When it comes to web analytics, marketing megasites have special needs
Online marketers depend on web analytics to help guide business decisions about their sites–but wrangling customer data when customers number in the tens of millions and rack up page views that number in the hundreds of millions can be challenging for any analytics system. When it comes to meeting the needs of these marketing “megasites,” all analytics vendors are not created equal, according to a new report by Forrester Research Inc. The report rates top analytics vendors in terms of their current offering, marketing strategy and market presence, and offers major marketers guidance on picking an analytics package that can support their requirements.
Among features critical to handling their analytics needs, Forrester advises large-scale marketers to first seek vendors with products equipped to handle high volumes of traffic – and data. “These sites need scalable infrastructure to collect and process clickstream data, as well as reporting that meets the needs of diverse users,” according to Forrester analyst Bob Catham, the report’s author.
Forrester notes that these top b2c marketing sites have become active users of the data generated by web analytics. To quickly apply this intelligence to business decisions on the site, the analytics function on the tech side must be tightly integrated with marketing, merchandising and service operations, according to Forrester.
In addition, the mega-sites should seek analytics products capable of handling what Forrester calls “scenario design"–matching site users with their goals. “To boost scenario success rates, firms must track site visitors through key scenarios like registration or checkout,” to learn why and at what points site visitors drop out as they progress toward those goals, Forrester says.
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