In this 3-question interview, Ed tells us about an interesting analytics challenge and a favorite Google Analytics before discussing what will make a big difference for higher ed analytics in 2017.
1) What’s the most challenging yet interesting part in your work with analytics?
I find the most challenging part to be transforming all these streams of data that we spend lots of time capturing, into actionable insights. However, this is very interesting and gets to the core of the digital analyst role and the potential of Big Data in general.
Within my organization, as I suspect with many, in order to uncover valuable, actionable insights, we need to weave multiple sources of data, such as the CRM, SIS, and digital analytics, together to paint a more complete picture of our customers and the journey they take through our digital channels. This is both a technical as well as cultural and political challenge. But I find it very rewarding and exciting. It is a bit of a mystery adventure with the potential to really help our organization save money, be more efficient, and deliver higher quality digital content to stakeholders.
2) What is your favorite GA feature, why and how do you use it at your school?
I was brand new to GA when I started (Higher Ed Experts courses were lifesavers! 😉 so it has been fun, scary, frustrating at times but I have come to really like and respect the tool. My favorite part of the tool is the ability to quickly jump to different contexts of the same data. GA provides the ability to jump from demographic insights, to campaign breakouts, over to network and device metrics. I am now discovering the power of segmentations and goal configuration as I gain confidence with my understanding of the basic feature set. GA is our primary web analytic reporting tool. I actively work with our Admissions marketing team to layer in GA data with CRM campaign data for better prospect funnel analysis.
3) What do you think will make a big difference for higher ed analytics and measurement in 2017?
I think personalization and real-time digital marketing experiences will become more mainstream in Higher Ed. As our industry becomes more competitive, and the college bound population decreases, it will be imperative for digital marketing teams to personalize messaging, where possible, down to an individual level to maximize the digital conversation and build brand engagement. Everyone is bombarded with information and ads, our challenge is to somehow break through the clutter and get our brand message heard. I think by leveraging all this data we have collected from analytics and CRM systems, digital marketing is hoping to build better conversations and engagement with real-time with personalization. To see if this experiment does in fact work, fine grain analytic measurement with A/B testing will be key. Leveraging Googles Tag Manager data layer framework for example could be a very helpful tool for us in measuring specific reactions to personalized content.
A conference on digital analytics for higher education?
The HEA conference has become a must-attend event for digital marketing and communication professionals in higher education looking for new ideas and best practices.
Read below what a few of your higher ed colleagues who attended the past editions of the Higher Ed Analytics Conference say about the event.