In this 3-question interview, Laura tells us about what’s coming in 2018, the challenges of embracing analytics in higher ed and the best ways to keep learning about data and measurement for higher ed marketers..
1) What’s coming for higher ed analytics and measurement in 2018?
I have noticed more of a focus on data visualization lately and I think learning more about that topic will be beneficial for higher ed web analysts as they learn to use their data to make educated decisions and then present the findings to their colleagues in a way that makes sense to everyone. My data efforts in the upcoming year are going to be focused on analyzing the web activity of specific audiences on the website, such as prospective undergraduate students, international visitors, and engaged visitors. I am particularly interested in what engaged visitors are doing, how we can use analytics data to increase the number of engaged visitors by improving web content, and how engagement affects conversion rates.
2) What’s preventing higher education from embracing data and analytics more widely for digital marketing?
I think decentralization in higher ed makes it hard to see a complete picture of a website visitor’s complete path across the school’s web pages, and how the actions taken along that path directly correlate to physical actions such as campus visits, graduation rate or alumni giving, because you and/or your department may not be collecting all of the data you need and you might not know where to get it. It is well worth the effort to find a way to pull together as many of your school’s websites as possible under one analytics account, as well as identify and pull together other data sources across campus to answer your questions and accurately measure the effectiveness of your website and marketing efforts. You can best serve your audiences by getting as complete and accurate of an assessment of their activity on your website as you possibly can.
3) What are the best ways to keep learning about analytics, measurement and data?
I follow quite a few analytics experts and companies via email newsletters and Twitter. My favorite sources are the official Google Analytics accounts, Simo Ahava, Krista Seiden, Avinash Kaushik, Moz, LunaMetrics, and many more. Not only do I get a lot of technical expertise from these sources but I also learn about valuable educational resources like conferences and courses. It is also beneficial to connect with your peers at other universities to trade ideas back and forth about the best ways to collect and use data at your university. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people who present at the conferences you attend or who post helpful resources on Twitter – in my experience, higher ed analytics people are always happy to share their knowledge and resources with their peers at other universities, and you can learn so much from them!
A conference focusing on higher ed analytics?
The Higher Ed Analytics Conference is a must-attend event for higher ed marketing professionals and teams 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 experience.