Win leadership buy-in
The Quarterly web analytics report was full report used by Digital Team at corporate headquarters to describe strategic performance for a high level audience. intranet and social media for the business.
There was little technical understanding of web analytics at the company, we were in the global business of B2B oil and gas, and though analytics was deemed useful our first Digital Team had to prove ROI for all of our operations to the business and at that early stage we had to build our team and our services from scratch. The main piece of feedback that I kept receiving about early reports was for simple takeaways that made performance clear.
Quarterly Analytics report
The first company analytics MVP
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Executive LeadershipUser
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Digital AnalystRole
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Corporate WebsiteChannel
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2014 - 2016
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Global HQ
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Internal product
Challenges Prove value of analytics and gain stakeholder support
The scope of the first analytics report was for the corporate website, with the hopes of future versions for the intranet and social media after the redesign projects for those launched. The of new $2MM redesign of the website corporate was the first redesigned property to launch.
Objectives
Establish understanding of website performance
clear meaning for technical terms
Demonstrate the value of the report
identify performance benchmarks and KPIs for key digital programs
Sell the project to steering team & manager
show my manager my expertise in analytical subject matter
Building first report template MVP
After the launch of the website, I built an MVP of the first website analytics report template in PowerPoint. My role included writing insights, developing a turnkey report and helping with presentation notes. In a previous role I had served as digital account manager and ConocoPhillips had even been a previous agency client. My manager used the report in meetings with company leadership and steering committee members at global corporate headquarters.
Powerpoint MVP
I captured data from Google Analytics using Next Analytics, then used Powerpoint and Excel in my workflow to prepare first reports.
The struggles of corporate digital
Analytics & other common digital pain points
...if I got the chance to.
8 out 10 companies plan to work on establishing analytics in 2020.
Before
After
Adobe Illustrator
I used Adobe CC to create wireframes for new designs.
I adapted to report template to user feedback
After manually building the report template in PowerPoint for a year the second-hand feedback from my supervisors meetings, exposed usability pains and gains. I customized the report using real world feedback from actual users and then used my extensive visual design skills and web analysis experience to fix the report template. This same fluid approach also help us establish our first consistent quarterly reporting process.
Visual Design I design data for "non-web" people. I happen to be an amateur sketchnoter, so I belive in using visuals to convey understanding. It is all about finding the right iconography or design component.
The secret sauce
Check out the behind the scenes work of building an analytics report template
I made the experience fit growing trends
Build
Measure
Learn
Iterative Process
- Improved takeaway & insights copy
- Tracking of trends like mobile usage
- Improved iconography, charts and labels
Learnings
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manual reporting and data collection workflow had high effort requirement and learning curveProblem
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lack of confidence that the report was answering the correct questionsQuestion
Outcomes
Leadership's attitude shift about analytics
Personal growth
I earned promotion as a result of my corporate website analysis. I also completed my Google Analytics Certification.
Company change
In 2017, a year after my first MVP report, analytics was included as one of the swim lanes on our corporate communications strategic goals poster.
