Using Google Analytics: A Representative Study

Founded inwards 1995, CareerBuilder.com offers a vast online in addition to impress network to assist project seekers connect alongside employers. In May 2006, comScore Media Metrix ranked CareerBuilder.com every bit the nations largest online project site alongside to a greater extent than than 23 1000000 unique visitors in addition to over 1.5 1000000 jobs. CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for to a greater extent than than 900 partners that accomplish national, local, manufacture in addition to niche audiences.

com offers a vast online in addition to impress network to assist project seekers connect alongside employers Using Google Analytics: H5N1 Case StudyIn Jan 2006, CareerBuilder.com launched CBcampus.com, a site designed specifically for college students. To drive traffic to the novel site, CareerBuilder.com initiated outreach programs on college campuses across the province past times running impress ads inwards college publications in addition to sponsoring a diversity of campus events. Because of the broad diversity of campus events in addition to the considerable investment inwards on-campus outreach, CareerBuilder.com was committed to tracking how successfully each sort of trial drove traffic to the site. It was clear that an innovative approach to online tracking would live needed, i that could link offline events to online activity. To this end, CareerBuilder.com created a airplane pilot marketing tracking study using Google Analytics.

Approach

During the menses of the study, CareerBuilder.com sponsored career fairs, athletic in addition to social events, in addition to organized invitee speaker events to give students an chance to larn well-nigh career opportunities. "All of these activities accept time, in addition to nosotros demand to figure out how best to focus our efforts, explains Nathan Lippe, collegiate marketing managing director at CareerBuilder.com. "While the squad is on the road, nosotros desire them to produce whatsoever is most effective."

Using the Google Analytics Network Location report, Lippe was able to pinpoint the campuses from which CBcampus.com was getting its traffic. CareerBuilder.com used this information to run a study comparison traffic earlier in addition to afterward events.

In the analysis, Lippe tried to determine which type of campus action yielded the highest pct increment inwards traffic. CareerBuilder.com ran viii dissimilar activities on over l dissimilar campuses. For each activity, Lippe looked at the amount publish of visits for xxx days prior to the action in addition to xxx days afterward the activity. Two of the activities saw a xxx percent increment inwards traffic, piece unopen to other saw a 20 percent increment inwards traffic. For competitive reasons, Lippe does non divulge the details of specific activities, "But, i of them was completely off the chart." To larn why, he decided to dig deeper into the campaigns data.

"A good designed methodology inwards combination alongside Google Analytics made our testing a success. Armed alongside what we've learned, I experience confident that we've developed the correct marketing focus."

-Nathan Lippe
Collegiate Marketing Manager at CareerBuilder.com


For the high-performing campaign, ii impress ads had been created to promote an on-campus event. The firstly promotion ran ii weeks prior to the trial in addition to the instant ran i calendar week prior to the event. Lippe looked at traffic over 5 distinct appointment ranges: the "baseline" menses (30 days prior to running the firstly ad), the "promotion response" menses (seven days afterward running the firstly ad), the instant "promotion response" menses (seven days afterward running the instant ad), an "event response" menses (seven days afterward the principal event), in addition to survive the "event lift" menses (30 days commencement i calendar week afterward the principal event). Google Analytics was used to determine the average publish of daily visits over each of these appointment ranges for iii campuses.

Lippe saw that traffic increased from the "baseline" menses past times over chiliad percent to its meridian during the promotion in addition to event. "We had expected to run into a spike inwards traffic," Lippe said, "but what actually surprised us was that, for over xxx days afterward the event, at that topographic point was a sustained elevator inwards traffic. And nosotros saw the same pattern across all iii campuses." Indeed, for the "event lift" period, that is, the xxx twenty-four hours menses commencement i calendar week afterward the principal event, CBcampus.com saw an average daily traffic elevator of 230 percent over the baseline period. It was clear that the promotions had been effective at increasing long-term awareness in addition to usage of the site.

As Lippe farther studied traffic for each of the appointment ranges, he noticed something unusual. Traffic spikes too occurred during the "promotion response" periods, non precisely the "event response" period. This told Lippe that something well-nigh the promotion was every bit of import every bit the trial itself. "We constitute that it was the incentive to travel to the site, rather than the actual event, that actually made a difference. With this cognition nosotros computer program to run to a greater extent than incentive-based promotions since nosotros know they operate well," he said. "You tin flame gain in addition to then much insight if you lot travel beyond only comparison traffic earlier in addition to afterward the events."

Resultscom offers a vast online in addition to impress network to assist project seekers connect alongside employers Using Google Analytics: H5N1 Case Study

This fall, CareerBuilder.com continues their on-campus marketing activities. "Were planning to catch lxxx to a greater extent than colleges this autumn in addition to nosotros desire to acquire the most value from the events nosotros sponsor," Lippe said. The results we've seen alongside certainly activities possess got acquire our novel baseline. Were non precisely driving one-time visitors to the site; were getting students to larn well-nigh the site in addition to role it every bit a resource. "A welldesigned methodology inwards combination alongside Google Analytics made our testing a success. Armed alongside what we've learned, I experience confident that we've developed the correct marketing focus."

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