Favorite Metric:

Time to implement content changes based on governance decisions.• Major taxonomy change (structural shift) vs. minor

taxonomy change (label change)

• Addition of information to support new product set

Other Metrics:

Time for governance committee to review content requests

Time to complete a content review cycle• ROT (Redundant, Outdated, Trivial)

Is there governance structure in place, with defined governance workflows? Is it effective and successful?

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Content Governance

Is the content up to governance standards?

Favorite Metrics:

Accuracy/error rates

Other Metrics:

Currency

Effectiveness – based on testing, web statistics, surveys

http://www.zillow.com/howto/DataCoverageZestimateAccuracy.htm

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8. Mobile (Smart Phone &

Tablet)

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Mobile (Smartphone)

Metrics captured for mobile can be very similar to those captured for other form factors. However, the analytical perspectives will differ because of the physical nature and practical constraints when dealing with smaller form factors. Also user tasks are different from Web behavior. For example*:

68 percent mobile searches result in a map look up

61 percent of local mobile searches result in a phone call

59 percent of mobile users interact with businesses via social media regularly.

*Source: http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/4-myths-of-mobile-metrics

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Mobile (Smartphone)

Is the content experience delivered effectively?

Favorite Metric:

How long does a user spend on page?• Time spent on pages optimized for mobile

• More time may indicate user cannot achieve or find information.

Image from Pixabay.

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Mobile (Smartphone)

Is the content experience delivered effectively? (cont.)

Other Metrics:

How is search used?• Taxonomy/metadata related metrics – with a focus on mobile OS.

Low search utilization may indicate user cannot find search functionality.

How do users interact with form fields?• Track interaction with Form fields

• On mobile sites, one field is recommended per page

How often does the phone orientation change (switching from vertical to horizontal)? • Generally, higher rates will correlated to higher exit rates. Exception: functionality requires orientation change (e.g.

viewing a video)

How is social media being used?• Survey amount of traffic entering from social media.

How many users accept location awareness prompts• This metric can demonstrate trust with brand as well as indicate demographic behavior information.

Where and when are Smart Phones being Used: e.g., How are Smart Phones being used in-store?• Track user behavior – bar code scanning

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Mobile (Tablet)

In general, the same metrics can be used for Websites for mobile tablet sites, and similar ones for mobile phone apps for mobile tablet apps. However, some interesting metrics to track include the following:

Favorite Metric:

• For Websites that have apps, how many users ignore the call to action to download the app and opt to view the actual Website? The advantages of the app may not be clear prior to download.

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Mobile (Tablet)

Additional Metrics

How many apps are being downloaded versus purchased. • This metric is relevant for organizations that either offer both types of apps and/or

organizations that offer apps that can be activated after a certain trial period.

How many people purchase what they have downloaded?• If the app is downloaded, how many convert to purchase the app?

What is the delta between the conversion rates on Tablet/Smart Phone versus Desktop?• Difference could indicate whether content is working well on the device.

Which products or services are sold from an app?• Tracks user purchasing behavior.

Combo metric: What is the screen resolution and the device. • Measures how content is being consumed, which is important for responsive design.

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Mobile (Tablet)

Additional Metrics

Which services are used on an app versus Website?• Does the user use certain support features on App that are not used on the Website

and/or vice-versa?

How many users switch to the desktop view from a mobile app? • User becomes irritated by App functionality and switches to desktop to complete a

task.

When does the user switch to desktop from a mobile app? • User wants to view long-form specs of a product, not available on app.

Number of Wi-Fi versus 4G users? What is the load time?• How does user behavior differ between each? (Note: not all tablets are 4G enabled).

For commodity/published content, what are the actual number of readers in a tablet edition versus a paper published edition?• Many publications such as the Economist, Vanity Fair, etc. have offered their

subscribers complimentary digital access (for those already subscribing to the paper-version). How many users take advantage of the complimentary digital access?

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9. Pitfalls

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Pitfalls

Avoiding metrics and analytics pitfalls:

• Statistics and damn statistics

• Not all data is good data

• More data does not equal better data

• Ignoring common sense

• Ignoring indicators (you can’t pick your favorite)

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10. Feedback and Contact

Information

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Questions

What did you want to learn that you still have questions about?

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Keep the conversation going.

Kevin P Nicholsknichols@sapient.com

kevinpnichols.com

Twitter: #kpnichols

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinpnichols

Rebecca Schneiderrschneider@azzardconsulting.com

azzardconsulting.com

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaschneider

THANK YOU !