https://blog.karljtaylor.com/categories/analytics/ Recent content in Analytics on Karl Taylor Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Tue, 01 Aug 2017 22:38:45 +0000 https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2017-08-01-my-default-facebook-reports-interface-for-promoted-posts/ Tue, 01 Aug 2017 22:38:45 +0000 https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2017-08-01-my-default-facebook-reports-interface-for-promoted-posts/ over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed a handful of questions about which metrics are worth paying attention to in the Facebook Ads reports console. I think there’s a good reason for this: unless you know what you’re looking for, you’re likely to spend quite a bit of time fishing around for something that can help to illuminate the impact your work is having. It’s easy to get distracted by metrics that have little to do with your objective. https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2017-05-22-there-is-a-much-easier-way-to-advocate-for-net-neutrality-than-calling-congress/ Mon, 22 May 2017 18:02:44 +0000 https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2017-05-22-there-is-a-much-easier-way-to-advocate-for-net-neutrality-than-calling-congress/ I don’t know if I can believe that the public really cares about net neutrality anymore. I want to, but the truth is, when you look beyond the voices and at what people actually use the public is making a fairly convincing argument to the contrary. If you give me a minute, I’ll explain what I think a lot of advertisers are afraid to tell you. They have pretty good reason to be, there’s not a lot of money in tipping over this particular apple cart. https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2017-05-08-quality-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder/ Mon, 08 May 2017 23:39:05 +0000 https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2017-05-08-quality-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder/ I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard some version of that idea. Growing up, I remember keeping a list of each time I ran into it. I don’t know that I kept it up, but I do know I first heard it as a shoddy explanation from a caricature of a public school art teacher. I normally write slightly longer posts, but I just wanted to take a moment to share one thought. https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2017-05-03-you-only-really-need-one-metric-to-evaluate-the-health-of-a-facebook-page/ Wed, 03 May 2017 21:04:15 +0000 https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2017-05-03-you-only-really-need-one-metric-to-evaluate-the-health-of-a-facebook-page/ and that’s “Talking About This.” (PTAT) If you’ve been working with Facebook longer than, oh, maybe 2011 or so, you probably already know this, and you can go ahead and skip this one. If you don’t, you’re in for a treat. I don’t know that anyone has taken the time to take a step back and write a little about Graph (Theory) By Zuck. Still, if you’ve spent any amount of time around the Facebook platform, you’re likely familiar with all of the different ways a user may engage with a piece of content. https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2017-02-13-the-spectrum-of-user-surveys/ Mon, 13 Feb 2017 01:33:45 +0000 https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2017-02-13-the-spectrum-of-user-surveys/ Most advice about user surveys is really bad. I know, because I’ve been part of the problem on this one. Don’t believe me? Here’s a video I found and reuploaded from a few years ago. It’s in a folder with a very strongly worded readme all about what was going on at the time. The trouble with advice like this, is that user surveys happen in one of two ways. https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2016-12-13-how-do-we-know-what-to-test/ Tue, 13 Dec 2016 04:53:19 +0000 https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2016-12-13-how-do-we-know-what-to-test/ Some of the more curious questions we get from marketers involve testing. I’ve found this strange, in part, because I’m not sure I’ve ever once wondered why anyone would need help figuring out what experiment to run next. A quick glance through Google shows me that there are quite a few resources like Gabriel Weinberg’s “32 Fast And Cheap Marketing Tests You Should Consider Running.” There are even collections of results like the delightful “I Spent $30,000” (Justin Brooke) and this great classic on meaningful tests. https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2016-09-16-quick-suggestion-for-a-poor-team-needing-an-early-analytics-stack/ Fri, 16 Sep 2016 18:42:33 +0000 https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2016-09-16-quick-suggestion-for-a-poor-team-needing-an-early-analytics-stack/ I think all too often, startups put off putting in basic tracking capabilities until they feel like they can afford a solution on the level of Adobe Marketing Cloud — or in the medium term HubSpot. I think if I were just getting started on a project this is the flow I’d use. (It’s actually the flow we’re using on our team’s branded properties right now.) Install Segment. I really shouldn’t be so shameless, but if I were going to deploy a tag on an early stage team (say an early website) I wouldn’t want to have to revisit updating my site each time I discovered a new capability I wanted to play with. https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2016-08-16-honest-conversation-about-collecting-student-data/ Tue, 16 Aug 2016 16:31:06 +0000 https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2016-08-16-honest-conversation-about-collecting-student-data/ I remember when I made my first Yahoo Mail account at 12. I ran into the COPA filter that asked how old I was, and I noticed that if I changed the year, I’d be through and wouldn’t have any trouble signing up. So I did. We’ve spent a lot more time than I’d like to admit working on, near and around EdTech. One thing that has always bothered me has been the public conversation about student data. https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2016-08-05-what-to-do-when-the-digital-audience-information-doesnt-make-any-sense/ Fri, 05 Aug 2016 21:08:58 +0000 https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2016-08-05-what-to-do-when-the-digital-audience-information-doesnt-make-any-sense/ Even This Looks Better Than My Versioning Flow. I really need a better versioning best practice. The system we use now can be best characterized as an artistic interpretation of Google Drive. It’s a mess of columns, files and rows. It’s held together with bailing wire. It’s held together with willpower. In short, it’s a mess. But it’s my mess, and I daresay I’ve even grown fond of the time I’ve spent revisiting old work and cleaning up headers. https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2015-06-09-i-am-told-it-works-even-if-you-dont-believe-in-it/ Tue, 09 Jun 2015 11:36:46 +0000 https://blog.karljtaylor.com/blog/2015-06-09-i-am-told-it-works-even-if-you-dont-believe-in-it/ I’ve just found a unicorn. I took the opportunity to walk through my neighborhood last evening. I couldn’t help but notice this wonderful bit of old-world advertising while I was out and about. Here’s a closer shot: Do you believe in magic? It must have been rough trying to sell ads back when there was no real way to guarantee who saw them. In deference to my lack of experience with this rather…dated…medium, here’s a quick primer to get you up to speed.