number stories: win friends and influence hippos with an effective measurement strategy

Number Stories

Mike Powers Director of Electronic Communications

Indiana University of PennsylvaniaConfab Higher Ed 2015

Win friends and influence HiPPOs with an effective measurement strategy

@mjpowers

Measurement Strategy: Overview

Content strategists are storytellers.

Effective measurement begins and ends in

storytelling.

How do numbers turn into stories? How do stories

turn into action?

Managing effective measurement

1. Plan for measurement

2. Collect data effectively

3. Present persuasively

Planning

Why measure? To answer questions about our content

Questions come from your goals

#squadgoals

#squadgoals

#plutogoals

#minigoals

Image by Pascal Pinck

Higher Ed Goals

Higher Ed Goals

1. Get students

Higher Ed Goals

1. Get students

2. Help students, faculty, alumni succeed

Higher Ed Goals

1. Get students

2. Help students, faculty, alumni succeed

3. Get money to keep doing 1 and 2

Creating the Plan

PLANNING

What’s the story?1. What are your goals?

2. What is your content?

3. How will this content achieve those goals?

4. What would success look like?

5. What would failure look like?

6. What measures would show success or failure?

7. What are your targets?

Example: Promoting a new MA in Content Strategy

Example: Promoting a new MA in Content Strategy

1. What are your goals?1. Bring in enough students over the next four years

to make program viable

2. Acquire a reputation for excellence in CS that brings in students and helps them find employment

2. What is your content?• New microsite about the program

• Press releases about the program, faculty

• Blog posts about CS written by faculty members

• Presentations by faculty and student at CS conferences

• Online ads

3. How does content achieve your goals?

3. How does content achieve your goals?

Ad

Blog

Earned Media

3. How does content achieve your goals?

Come to Microsite

Ad

Blog

Earned Media

3. How does content achieve your goals?

Come to Microsite

Learn More

Ad

Blog

Earned Media

3. How does content achieve your goals?

Come to Microsite

Learn More

Ad

Blog

Earned Media

Request Info

Request Visit

Apply

4. What does success look like?

Image by velkr0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/velkr0/

4. What does success look like?

Image by velkr0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/velkr0/

• Highly qualified

• Diverse

• Likely to succeed

5. What does failure look like?

Image by Andrew Allio https://www.flickr.com/photos/allio/

5. What does failure look like?

Image by velkr0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/velkr0/

• Not qualified

• All the same

• Unable to afford the program

6. What measures would show success or failure?

Enrollment? Test Scores? Diversity Data?Image by gozalewis https://www.flickr.com/photos/gozalewis/

Interim Goals

A. Do prospects understand content?

B. Does content communicate value propositions?

C. Does content appeal to/engage prospects?

D. Does content encourage conversions?

A. Do prospects understand your content?

Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/

Readability scores

Screen capture of HemingwayApp.com

Make sure all content meets a set readability standard.

Cloze test

Test sample content for readability with typical users.

Inherent Value TestUser testing technique to understand if your site communicates your value/values.

Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/l-i-n-k/3654390818/

B. Does your content appeal to and engage your prospects?

Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dm-set/4200811849/

Bounce Rate

Time on Page

Return Visits

Social Media Engagement

New Users Pageviews

C. Does content encourage conversions?• Inquiries

• Visits

• Applications

• Page value

Home Page Admissions B.S. in Math

Visit Campus Visit Sign-Up Form

Thanks for Registering

Home Page Admissions B.S. in Math

Visit Campus Visit Sign-Up Form

Thanks for Registering

$100

Home Page Admissions B.S. in Math

Visit Campus Visit Sign-Up Form

Thanks for Registering

$100$20$20

$20$20$20

You can’t measure everything.

Choose wisely, using your goals.

7. What are your numeric targets?

• If you want 50 students (donations, etc.)

• How many applications?

• How many inquiries?

• How many web sessions (visits)?

50 Students

If 10% of applications result in

1 matriculated student …

?? apps × 10% yield

= 50 students

?? apps × 10% yield

= 50 students

500

???? inquiries × 20% yield

= 500 applications

???? inquiries × 20% yield

= 500 applications

2,500

??????? sessions × 1.2% goal conv. rate

= 2,500 inquiries

??????? sessions × 1.2% goal conv. rate

= 2,500 inquiries

208,334

Or, profile the visits you want

Applicants All Users Goal

Visits to Site 5 2 3Avg. Session

Length 9:34 2:13 3:21

Add those goals to your plan, and launch

Data Collection

414 Measures

You probably have years of Google Analytics data

at your fingertips.

Google Analytics Isn’t Enough• Data for context

• A place to put it all

• Sustainability

Context

DATA COLLECTION

Context

Context

Football Game

Football Game

Football Game

Football Game

Football Game

? ? ?

Things happen that are not online• Mailing arrived in mailboxes?

• Day off in high school?

• Alumni returned for homecoming?

Keep a journal of on- and off-line events• Annotation in Google Analytics

• Running list in Evernote or other software

Keep a journal of on- and off-line events• Annotation in Google Analytics

• Running list in Evernote or other software

Keep a journal of on- and off-line events• Annotation in Google Analytics

• Running list in Evernote or other software

Keep a journal of on- and off-line events• Annotation in Google Analytics

• Running list in Evernote or other software

Daily Screen Caps (with Dates)

A Place to Put It All

DATA COLLECTION

A place to put it all

Why?!

Context often means non-analytics data• How many applications?

• How many showed up for an event?

• How many students haven’t yet registered for spring?

• How much did we spend on advertising/promotion?

A master spreadsheet gathers

• non-sampled data and

• non-analytics data

in the same place.

Sampling

Sampling

Sampling

Sampling

A place to put it all

A place to put it all

A place to put it all

A place to put it all

A place to put it all

A place to put it all

A Note on Correlation

Football Game

Football Game

Football Game

Football Game

Football Game

IE Market Share vs. US Murders

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

12,000

13,000

14,000

15,000

16,000

17,000

18,000

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Internet Explorer Market Share Murders

Data from FBI: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/, W3Schools: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

Correlation is not causality

Correlation is not the absence of causality

Correlation is not the absence of causality

Football Game

Football Game

Football Game

Football Game

Football Game

Link tagging can help you move beyond correlation

in some instances

Google URL Builder

https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867?hl=en

Google URL Builder

https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867?hl=en

http://confabevents.com/events/ higher-ed?utm_source=twitter&

utm_medium=social-media&utm_content=test&

utm_campaign=number-stories

Next Stop: bit.ly

http://bit.ly/1hmQBim

Use this technique for• E-mail (no need to shorten)

• Social media

• Text messages

• Print ads

• QR codes (!)

Then look for the traffic in Google Analytics

Sustainability

DATA COLLECTION

Sustainability

If you can’t sustain data collection, you won’t answer your questions.

10 minutes for analytics

Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/58827557@N06/15479719427/

Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/editor/1252393940/

Use student workers

Automate with Google Sheets & GA Add-on

Or with Google Sheets & Super Metrics Add-on

Take a one-month sample

Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dafnecholet/5374200948/`

Look at less

Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/matley0/2694746491/

Reporting

Reporting on Analytics

• Focus

• Tell a story with data

Focus

REPORTING

0

400

800

1,200

1,600

1/16/2011 1/23/11 1/30/2011 2/6/2011 2/13/2011

Web Sessions Campus Tours

0

400

800

1,200

1,600

1/16/2011 1/23/11 1/30/2011 2/6/2011 2/13/2011

Web Sessions Campus Tours

• Focus on just a few measures

• Use them in comparison

Design effective charts

Edward Tufte

Maximize “Data Ink”

Use length, not angles to represent values

Minimize “Chart Junk”

Show Data in Comparison

Story

REPORTING

Our number stories are stories about our

content and how people use it.

Source: http://mayaeilam.com/2012/01/01/the-shapes-of-stories-a-kurt-vonnegut-infographic/

Source: http://mayaeilam.com/2012/01/01/the-shapes-of-stories-a-kurt-vonnegut-infographic/

Source: http://mayaeilam.com/2012/01/01/the-shapes-of-stories-a-kurt-vonnegut-infographic/

Source: http://mayaeilam.com/2012/01/01/the-shapes-of-stories-a-kurt-vonnegut-infographic/

The structure of the stories we’ll tell

1. Here’s where we were

2. Then we changed x

3. Here’s what happened

4. Here’s what we need to do next

Example• 40% of new students didn’t bring the right materials

to orientation, even though it was on the website

• We rewrote that content and provided a checklist

• This fall, only 20% of students didn’t bring the right materials to orientation

• Next, we’ll look at the way this content is labeled

Example• We’ve had an increase in students who start an

application but don’t complete it.

• We increased the number of reminder e-mails we send them.

• But—traffic from e-mail actually dropped afterward.

• Next, we’ll cut back on the number of e-mails and make the ones we do send more personalized.

Wrap Up

1. Plan for measurement• Understand your goals

• Understand how your content gets you there

• Use that analysis to find a small number of appropriate measures

• Set numeric targets

2. Collect data effectively

• Collect contextual data

• Organize your measurements centrally

• Have a plan to sustain data collection

3. Present persuasively

• Focus

• Tell a Story

Questions?