Having installed and continuing to install Google Analytics and other statistical/measurement tools on all sorts of domains in all sort of industries, I am constantly amazed by the power of measurement. I have helped many small business customers go from not being able to measure anything, to being able to measure everything.
“Measuring everything” is nothing new to global enterprises and Fortune 500 Companies, they have been tracking referral data, competitor data, conversion data and all sorts of complex customer/visitor scenerios since the dawn of internet days. I learned the power of data, usability and measurement when working as a Digital Product analyst for my cousin Anthony Bradley at META Group (now Gartner Group.)
I was on the phone last night with another cousin of mine, Brendan Kelly, who is the business development manager for Hitwise. We were doing what we always do and passionately discussing the amazing advances in competitor tracking technologies and the competitive advantage that results from intelligently and strategically using measurement and stastics wisely. Then, like most conversations these days with clients, co-workers and industry peers, the conversation moved to the topic of the economy. And, for the most part, all of my best clients, friends and peers are saying the same thing, ”We are focusing on providing ultimate value to our customers, doing whatever it takes and re-positioning our products and services to help our customers weather this economic storm.”
As an entrepreneur and small business owner myself I can completely relate to the spirit of this strategy, as it is exactly what I must do to keep The Simple Solutions ship afloat and my amazingly talented and loyal staff employed. Infact, I had been talking with a valuable client and passionate and entrepreneuer, Scott Farber, about implementing this very same strategic vision.
So, how does this relate to “Measurement and The Value 0?” Here is how. For the last several years, sales and conversions were at record levels. My small-mid size customers were buying and leveraging all sorts of software to measure their successes and stay one step ahead of their competition. Everyone was and still is swimming in a sea of infinate data. When times were good and sales were up and conversions were high, it made sense to only focus on the top perfoming statistics. Why focus any effort at all on things that are not converting or selling when we could be spending time focusing all of our efforts on the things that sell the most and convert the most?
Made sense then, still makes sense now to some degree … but there is a very meaningful statistic that is analageous to the 100 pound gorilla in the room. What about all of the search terms, and products and marketing initiatives that failed? What about all of those visists that came from XYZ search terms but didn’t convert? We know those 10’s of thousands or 100’s of thousands or even 10’s of millions of visitors came to your domain via XYZ search term and 100’s of thousands of others, why didn’t they convert? Did they not like your products? Did they not like your brand? Were and are you still targeting terms and traffic that didn’t really align with your products and services? Why was that 1 product such a dud and what could be done to bring that conversion rate from “0″ to 2% or 3% or 9%?
Now that “everything” is having a harder time converting it makes sense to look at the big traffic generators of the past and present that you ignored for so many years and continue to ignore. Perhaps, its time to measure and realize “The Value Of “0.” Now, I have to go finish reading an article that my other cousin, Ryan Kelly (Brendan’s brother), recommended as a good read.