Online Competitive Analytics in Macquarie University

1. Eliud Carrera 41641701 Supervisor: Deborah Richards Client: Gary Lau Online Competitive Analytics in Macquarie University

2. Introduction • Macquarie University snapshot • Web Analytics • Ranking and Tracking Systems • Metrics Tracking Solution • Metrics • Data Sources • Business Intelligence Tool • Results – Demo • Dashboard Design • Future work & conclusion Outline

3. “Users prefer to use Web-based services that are already adopted by the wider community and that are free, robust, simple to sign on to, and easy to install and use.” (Hunter, 2009) • Published by Sydney University: • 86% of future undergraduate students will visit the web page to find out about the university • 63% of postgraduate student said the website to be the most important source of information (Clements, 2011) Introduction

4. Web strategy is the translation of organizational objectives and values into high-level management directives for the web • University of Sydney • University York • Princeton University • Durham University • Glasgow University • …….. • Macquarie University Introduction

5. How do a university is able to track the success of online tools and strategies? • How do they map to university-wide strategic objectives? Introduction

6. “Web analytics is the practice of measuring, collecting, analysing and reporting on Internet data for the purposes of understanding how a site is used by its audience and how to optimise its usage.” Web Analytics Association

7. Macquarie University is presented with a big challenge regarding the tracking and measurement of the effects of online marketing on the actual business success indicators. • The lack of different metrics, a sound strategy, and the knowledge of the effect that this has in other business decisions is of concern MQ Snapshot

8. Luke Williams, Online Marketing Manager • George Hernandez, Marketing Communications Coordinator (MQ International) • PhD Neil Fraser, Director of Information MQ Snapshot

9. Luke Williams • “[…] measuring sites that Macquarie controls and produce one simple metric to decide whether we are performing well or not is the priority of Online Marketing […]” • George Hernandez • The different behaviour of the international market requires a different approach in how to track success • PhD Neil Fraser, Director of Information • Fulfill unique challenges and needs such as breakdown information in to International, domestic, internal and external, in order to gather actionable insight MQ Snapshot

10. Online Marketing • Use of Google Analytics to track simple metrics • There is no conversion tracking • Metrics generate a single number without real strategic support… • Unified Tracking Profile…..the future? • Macquarie International • Heavy use of Google Analytics (Goal Tracking, Ad tracking) • Use of other sources of data eg. Customer Relationship Manager Vendor controls enquiries data • Tracking of directed and short term campaigns, highly focused on location • Macquarie Analytics • Sentiment analysis • External vs. Internal • Use of current Business Intelligence Tool to provide actionable insights MQ Snapshot

11. User-centric approach • User installed software that tracks behavior • Provides poor demographics, given small population sizes • Hard to know the precise origin and size of the sample • Website-centric approach • Tracks behavior attached to a particular website with the use of inserted code, cookies, etc. • More reliable regarding demographics • Requires management from website owner • Network-centric approach • Data collected at the Internet Service Provider level. • Generates bias due to poor demographics representation Web Analytics

12. Web Analytics

13. Top 8 metrics: • Visits  • Visitors  • Time on pages • Time on site • Bounce Rate • Exit Rate • Conversion Rate • Engagement “Google, and Google alone, has the power to offer truly accurate traffic information across a large portion of the web.” Kincaid (2008) Web Analytics

14. Data Sources • Google analytics accounts for: • mq.edu.au • International.mq.edu.au • DB Tables: • Visitors • Location • Landing Pages • Exits • Goals • Search Solution

15. Business intelligence tool : DATAMART • Datamartis a Macquarie University product for data analytics, reporting and collaboration to improve precision, alignment and accuracy. It delivers trustworthy information to its users whenever they want it, however they like it, whenever they you need it. Solution

16. Results - Demo

17. Visibility of all the data merged together with aggregated analysis • Allows separate business units to work together to drive change, sharing the same target metrics and KPI’s • Unified single source for data consumption • Provides the delivery of analytic reports, with the capability to customize and tailor the requirements to specific strategies • Allows business stakeholders to focus on how to act on the data rather than how to generate it • Streamlines the overall online marketing process for both Macquarie International and Online Marketing • A proof of concept that is scalable to the point of incorporating other data sources likeexternal analytic tools, data gathered by vendors, etc. • Capabilities to present targeted measures to executives in order to provide performance indicators Results

18. Relate current results with results from the Unified Tracking Profile undertaken by Online Marketing • Business units to move from basic metrics to strategic metrics, like conversions • Develop a student behaviour based framework that will provide an overview of the cycle of interaction between students and Macquarie Universities website. It can be derived from insights gathered from basic metrics. • Research on different sources for Analytics, like Social Media, in order to incorporate into analytical reporting. • Develop an internal and external view of Macquarie University online. • Map Web Analytics variables to general strategic KPI’s and processes Future Work

19. Web Analytics for Higher Education is not a straight forward process • However, has to start with the basics • Requires business stakeholder buy-in and collaboration • Requires understanding of the strategic objectives that executives are trying to accomplish • In Higher Education, interaction goes beyond a simple application submitted online. The range of services provided is extensive. Different points to measure performance need to be identified. • An overall WEB STRATEGY needs to drive the requirements for Web Analytics in order to provide a unified experience, and therefore, a unified metric profile. Conclusion

20. Questions