Smart Data with Google's Universal Analytics

@adrianvender • adrianvender.com • #IDSD
smart data with google’s
universal analytics
IDSD 2014

part one
the problem with
web analytics

ONE PERSON, ONE DEVICE
if people just used one device,
tracking users would be easy.

ONE PERSON, MANY DEVICES
people interact with your business
using multiple devices.

ONE PERSON, MANY INTERACTIONS
actually, it’s a bit more complicated.
online and offline interactions have to be considered.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS EVOLVED A BIT
multi-channel funnels shifted us away from last-click attribution.
other GA improvements helped push us to smarter analysis.

UNIVERSAL ANALYTICS
universal analytics allows us to connect and
measure users across the online and offline world.
- tracking across any device
- 3rd party system integrations
- improved, flexible tracking code
- more admin-based configurations
- custom dimensions & metrics
- import cost data from other ad networks

“Not so fast, my friend”

YOU NEED CORRECT DATA
you can’t get smart data out of bad data.

part two
correct data is
good data

WASP
WASP will automatically scan analytics tags, visualize script and
tag info, & highlight potential problems.
http://webanalyticssolutionprofiler.com/

GOOGLE TAG MANAGER
use GTM to organize your tags and mitigate data errors.
http://www.google.com/tagmanager/

CAMPAIGN (UTM) TAGGING
if you want ANY form of correct multi-channel attribution,
you MUST be tagging your campaign links.

HOW GA ATTRIBUTION WORKS
order of attribution in GA:
1. custom UTM tags
2. browser referral string
3. if neither is found, session channel marked as “direct”
“direct” really just means “we don’t know!”

WHAT HAPPENS WITHOUT UTM TAGGING
desktop and mobile apps don’t pass referral string, and browser
referrals aren’t always insightful, leading to mass confusion.
- email marketing will be marked as “direct” or “mail.*” referrals.
- twitter traffic either marked as “direct” or “t.co” referrals.
- banner ad referrals aren’t specific and insightful.
- Bing Ads will appear as “bing/organic”
* for AdWords, enable autotagging!
https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/1752125?hl=en

UTM TAGGING RESOURCES
check out @AnnieCushing and her guide to UTM tagging.
http://www.annielytics.com/guides/definitive-guide-campaign-tagging-google-analytics/

GET A NERD
other potential issues that you need a nerd to fix:
- self-referral traffic
- cross-domain tracking
- ecommerce tracking implementation
- event firing and troubleshooting
- JavaScript errors
http://www.google.com/analytics/partners/

part three
let’s talk
universal
analytics

TIME TO UPGRADE
universal analytics is out of beta! all features available.
existing GA properties can be upgraded to UA. (no data loss)

SAFE TIME WINDOW FOR UPGRADING
UA properties will allows hits from ga.js for at least a few years.
this let’s you safely plan your code migration.
classic
analytics
ga.js
universal
analytics
analytics.js
learn more at the “Universal Analytics Upgrade Center”
https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/upgrade/?hl=en_US

CUSTOMIZE ORGANIC SEARCH SOURCES
customize the list of organic search sources to clean up your
referral and search reports.
great list of organic search sources to add:
http://antezeta.com/news/universal-analytics-search-engines
@SeanCarlos

CAMPAIGN AND SESSION TIMEOUT HANDLING
use cases:
- reduce the campaign timeout when a micro
social-media campaign lasts only a few days
- extend the session timeout when a user is
placed in an online ‘waiting room’ (i.e. ticket
purchases)
- reduce the session timeout when you expect
users to quickly read content and leave (i.e.
online news portal)

REFERRAL EXCLUSIONS
- very important for cross-domain tracking. must exclude origin and destination
domains.
- also useful when you are sending traffic from Facebook Page Apps (using iframes) to
your website.

CUSTOM DIMENSIONS & METRICS
you can configure 20 custom dimensions
& 20 custom metrics!
- dimensions are your ‘row’ labels
- metrics are your ‘column’ labels
understand the difference between hit,
scope, and user scope levels:
http://cutroni.com/blog/2014/02/05/understanding-digital-analytics-data/ @JustinCutroni

MEASUREMENT PROTOCOL
new, improved measurement protocol is what
enables tracking from any programmable interface.
- web tracking (analytics.js) and mobile SDKs inc the measurement protocol.
- simple structure allows for easy incorporation into any digital device. arduinos, kiosks,
CRM, call tracking systems, coffee machines(?)
http://www.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&tid=UA-123456-
2&cid=36009a59-2a05-49e7-b826-2b884d0f935b&uid=as8rlkjs&t=pageview&dp=%
2Fhome

USER ID - THE KEY TO CROSS-DEVICE TRACKING
assign a unique userID to a user. it may be a unique row id in your
CRM, member database, etc.
*** NOT a name, email address… anything with their identity ***
http://www.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&tid=UA-123456-
2&cid=36009a59-2a05-49e7-b826-2b884d0f935b& uid=as8rlkjs&t=pageview&dp=%
2Fhome
ga('create', 'UA-123456-2', { ' userId': 'as8rlkjs' });
ga('send', 'pageview');
example with analytics.js:
example with measurement protocol:

part four
use cases

DIMENSION WIDENING
dimension widening is a feature that allows you to append
dimensions & metrics to GA hits based on a custom data set.
http://cutroni.com/blog/2013/10/30/dimension-widening-import-data-directly-into-google-analytics/
key
extra
values

LOGIN-BASED USER UNIFICATION
once you establish a user id for a registered user on your site,
always set the GA userId for subsequent visits.
user will always be identified as the same user no matter what
device they login with.

TRACKING ACROSS THE SALES CYCLE
websites allow you to track web-based conversions, but other
sales-cycle conversions occur outside of the website.
use system webhooks (and the GA user id) to track when leads
become sales accepted leads, opportunities, won contracts, etc.

TRIAL TO SIGNUP CONVERSION TRACKING
tracking a 30-day trial signup with GA is pretty easy.
but what about the signup at the end of the trial?
your applicationuserId
30 days later...
<UA signup>
<UAecomm>

MARKETING AUTOMATION + CRM INTEGRATION
store your userId in your CRM system. upon a change in sales
cycle, use a webhook and measurement protocol to send hit.
your CRMuserId
new contract!
<UA lead>
<UAcontract>

PHONE CALL TRACKING
some call tracking solutions send data to GA, but often identified
as a separate user and disconnected from attribution paths.
sync the user id with the assigned phone number so if a call
occurs, call tracking system sends user id along with GA hit.
call tracking
system
userId
<ua hits>
<ua hit>

IN-STORE TRACKING
great example of measuring:
- in-store entrances and exits
- cash register transactions
http://juliencoquet.com/en/2013/04/08/measuring-offline-store-activity-with-google-universal-analytics/
@JulienCoquet

UNIVERSAL ANALYTICS FOR SEARCH BOTS
PHP-based server side script that
tracks bots in GA.
http://www.adrianvender.com/universal-analytics-for-search-bots/
@This Guy?!!

TRACKING COFFEE CONSUMPTION W/ PRODUCTIVITY
using arduino boards and universal
analytics, LOVES DATA was able to track
coffee consumption by user & tie against
their productivity metrics.
http://youtu.be/C27yMQOS8n0

TRACK THE PLANET
if there is a programmable interface, it can be integrated with GA.

A NEW WORLD OF INSIGHTS
connect the users and all of their touchpoints.
gain intelligent and valuable insights.
make better business decisions.

thank you
@adrianvender

Smart Data with Google's Universal Analytics

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