Supercharging Pledge Using Google Analytics Michelle Bellettiere

1. Supercharging Pledge Using Google Analytics Michelle Bellettiere

2. NPR DS Analytics Service analytics@ds.npr.org Reporting on key metrics Custom site reports, Triton streaming metrics, Chartbeat live dashboard, station rollup Actionableinsights Key user behaviors,important trends, content/feature usage,best practices Focusedtesting Live A/B tests onimportant business goals(e.g., pledge optimization) Analytics setup & training Webinars,blog posts,1-on-1 consulting

3. I already get reports from my donation platform - why do I need Google Analytics?

4. Google analytics adds a wealth of additional information on donor behavior. Your pledge tool can tell you how much and how many people gave but it may not tell you things like: • Where do people “fall off” in the pledge process? • How does landing page affect pledge conversion? • How do different pledge messages throughout the site perform? • What is the average number of visits to your site before someone makes a pledge?

5. Today we’ll talk about the steps you need to take to get the reports that answer these questions and more! • What you need to do to get setup • How to use existing reports with new data • Setting up and using goals • Ecommerce reporting specifics Please note: this session assumes that you have some familiarity with Google Analytics but does not go into technical details. Please contact analytics@ds.npr.org if you need additional details.

6. If you want to get the most out of your dataremember that set up matters If you are like most stations you have support and membership pages on your site (Or multiple sites) but your Pledge Tool may be hosted elsewhere. Pledge Site: https://secure.publicbroadcasting.net/wxpn/default/form.pledgemain Main Site: http://www.xpn.org/index.php

7. Without proper cross domain tracking a session “breaks” when a visitor moves across site Without cross domain tracking data will be incorrect or incomplete. Without proper cross domain: Lost referrals/self referrals New additional sessions Incorrect visitor data With cross domain: Session continues with proper attribution and landing page information Station station.org Link + Pledge Pledge station.pledge.org station.org

8. Proper setup for multiple sites uses cross domain tracking If we’re using multiple sites, how is it possible to pass this information to the pledge site? The _link() method sends cookie information via ‘URL parameter’ and allows this to happen… https://secure.publicbroadcasting.net/wrti/pledge.pledgemain Becomes https://secure.publicbroadcasting.net/wrti/pledge.pledgemain?__utma=42327779.1182810537.1375111087.1380139814.1380920860.6&__utmb=42327779.5.8.1380920870904&__utmc=42327779&__utmx=-&__utmz=42327779.1375111087.1.1.utmcsr=(direct)|utmccn=(direct)|utmcmd=(none)&__utmv=-&__utmk=171923749

9. DON’T PANIC

10. Analytics best practice recommendations for tracking pledge across multiple sites Make a trade off: For analytics data: Send traffic (email or other campaign) to your main site and then to pledge site. This is required to associate the pledge session with the history from your main site. If you send direct to pledge you will not be able to associate other user activity with the pledge data. For user experience (and maximum revenue): Use the shortest path possible to increase conversion. OR To do both: Use a page redirect that passes the URL parameters Always use Google Analytics Campaign tracking in emails Never use Google Analytics Campaign tracking on site links

11. How to implement cross domain tracking in GA • OPTION A: Customize your GA Code • Configure GA tag to allow cross domain tracking • Add additional code to all outbound links • Use a single Web Property ID (UA-xxxxxxxx-yy) to track both sites • OPTION B: Use our DS Station Analytics Tag • Set up your SAS account • Add SAS tag to sites CAUTION: If you are using server redirects there may be additional steps to pass the data correctly.

12. Recap • Use proper cross domain tracking to get the best data on pledge out of your Google Analytics Account • Use a single web property id (“UA number”) across all websites that interact with each other • Consider Analytics data when designing a pledge campaign • Use the Station Analytics System to simplify tracking • NEXT: How to use Google Analytics reporting to measure pledge success

13. DON’T PANIC

14. Goals What keeps me going is goals. Muhammad Ali Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/

15. Using Goals and Funnels Goals allow visitor activities to be reported as success metrics. • Typical reports are focused on number of pageviews; Include metrics like duration, bounce and exit rate • Goals can convert pageviews into completions, conversion rate, and abandon rate.

16. Calculating a goal If we want to understand pledge conversion over time we can create a conversion metric that compares total visits with the number of visits that complete a pledge. 1000 Visits 15 Visits to pledge page 1.5% Pledge conversion Rather than doing the math, let’s find an easy way to get to this number – a goal.

17. Once we have goals they allow us to easily view conversion rates In one group of stations we saw that: 1.5% of visits include a pledge thank you page. This is our pledge conversion. Once we create this goal is GA we will learn more ways to dive into this number.

18. Here’s how to create a URL based goal • Admin setting for a view select “goals”

19. A few simple steps to create a goal • Give the goal a clear name – Pledge Confirmation page • Set “Type” to “Destination” • Click “Next”

20. Entering goal details – choose a destination Enter a URL that matches the page which meets your goal. Can be a single page – “equals to” An entire path - “begins with” ex. /post/ A complex set – “regular expression”

21. Adding funnel steps to a goal Optional step – Turn Funnel on and add steps that proceed your thank you page

22. The Quick Pledge Funnel Enter the steps that apply to your pledge process. Include a landing page if you use one; make it optional if you only use it sometimes Regular expressions are helpful if you use more than one page

23. Verify your goal to make sure it works before saving Verify to see if goal is working correctly – if you see a percentage that seems to high or is too low, check your formula. Once you save your goal you will have to wait for data to start appearing. No history – applies only to future activity. NEXT: Now where do we find our new goals?

24. Adding Goals to Standard Reports What keeps me going is goals. Muhammad Ali Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/

25. There are two ways to use goals • New goal based conversion reports • Additional ways to use standard reports

26. The standard report view focuses on site usage and traffic metrics Typical Content Report for Pledge pages showing site usage metrics NEXT: Let’s see how this page is really performing by using goals

27. How to view goals in existing standard reports Change the Explorer to view different Metric Sets

28. Goals will now be added to all of the standard reports

29. Exploring the conversion reporting ‘Conversions’ section of GA reports breaks out Goals, Ecommerce, Multi-Channel Funnels and Attribution • Goals and Ecommerce are covered in this session • Multi-Channel and Attribution are advanced reports that allow you to understand the relationship between multiple sources in driving conversion over time • Example: Social media may not drive same session pledge, but visitors who have engaged with social media may be more likely to give over time

30. Using Goals creates new views of data and enhances standard reports Goal Conversion reports and a new way to look at your data and do not require ecommerce tracking Select the goal you want to work with Select metric(s) you want to graph Compare Summary Metrics

31. Once we have goals they allow us to easily compare conversion rates across reports By using a landing page report on one group of stations we saw that: Visits that start on the homepage have a 1.5% pledge conversion; almost 4 times the average Visits that start on “about us” have a 4% pledge goal conversion; 12 times the average Knowing these things can help us to adapt our site to improve these ease to complete these tasks or help us to encourage these behaviors where they are uncommon.

32. Making the mobile report instructive with goal conversions Comparing pledge across device can help us target our site development activities

33. Another side of goals

34. What is a funnel and what does it tell us? Funnels show us visually how people move through the steps and explain where they fall out Completion Abandon Form Exit Continue Preview Exit Continue Thank you Goal completions/Visits = Conversion Rate

35. Funnels identify where users leave the process and spotlight potential issues

36. Recap: Working With Goals • How to create a URL based goal • Adding steps to create funnel reports • New conversion reports for goals • Adding goal to existing reports NEXT: Why do I need ecommerce reports?

37. eCommerce

38. Ecommerce tracking builds on goals by adding much richer details and additional reports New reports, metrics and dimensions • Pledge dollars • Sustaining vs one time • premiums • Requires specific coding and configuration to implement • GA require new tracking code on confirmation page Contact your pledge provider or email analytics@ds.npr.org for implementation instructions Quick Pledge includes ecommerce

39. How do I get ecommerce data? Confirm that you have enabled this setting for your view in Admin Settings We will not cover the technical steps to implement this, but Quick Pledge stations already have this and other pledge providers may make this available.

40. Exploring the conversion reporting • ‘Conversions’ section of GA reports breaks out Goals, Ecommerce, Multi-Channel Funnels and Attribution • Goals and Ecommerce are covered in this session

41. Using Ecommerce Data Ecommerce adds a new metrics view to your existing reports

42. Moving beyond the standard metrics by using ecommerce in standard reports Easily compare report items by how much pledge revenue they contribute and how well they convert

43. The eCommerceconversion reports add additional details about pledge transactions • The Elements of Reporting Overview provides a helpful summary of key ecommerce including revenue, conversion rate, transactions Product performance includes “product” names from Quick Pledge for pledge type and gift Product category : Sustaining vs One time Sales Performance – Daily Sales comparison Transactions – Individual transaction ids, audit level Time to Purchase/Visits to purchase

44. Multiple Product reports provide in depth information about pledge types and gifts

45. Using Product Category reports to understand sustaining vs one time donations Quantity is the total number of monthly payments Unique Purchases is the number of individual pledges Product revenue is the total pledge dollars

46. The time to purchase report shows that over 80% of transaction happen in a single visit

47. What we learned in ecommerce reports • Ecommerce must be enabled in settings • How to add ecommerce metrics to standard reports • Using “Product Category” reports to view Sustaining v one time • Time to purchase report shows how long it takes visitors to pledge

48. Other things you could do • Use segmentation to highlight behavior of visitors who make a “one-time pledge” • Compare the segment you created for one time to a segment for “sustaining pledge” • Change your pledge form (hint: make it more simple) then check to see if abandonment decreases. • Use campaign tracking in your emails then run a report to see which messages convert better, drive larger average revenue, or lead to more sustainers. Add data and goals to your Google Analytics and watch what happens

49. Next steps for your station • Create your goals • Read the DS blog for details of how to create a goal (ds.npr.org/analytics) • Enable ecommerce in your GA admin settings • QP: check SAS to confirm your Google Analytics account is listed • Other Pledge Software: Ask about ecommerce tracking • Start using your data to understand your audience

50. Questions?