measuring content performance
TRANSCRIPT
Measuring Content PerformanceMaking the tool work for you
About me
Psychology Grad
Insights for 6 years
Started in market research
Lead Analyst, Hearst UK
@dannyluc88
Analytics @ HearstUK
Google Analytics Premium
Tableau
BigQuery
Excel
10 mins… Page views are greatCan measure performance of individual articlesCan measure performance of channels
Are we capturing what we need?
What behaviours are you writing for?
From brand blogs to publishers, content is everywhere
“Five behaviours that define the news business” Thomas Baekdal
1. The Break2. The Update3. The Lookup4. The Story and
passion5. The Recline
Talk to your editorsWho are they writing for?
How do they contextualise their content?
Get access to their CMS and understand the different ways they tag their content
Traffic sources say a lot about user expectations… users on Facebook expect different content than those using Search
Get campaign tracking right (yes this is still important!)
You can tidy this up in excel/BI tool but why make people rely on you?
Traffic report still messy? Use filters
Now, what works on each platform? Queries from editors:
• What types of articles should include in my newsletter?• Is it true Facebook users only engage with short form articles?• I only want to see the content I’ve published this week
Page information missing:• Length• Category• Sub category• Article, video or gallery• Contains image• Recency• …and more
You can’t get this insight in your analytics tool “out of the box”
3 ways to get more from your data
Customise your analytics toolCustom dimensions/variables are waiting for your data
Capture interesting page information/CMS tags in your custom dimensions
Bribe a developer or use a TMS
Build the reports you actually need
Access your CMSYour CMS database is full of interesting page information
• When was it published• Did it contain a video or image or 2• Who was the Author• Raw html tags
How? Analytics export (page and data) + CMS export (page and page info)= match on page
Good old ExcelYour URL has contextual info:
Turnhttp://www.esquire.co.uk/style/news/g9606/8-style-rules-all-british-men-should-know/
Into
Site Category
Content type
Article Type
ID Content title
Content Style
Esquire style news Image/gallery
g9606 8 style rules all British men should know
list
Engagement
Create your own definitionJust because it’s hard to define, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it
Event tracking:You can track interactions - scrolls, time beacons, video views, slide views, clicks on social shares and newsletter sign ups etc.
I find them tricky to report in GA and have to use excel (even trickier in tableau…)
Track events with custom metrics to add context to your dimensions
How has it worked at Hearst?
Process:Started with page views – editors wanted to know moreWorked with one brand first and rolled out to others
Now:Editors are in charge of tagging – section editors have their own targets and reportsEditors want to customise their tracking with their definitionsEngagement as a KPI is being discussed at a senior level
Thank you!