X Change Mania

I’m going to be running some short email interviews with some of the X Change Huddle leaders that I know best. I figured that it would be a great way for people to get a flavor of the types of topics that will be discussed and the kind of people that will be there. In addition, I’d like to mention a recent post by Jared Waxman of Intuit (another Huddle leader) on Eric’s blog . Jared writes about the importance of understanding where your overall web analytics program is – what you’re doing well and where you’re struggling. And to that point, he’s put together a survey to help collect data to establish benchmarks on web analytics programs. It’s a great idea. It’s one of the many needs that a Conference like X Change is designed to fulfill, but it sure never hurts to bring some real data to the table – especially when you are fighting for budgets! So if you’ve got a free moment, take Jared’s survey…

I’m starting this interview series with Marshall Sponder of WebMetricsGuru fame and, now, a Senior Web Analyst at Monster. Some of the most interesting and unusual conversations I’ve had about web analytics have been with Marshall. He’s deeply involved in Social Media Measurement (and is a long-time SEO and Search expert) and is getting a chance to really push the envelope at Monster in terms of social measurement. Here’s his interview:

Could you describe your role at Monster Worldwide…?

I'm a senior web analyst at Monster Worldwide working on Search and Audience Measurement - my role also goes cross-organizational and I'm taking a more active role in thought leadership, especially in Social Media initiatives.

How long have you been doing Web Analytics and Search Optimization?

I've been involved with Web Analytics for at least 5 years and Search, a little bit longer.

Can you tell us a little about the technology you’re using – and how that's evolving – both in terms of web analytics and the online measurement eco-system?

Been working with Comscore Audience data along with WebTrends and Visual Sciences/Omniture at Monster Worldwide.  I see myself evolving to mixing in Social Media tools such as Buzzlogic and Radian6, which we need for our Analytics as much as Marketing people need tools to manage Media Buys.

I think Web Analytics and Online Marketing are evolving to the point that someday soon, Chief Marketing Officers will be Web Analyst or have Web Analytics as a key requirement of every campaign - and no campaign will be launched that can't be measured, because measurement will be baked in from conception, on.

Your Huddle topic is on Measuring Social Media Impacts - What led you to pick that?

Measuring Social Media and its Enterprise Impacts - picked that as it's a natural for me, I'm on the Board of Directors of the WAA for Social Media and I've been studying and writing about Social Media for a while through my industry blogs.  I also helped to build WAASocial, the WAA's social network.

Of the other Huddles at X Change, are there some you're particularly keen on?

Managing expectations is one of them, Data Privacy is another hot issue, I'll try to attend that huddle, as well.   I'll miss some excellent Huddles on Tuesday so I'll only be able to attend one other huddle, besides my own.

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing enterprise web measurement in the next year?

Data Accuracy, knowing which set of data to use, for what purposes, is a major challenge as the industry matures - especially a visitor, as measured by Panel Data (is called a Unique Visitor) while Web Analytics also has a definition of "Unique Visitor" but they are very different.

Measurement of Marketing Initiatives is also a major challenge that's actually getting better, as Web Analysts move up the food chain - and I can envision a time soon when the CMO is a Web Analyst - or has one by their side.

Any other thoughts / comments?

My belief is that what is now termed "Web Analytics" will be called something else in the next 3-5 years.  There's also been a movement, which I've seen while I was working at IBM, and this certainly holds true of Monster Worldwide, of having earlier and earlier involvement of Web Analytics on many strategic levels, much as SEO/SEM are more effective when they are closer to the point of creation of content, Web Analytics is also moving in the same direction.

Marshall’s always been more of an optimist than I am. And while I do see analytics gradually transforming marketing practice and becoming much more prevalent at the C-Level (at least in a theoretical sense), I think that process is going to be a long, long, slow haul.

But if you are beginning to get pressure from your marketing organization to measure “buzz” and the impact of social media and social campaigns on web site traffic, or just want to be ahead of the curve, Marshall’s Huddle is the place to be. Analytics follows marketing dollars and enterprise marketing is really begin to expand in this area.

I’m also totally in agreement that in the world of enterprise analytics, concerns about privacy, managing expectations, and data accuracy often (quite reasonably) dominate discussion of technique. My next interview will be with Ron Pinsky of AIG who has chosen, incidentally, “Data Collection and Implementation Integrity” as one of his topics.

Comments

[Marshall Sponder]

Wow! Gary, Thank You. Somehow, my comments and thoughts look even better when framed by you at Semphonic.

Well ... I am an optimist - and maybe I'm off about how long it'll take for the CMO to evolve into a Web Analyst - or have one by their side - but I believe the evolution to that is inevitable, eventually as measurement becomes more and more important.

Perhaps the only way to really ensure you can measure anything is to bake in measurement at the very beginning, at the conception of a campaign - any campaign - and I'll be talking a lot about that in my Huddle next month.