#most important if the seller says it’s 88 i’m tagging it 88

[todays-just-a-daydream]

some details about the demo tape seller here:

was the seller’s name ever revealed?

I neeeeed to smoke weed and talk philosophy with him and read his poetry

[lovelyfantasticfart]

Vancouver Housing Market Cools Off, However Shopping for Nonetheless 鈥 榠nsanely Expensive鈥?

There are precedents in other cities, most notably Tokyo, where costs have fallen for twenty years and counting. There are providers different amenities and actions that attracts most of the people, and a masterpiece in an gratifying and quiet setting. There are also some excellent Resorts at Sandbanks which aren't overly priced, and in the event you stay right here you simply by no means know who you would possibly bump into. It isn't' that they're fussy eaters, however they like what they like. I had by no means heard a conversation like that earlier than. Sadly, in 30 years of either working with them in hobby or volunteer efforts at a reptile zoo, I was tagged a couple of instances. Average value of a house in Greater Vancouver dipped seven times in the past 30 years. Canadian Enterprise MagazineBut amid this frenzied property chase, we have forgotten an important fact: the previous decade has been removed from typical for actual property.

Some might say that we will comply with suit due to recent gains over the previous few years. However a few could surprise you. I have a mannequin 88 I acquired a couple years ago and use it for quilting recurrently. As quickly as you select to make the most of a water filter, it is important to pay attention to the principles and the perfect methods to make use of them. Other international locations have applied foreign ownership rules successfully, most notably Sydney, Australia. Condos were a lot slower to rebound and those extremely luxury excessive-rise units have not but returned to the lofty worth sometimes associated with lofty heights excessive above the city. Calgary - 2,500 sq. ft - Right here, many of the luxurious properties are in right out in the low-rise suburbs and "right-sizers" (as they are being referred to as within the trade) are usually going for infills, luxury townhouses and bungalows. On this fashionable age exactly where people are addicted to engineering virtually as considerably as medications, it may be tough to envision daily life with out the exact same degree of commonplace interaction that you just happen to be utilized to.

However the fashionable left-liberal financial philosophy has turn out to be corporatism. This in flip has improved affordability for existing homeowners and pushed up costs for future ones who can still miraculously tap credit score strains. Ford has begun shipping the F-one hundred fifty Raptor to sellers in China, who will soon offer the pickup to patrons in the communist nation. Buyers ought to at all times keep in mind that a properly priced dwelling will promote rapidly, probably with multiple provides. Not every one of the 4,515 consumers is going to default, however that鈥檚 the tip of the iceberg. 鈥淚t鈥檚 clearly very irritating for native residents, however I don鈥檛 see that shopping for interest going away anytime quickly,鈥?Frank Giustra, a mining and movie magnate primarily based in the city, mentioned in an interview. A quantity of worldwide have proven curiosity on this sector. An excellent buyer's agent would have beneficial that I get a home inspection which might have detected some items that I ignored in my walkthroughs. This includes home renovations, new appliances, utilities, appraisals, inspections, landscaping, closing costs and shifting costs. Know your house will probably be expertly and proactively Marketed and Advertised in Vancouver and Worldwide! Long-time Vancouver real estate blog readers will remember the work mohican did relating to scatter plotting months of inventory (MOI, defined as month-end for-sale stock divided by gross sales of that month) with price changes.

It actually is awe inspiring and provides some incredible alternatives for investment in Prime Deep Cove Actual Property in a scenic and thriving market. The real estate market is rarely dull. Overseas funding in Vancouver real estate is not new. This paucity of knowledge has the pernicious impact that any declare of an effect by overseas funding on city actual estate may very well be true or could possibly be false. Practically the entire inbound funding into Canada originated from China (42 per cent) and the U.S. The drop in gross sales is flattening costs. However partway by the 12 months the market began to cool, with sales and finally prices declining. The actual Property Board of Larger Vancouver released the info pertaining to the local marketplace for the month of April with the obligatory 'toot - toot' and press launch printed within the native rags. All these members belong to CREA or better often called Canadian Actual Property Affiliation.

This syndrome is characterized as a "want to amass" in line with psychologists. You wouldn't must be acknowledged to expertise a residence that has run out of time. 1. Max out your contribution to your IRA, 401(ok), or different retirement plan. It has stepped out of the USA's shadow to grow to be a world chief in quality of residing. Financial Establishments Fee, known as Ficom, is answerable for monitoring the rising shadow banking sector. Alcove: An adjoining area to the living room that can be modified to create a bedroom or a dining area. I've seen instances the place a tent was setup in a loft-like area for snuggling in. 236,000) in comparison with the previous 12 months. I can say I'm 100% happy with having used her as my realtor and wouldnt' hesitate to recommending her to anyone else! Zoning Rules: Pointers set by municipal governments that regulate the methods how property can or cannot be used. My honest strategy and concern for long run relationships is what you can expect from me. Warmer impartial colors work properly. 1.17 million, went up on a sliding scale in late 2014, rising to a 12% tax on the portion of a sale over 拢1.5 million.

from Blogger https://ift.tt/2zCDJEu

[wikimakemoney]

Schema Markup: What, Why, and Wherefore

Schema markup. What is it? Where did it come from? And do you need it?

To address that last question first, let’s put it this way:

Do you run an ecommerce website? You need it.

Does your content focus strictly on delivering content? Yup, you still need it.

Have a cooking website that uses a lot of videos? Oh, you better believe you need it.

You may have detected the pattern I’m going for here, so let’s explore those other questions and take a closer look at the finer details related to marking up your website with a little extra code.

What is Schema Markup?

The definition of “schema” is simply a “diagrammatic presentation.” Okay, maybe “diagrammatic” isn’t the simplest way to put that. Let’s just call it a structured framework, plan, or outline.

“Schema markup,” on the other hand, is code that you use on your website that allows the search engines to return more informative and detailed results to their users. This is possible because you’ve given the them a way to understand the framework, plan, or outline of your website.

One of the most common uses for this markup language is to generate rich snippets in your search results. They look a lot like this:

Or this:

Notice the additional bits of information on display here. The first result includes a rating from nearly 1,400 reviews. This is pretty helpful information, but then consider all the information on the second one. There, you’ll find:

The rating (3.6 stars)

The number of reviews (88)

The cost ($16.15)

Whether it’s in stock or not

Anyone searching for an iPhone charger can identify right from the results page all the information that they need to make a purchase.

Does this matter?

Of course it does. This kind of information is exactly the kind of thing that can encourage customers to click on your listing and become a customer.

Reviews, especially, play a huge role in the decision-making process, and visible prices help potential customers save time on product hunting, which can lead to increased sales.

Here’s another way to use schema markup to enhance the appearance of your results:

Here, the ticket seller is using schema markup to highlight the schedule of upcoming events at the theater. If local people are looking for some evening entertainment, and have nothing specific in mind, a display of events in the search engines could grab the searcher’s interest and draw them in so they can find out more.

On a related note – one that will have to wait for its own blog to explore it more – Google is going beyond just showing a list of events for some websites. In cases like this:

Google is actually allowing the searcher to explore details and a wide range of pages related to the original query right on the search results page. These are more like the traditional indented listings that Google still uses, and obviously the search engine isn’t going to do this for just every website, so this will have to wait for a different, in-depth explanation.

One final example of using schema markup for rich snippets:

When you add schema markup to individual pages of your website, you can help the search engines determine the most relevant images to show with the result (which will, in turn, contribute to your conversion rate).

In this wonderful meatloaf example, did you even notice that there was a second listing?

Or did you just immediately focus on the inevitably delicious and visually appealing ketchup glaze visible in the image?

Safe to say the entry that has been helped along by the proper schema markup is going to draw more clicks.

POP QUIZ on Schema Markup!

Schema markup is:

Submitted directly go Google

Code implemented on a website

Another name for the ketchup glaze that makes meatloaf even more magical

Beneficial to websites because it allows search engines to display more informative results

Rich snippets are:

Beneficial for websites

Google’s way of displaying search results with additional value

When you sneak a taste of the ketchup glaze that adorns meatloaf

All of the above

Please feel free to debate the answers in the comments.

How Does Schema Work, and How Do We Measure Success?

Is it worth taking the time to go through your website and add these bits of code throughout all those pages?

That could take a lot of effort, which means there better be a measurable return.

Schema can pay for itself by helping Google and other search engines better understand the content you’ve worked so hard to deliver to your customers.

When Google can properly identify that content, it can populate its search results with more details and more information that helps inform the end users.

But let’s let Schema.org tell us more about how it really works:

“Most webmasters are familiar with HTML tags on their pages. Usually, HTML tags tell the browser how to display the information included in the tag. For example, <h1>Avatar</h1> tells the browser to display the text string “Avatar” in a heading 1 format. However, the HTML tag doesn’t give any information about what that text string means — “Avatar” could refer to the hugely successful 3D movie, or it could refer to a type of profile picture—and this can make it more difficult for search engines to intelligently display relevant content to a user.”

So, How Do We Implement Schema Markup?

This blog was written in an effort to promote the importance of schema, why it is beneficial, the various types, the meaning of life, etc., and not to go over the nitty gritty process of schema implementation.

If you’ve got some HTML coding experience, you’re pretty much half way there, though. The only real difference is adding bits of schema.org vocabulary to HTML Microdata.

Once you are ready to start maximizing the information on your sites, though, this markup could very well change the game for you.

It’s About Knowing the Vocabulary

There is a schema for just about everything. (Don’t believe me? Check out the full list here.)

Now, just take a moment to wonder why in the world anyone ever needed so many words to make their website’s purpose clear.

But it works. And here’s why:

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Yandex were all big players in the internet game, and all of them approached internet searches in a slightly different way.

Any website that tried to appease every single one of them on an individual basis was soon going to be buried in complex, confusing, and overlapping code.

So, in what can only be called the greatest inter-industry collaboration ever before seen in the entire world (slightly hyperbolic maybe), these huge companies came together to create an agreed-upon set of code markers that each search engine could recognize and use.

These code markers are the “vocabulary” of schema, and the search engines appreciate you speaking their language.

Some Final Thoughts

Schema markup types may seem like a tidal wave bearing down on you, and it can be overwhelming at first.

Remember, though, you don’t need to learn every code marker and obsess about getting as many of them in there as you can.

You can leave all that to your SEO specialist. We’ll look for the most used and applicable markups and find the types that can really benefit your business.

  The post Schema Markup: What, Why, and Wherefore appeared first on SEO.com.

source http://wikimakemoney.com/2020/04/14/schema-markup-what-why-and-wherefore/

[duonghuynhoanh]

Schema Markup: What, Why, and Wherefore

Schema markup. What is it? Where did it come from? And do you need it?

To address that last question first, let’s put it this way:

Do you run an ecommerce website? You need it.

Does your content focus strictly on delivering content? Yup, you still need it.

Have a cooking website that uses a lot of videos? Oh, you better believe you need it.

You may have detected the pattern I’m going for here, so let’s explore those other questions and take a closer look at the finer details related to marking up your website with a little extra code.

What is Schema Markup?

The definition of “schema” is simply a “diagrammatic presentation.” Okay, maybe “diagrammatic” isn’t the simplest way to put that. Let’s just call it a structured framework, plan, or outline.

“Schema markup,” on the other hand, is code that you use on your website that allows the search engines to return more informative and detailed results to their users. This is possible because you’ve given the them a way to understand the framework, plan, or outline of your website.

One of the most common uses for this markup language is to generate rich snippets in your search results. They look a lot like this:

Or this:

Notice the additional bits of information on display here. The first result includes a rating from nearly 1,400 reviews. This is pretty helpful information, but then consider all the information on the second one. There, you’ll find:

The rating (3.6 stars)

The number of reviews (88)

The cost ($16.15)

Whether it’s in stock or not

Anyone searching for an iPhone charger can identify right from the results page all the information that they need to make a purchase.

Does this matter?

Of course it does. This kind of information is exactly the kind of thing that can encourage customers to click on your listing and become a customer.

Reviews, especially, play a huge role in the decision-making process, and visible prices help potential customers save time on product hunting, which can lead to increased sales.

Here’s another way to use schema markup to enhance the appearance of your results:

Here, the ticket seller is using schema markup to highlight the schedule of upcoming events at the theater. If local people are looking for some evening entertainment, and have nothing specific in mind, a display of events in the search engines could grab the searcher’s interest and draw them in so they can find out more.

On a related note – one that will have to wait for its own blog to explore it more – Google is going beyond just showing a list of events for some websites. In cases like this:

Google is actually allowing the searcher to explore details and a wide range of pages related to the original query right on the search results page. These are more like the traditional indented listings that Google still uses, and obviously the search engine isn’t going to do this for just every website, so this will have to wait for a different, in-depth explanation.

One final example of using schema markup for rich snippets:

When you add schema markup to individual pages of your website, you can help the search engines determine the most relevant images to show with the result (which will, in turn, contribute to your conversion rate).

In this wonderful meatloaf example, did you even notice that there was a second listing?

Or did you just immediately focus on the inevitably delicious and visually appealing ketchup glaze visible in the image?

Safe to say the entry that has been helped along by the proper schema markup is going to draw more clicks.

POP QUIZ on Schema Markup!

Schema markup is:

Submitted directly go Google

Code implemented on a website

Another name for the ketchup glaze that makes meatloaf even more magical

Beneficial to websites because it allows search engines to display more informative results

Rich snippets are:

Beneficial for websites

Google’s way of displaying search results with additional value

When you sneak a taste of the ketchup glaze that adorns meatloaf

All of the above

Please feel free to debate the answers in the comments.

How Does Schema Work, and How Do We Measure Success?

Is it worth taking the time to go through your website and add these bits of code throughout all those pages?

That could take a lot of effort, which means there better be a measurable return.

Schema can pay for itself by helping Google and other search engines better understand the content you’ve worked so hard to deliver to your customers.

When Google can properly identify that content, it can populate its search results with more details and more information that helps inform the end users.

But let’s let Schema.org tell us more about how it really works:

“Most webmasters are familiar with HTML tags on their pages. Usually, HTML tags tell the browser how to display the information included in the tag. For example, <h1>Avatar</h1> tells the browser to display the text string “Avatar” in a heading 1 format. However, the HTML tag doesn’t give any information about what that text string means — “Avatar” could refer to the hugely successful 3D movie, or it could refer to a type of profile picture—and this can make it more difficult for search engines to intelligently display relevant content to a user.”

So, How Do We Implement Schema Markup?

This blog was written in an effort to promote the importance of schema, why it is beneficial, the various types, the meaning of life, etc., and not to go over the nitty gritty process of schema implementation.

If you’ve got some HTML coding experience, you’re pretty much half way there, though. The only real difference is adding bits of schema.org vocabulary to HTML Microdata.

Once you are ready to start maximizing the information on your sites, though, this markup could very well change the game for you.

It’s About Knowing the Vocabulary

There is a schema for just about everything. (Don’t believe me? Check out the full list here.)

Now, just take a moment to wonder why in the world anyone ever needed so many words to make their website’s purpose clear.

But it works. And here’s why:

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Yandex were all big players in the internet game, and all of them approached internet searches in a slightly different way.

Any website that tried to appease every single one of them on an individual basis was soon going to be buried in complex, confusing, and overlapping code.

So, in what can only be called the greatest inter-industry collaboration ever before seen in the entire world (slightly hyperbolic maybe), these huge companies came together to create an agreed-upon set of code markers that each search engine could recognize and use.

These code markers are the “vocabulary” of schema, and the search engines appreciate you speaking their language.

Some Final Thoughts

Schema markup types may seem like a tidal wave bearing down on you, and it can be overwhelming at first.

Remember, though, you don’t need to learn every code marker and obsess about getting as many of them in there as you can.

You can leave all that to your SEO specialist. We’ll look for the most used and applicable markups and find the types that can really benefit your business.

 The post Schema Markup: What, Why, and Wherefore appeared first on SEO.com.

NGUỒN: SEO.com https://www.seo.com/blog/schema-markup-what-why-and-wherefore/ from ĐÀO TẠO SEO RYS | NINTENDO THANH https://nintendothanh.blogspot.com/2020/04/schema-markup-what-why-and-wherefore.html Nguồn: https://duonghuynhoanh.blogspot.com/2020/04/schema-markup-what-why-and-wherefore.html

[nintendothanh]

Schema Markup: What, Why, and Wherefore

Schema markup. What is it? Where did it come from? And do you need it?

To address that last question first, let’s put it this way:

Do you run an ecommerce website? You need it.

Does your content focus strictly on delivering content? Yup, you still need it.

Have a cooking website that uses a lot of videos? Oh, you better believe you need it.

You may have detected the pattern I’m going for here, so let’s explore those other questions and take a closer look at the finer details related to marking up your website with a little extra code.

What is Schema Markup?

The definition of “schema” is simply a “diagrammatic presentation.” Okay, maybe “diagrammatic” isn’t the simplest way to put that. Let’s just call it a structured framework, plan, or outline.

“Schema markup,” on the other hand, is code that you use on your website that allows the search engines to return more informative and detailed results to their users. This is possible because you’ve given the them a way to understand the framework, plan, or outline of your website.

One of the most common uses for this markup language is to generate rich snippets in your search results. They look a lot like this:

Or this:

Notice the additional bits of information on display here. The first result includes a rating from nearly 1,400 reviews. This is pretty helpful information, but then consider all the information on the second one. There, you’ll find:

The rating (3.6 stars)

The number of reviews (88)

The cost ($16.15)

Whether it’s in stock or not

Anyone searching for an iPhone charger can identify right from the results page all the information that they need to make a purchase.

Does this matter?

Of course it does. This kind of information is exactly the kind of thing that can encourage customers to click on your listing and become a customer.

Reviews, especially, play a huge role in the decision-making process, and visible prices help potential customers save time on product hunting, which can lead to increased sales.

Here’s another way to use schema markup to enhance the appearance of your results:

Here, the ticket seller is using schema markup to highlight the schedule of upcoming events at the theater. If local people are looking for some evening entertainment, and have nothing specific in mind, a display of events in the search engines could grab the searcher’s interest and draw them in so they can find out more.

On a related note – one that will have to wait for its own blog to explore it more – Google is going beyond just showing a list of events for some websites. In cases like this:

Google is actually allowing the searcher to explore details and a wide range of pages related to the original query right on the search results page. These are more like the traditional indented listings that Google still uses, and obviously the search engine isn’t going to do this for just every website, so this will have to wait for a different, in-depth explanation.

One final example of using schema markup for rich snippets:

When you add schema markup to individual pages of your website, you can help the search engines determine the most relevant images to show with the result (which will, in turn, contribute to your conversion rate).

In this wonderful meatloaf example, did you even notice that there was a second listing?

Or did you just immediately focus on the inevitably delicious and visually appealing ketchup glaze visible in the image?

Safe to say the entry that has been helped along by the proper schema markup is going to draw more clicks.

POP QUIZ on Schema Markup!

Schema markup is:

Submitted directly go Google

Code implemented on a website

Another name for the ketchup glaze that makes meatloaf even more magical

Beneficial to websites because it allows search engines to display more informative results

Rich snippets are:

Beneficial for websites

Google’s way of displaying search results with additional value

When you sneak a taste of the ketchup glaze that adorns meatloaf

All of the above

Please feel free to debate the answers in the comments.

How Does Schema Work, and How Do We Measure Success?

Is it worth taking the time to go through your website and add these bits of code throughout all those pages?

That could take a lot of effort, which means there better be a measurable return.

Schema can pay for itself by helping Google and other search engines better understand the content you’ve worked so hard to deliver to your customers.

When Google can properly identify that content, it can populate its search results with more details and more information that helps inform the end users.

But let’s let Schema.org tell us more about how it really works:

“Most webmasters are familiar with HTML tags on their pages. Usually, HTML tags tell the browser how to display the information included in the tag. For example, <h1>Avatar</h1> tells the browser to display the text string “Avatar” in a heading 1 format. However, the HTML tag doesn’t give any information about what that text string means — “Avatar” could refer to the hugely successful 3D movie, or it could refer to a type of profile picture—and this can make it more difficult for search engines to intelligently display relevant content to a user.”

So, How Do We Implement Schema Markup?

This blog was written in an effort to promote the importance of schema, why it is beneficial, the various types, the meaning of life, etc., and not to go over the nitty gritty process of schema implementation.

If you’ve got some HTML coding experience, you’re pretty much half way there, though. The only real difference is adding bits of schema.org vocabulary to HTML Microdata.

Once you are ready to start maximizing the information on your sites, though, this markup could very well change the game for you.

It’s About Knowing the Vocabulary

There is a schema for just about everything. (Don’t believe me? Check out the full list here.)

Now, just take a moment to wonder why in the world anyone ever needed so many words to make their website’s purpose clear.

But it works. And here’s why:

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Yandex were all big players in the internet game, and all of them approached internet searches in a slightly different way.

Any website that tried to appease every single one of them on an individual basis was soon going to be buried in complex, confusing, and overlapping code.

So, in what can only be called the greatest inter-industry collaboration ever before seen in the entire world (slightly hyperbolic maybe), these huge companies came together to create an agreed-upon set of code markers that each search engine could recognize and use.

These code markers are the “vocabulary” of schema, and the search engines appreciate you speaking their language.

Some Final Thoughts

Schema markup types may seem like a tidal wave bearing down on you, and it can be overwhelming at first.

Remember, though, you don’t need to learn every code marker and obsess about getting as many of them in there as you can.

You can leave all that to your SEO specialist. We’ll look for the most used and applicable markups and find the types that can really benefit your business.

 The post Schema Markup: What, Why, and Wherefore appeared first on SEO.com.

NGUỒN: SEO.com https://www.seo.com/blog/schema-markup-what-why-and-wherefore/ Nguồn: https://nintendothanh.blogspot.com/2020/04/schema-markup-what-why-and-wherefore.html Theo dõi thêm các thông tin khác tại: https://nintendothanh.tumblr.com

[marie85marketing]

Attribution Modeling for E-Commerce: 5 Things All Sellers Need to Know

I’m not going to lie to you: this can get very tricky. It’s so complex that many e-commerce platforms don’t even bother with it.

An attribution model is how you assign credit or value for sales and conversions across various customer touchpoints. It includes all your digital channels – paid search, display, email, social media, organic search, referrals – and the impact that each one has on the eventual conversion.

In the good old days, this was easy. You ran a radio ad, for example, and that brought in five new customers worth $250. That one touchpoint – the ad – got 100% of the credit for those sales. Simple.

But today? According the Content Marketing Institute’s annual report, marketers use an average of 13 tactics, seven different social media platforms, and three paid advertising channels in their efforts.

The route people take to find out about you, learn about you, and ultimately buy something from your e-commerce store can be long and convoluted. Your sales funnel can be big…very big.

How are you supposed to keep track of effectiveness?

Attribution modeling.

But just as the tactics, strategies, and channels have gotten more complicated, so too have the models to assign value to them. They can be basic and rules-based, or elaborate and algorithm-based. Single-touch or multi-touch.

In fact, there are at least five different models that are widely used, and even more depending on how you define and break them down:

First Touch (aka First-Click) assigns 100% of the credit to the first touchpoint in a conversion path. This is great for insight into how people find you (and the top of your funnel), but if they hit three other touchpoints before converting, does it really deserve all the glory?

Last Touch (aka Last-Click) gives the very last touchpoint full credit, no matter how many others they may have traversed. Easy to track and set-up, but almost universally considered worthless nowadays. There’s too much going on beforehand, and it gives zero notice to the top and middle of the funnel activities.

Linear assigns equal value to each step in the conversion path. If a customer traveled through four touchpoints before buying, each would get 25%. This is better – every point is considered and valued – but it tends to overvalue minor ones and undervalue key touchpoints.

Positional favors both the first and last touch – typically giving them each 40% of the credit – while dividing the remaining 20% amongst the middle touchpoints. Obviously, the model can drastically undervalue the middle, especially in a long path.

Time-decay is a simple algorithmic model that gives most credit to the point closest to conversion, and increasingly less as you move away from it. While it still favors the last touch, it does give some kudos to every step along the way, and as such, it’s the preferred model for many marketers and business owners.

And I haven’t even mentioned your best bet: the custom option (a model based on your platform, audience, marketing, and specific business goals). Avinash Kaushik has a great walkthrough of setting up your own custom model on Google Analytics over at Occam’s Razor.

But be prepared. He begins the post with these ominous words: “There are few things more complicated in analytics (all analytics, big data and huge data!) than multi-channel attribution modeling.”

And he’s not lying. It can be – and usually is – complex, tedious, and frustrating. A lot of it is trial and error over time.

That said, it’s absolutely worth it. Implementing an attribution model helps you understand what’s influencing customers to buy, how they shop, where they’re coming from, and what channels and tactics deserve the lion’s share of the credit (and therefore increased allocation of your marketing budget).

As you start out on your attribution adventure in the e-commerce sphere, there are five things you’ll want to keep in mind before you take that all-important first step.

Assisted Conversions Are the Bulk of Your Sales

Up to 98% of visitors to your site will not buy on their first visit. 55% will leave within 15 seconds of arriving.

84% of consumers say they either “completely” or “somewhat” trust recommendations from family, friends, and colleagues about products. 88% trust reviews from strangers as much as those from people they know.

Average cart abandonment rate is 68.81%.

Econsultancy found that 88% of consumers turn to online reviews when considering a purchase.

All of this is just to point out the obvious: few people are showing up at your digital storefront and buying something on their first visit. They drop by, do some poking around, check out some online reviews, explore your social media accounts, search for upcoming sales or coupons, do a little more virtual window shopping, check out what others are saying about you on Twitter, and finally return to your site when they’re ready to slap down that cash.

Each of those leads them just a little closer to the sale. Each interaction assists in the eventual conversion. The bulk of your sales come from these assisted conversions, so you’d best be tracking them and giving at least some credit to each one so you truly understand your customer behavior and how you should be marketing to them.

Want to see for yourself? Head on over to Google Analytics and check out Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Path Length to see exactly how many conversions are happening after just one interaction, two interactions, three interactions, and so on. You’ll be amazed.

Next, look at Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Assisted Conversions. Take a close look at the last column labeled “Assisted/Last Click or Direct Conversions”. A value less than 1? That channel is typically the last touch point before a conversion (i.e. sale). Greater than 1? It’s a step along the way. Using either first or last touch attribution? Those valuable cogs in the machine are being ignored.

I’ll say it again: assisted conversions are the bulk of your sales. Your model needs to recognize that.

There is No Ideal Attribution Model

Every model has its limitations and shortcomings. In a perfect world, we could just point at the one model to rule them all and be done with it. But it doesn’t work that way.

A custom model is best, but it does take awhile to collect the necessary data and customer understanding to pull it off. And if your data is wonky, it’s going to give you wonky insight.

Attribution modeling is as much art as science. And as much data-supported fact as intuition and educated guesswork.

Your custom model has to reflect your customers and your business. You need to consider the behavior that’s important to your goals, and the “soft” conversions (signing up for the newsletter, requesting a customer rep contact them, and so on) that ultimately carry value because they result in sales…no matter how far down the line.

What are your top conversion paths and top assisted conversions? That tells you what your customers are doing. Are you using those to their full potential? Are you throwing money away on channels that don’t make an appearance in those reports?

Customers search, consider, and buy in different ways. Make a model that works for them. And you.

You Need to Rely on Data

There’s no room in attribution modeling for blind guesses. Your efforts should be guided by hard data at all times and in all things.

Rely on Google Analytics and the enhanced ecommerce plugin to collect the data you need. Set up goals and funnels. Turn to the reports to inform your decisions.

You should be tracking all your efforts as accurately as possible to guarantee solid data and insight.

Use auto-tagging options in Adwords, Bing Ads, and DoubleClick.

Use UTM parameters for social campaigns.

If you’re spending time, energy, or money on something, you should be collecting data on it. Far too many e-commerce platforms don’t actively check and use their analytics. Don’t fall into that group. You’re a savvy business owner, not a statistic, right?

Analytics should not scare you. Anyone can get started with it, regardless of their comfort level with technology (and you more than likely won’t even need to mess around with the code thanks to easy integration with platforms like Magento, Shopify and WordPress plugins).

The more data you have, crunch, and consider, the more accurate your decisions, and the better your understanding on the conversion paths your customers are actually taking to the (virtual) checkout counter.

Want to grow your business and revenue? Get the data. Use the data.

You’re spoiled for choice in the 21st century, and practically every third-party service you employ offers its own set of data collection and analysis (and/or streamlined integration with the most popular analytics platforms) for their particular area. Take advantage of the windfall.

LTV Should be Factored In

Do you want to sell once and be done with it? Or would you prefer customers return again and again? Let’s assume the answer is obvious (because it is).

Consequently, you need to consider the lifetime value (LTV) of each customer. Your top customers – the creme de la creme in the top 1% – are worth up to 18x more than an average customer.

Far too often, though, we give little to no thought to those returning customers and the value they bring with them.

They get ignored, and the conversion path for them might slip through the cracks. Not good. They’re not coming back the same way new customers are discovering you. Their path is unique and needs to be recognized…because it deserves credit for the revenue it’s bringing in.

So look at the traffic in your entire funnel, especially at the top. Chances are, you’ll find a good chunk of those returning customers are coming via direct (entering the address or using a bookmark), social media (when you tweet or post about sales and specials), or email (permission-based marketing is a godsend, so don’t ignore it…get those details early to keep everyone informed and in your funnel).

New customers are more likely showing up via paid ads, organic search, referrals, affiliates, and social media.

It’s all important, but you also know that it’s cheaper to retain a customer than it is to acquire a new one. You’d better make sure you’re recognizing the paths that are bringing them back in your attribution model, and they should carry more weight than those that bring in the new folk.

Step away from single conversion events and think long-term. Consider the lifetime value, not just the order value. Optimize the channels that matter.

Campaign Tracking is a Must

Remember that famous saying: he or she who tracks, survives. Or words to that effect.

We’ve already mentioned how crucial data is to, well, everything. To keep a steady supply of that rich, zesty data flowing, you need to track your marketing campaigns. Each campaign. Every channel.

Email tracking is easy with MailChimp and AWeber. The tools are already in place.

Use UTM parameters to generate custom URLs for your campaigns. Either manually add the tags to the end, or create them quickly with an online generator. You can use them in email, social media, newsletters, guest posting, paid ads, banners, and more. With them, you can effortlessly track each campaign.

Get set-up on both Google Analytics and Bing Webmaster Tools. They’re your one-stop shop for all things data and tracking. Want to understand your customer behavior and click actions better? Seek and ye shall find.

If you’re using more than one marketing channel, campaign tracking is an absolute must. Without it, you really have no idea what’s working, who’s coming from where, what to optimize, and what to scale back.

Analytics shows behavior, while attribution explores the effectiveness of the channels you’ve got in the mix. It’s the perfect pairing.

Here’s what we know for sure:

Attribution is getting harder as marketers turn to more and greater channels, methods, and campaigns.

The bulk of your conversions involve multiple interactions – nearly 80% according to some research.

Despite this, 55.2% of marketers use single-touch attribution models (while only 16.4% use multi-touch, and a frightening 28.4% use either none or don’t know).

Be different. Do the right thing. Build an attribution model that reflects what’s really going on (and for some extra oomph, explore the Attribution Model Comparison Tool on Google Analytics).

Are you on the multi-touch attribution train? What type of model are you currently using? What do you wish you knew when first starting out? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

About the Author: Mo Harake brings over 12 years of ecommerce and digital marketing experience leading brands like FIJI Water, 7Diamonds, Kill Cliff and venture-backed startups to his work as Managing Director of Stray Digital. For more on his approach to ecommerce, content marketing and growth hacking, visit him on LinkedIn or at the Stray Digital blog.

[samiam03x]

Attribution Modeling for E-Commerce: 5 Things All Sellers Need to Know

I’m not going to lie to you: this can get very tricky. It’s so complex that many e-commerce platforms don’t even bother with it.

An attribution model is how you assign credit or value for sales and conversions across various customer touchpoints. It includes all your digital channels – paid search, display, email, social media, organic search, referrals – and the impact that each one has on the eventual conversion.

In the good old days, this was easy. You ran a radio ad, for example, and that brought in five new customers worth $250. That one touchpoint – the ad – got 100% of the credit for those sales. Simple.

But today? According the Content Marketing Institute’s annual report, marketers use an average of 13 tactics, seven different social media platforms, and three paid advertising channels in their efforts.

The route people take to find out about you, learn about you, and ultimately buy something from your e-commerce store can be long and convoluted. Your sales funnel can be big…very big.

How are you supposed to keep track of effectiveness?

Attribution modeling.

But just as the tactics, strategies, and channels have gotten more complicated, so too have the models to assign value to them. They can be basic and rules-based, or elaborate and algorithm-based. Single-touch or multi-touch.

In fact, there are at least five different models that are widely used, and even more depending on how you define and break them down:

First Touch (aka First-Click) assigns 100% of the credit to the first touchpoint in a conversion path. This is great for insight into how people find you (and the top of your funnel), but if they hit three other touchpoints before converting, does it really deserve all the glory?

Last Touch (aka Last-Click) gives the very last touchpoint full credit, no matter how many others they may have traversed. Easy to track and set-up, but almost universally considered worthless nowadays. There’s too much going on beforehand, and it gives zero notice to the top and middle of the funnel activities.

Linear assigns equal value to each step in the conversion path. If a customer traveled through four touchpoints before buying, each would get 25%. This is better – every point is considered and valued – but it tends to overvalue minor ones and undervalue key touchpoints.

Positional favors both the first and last touch – typically giving them each 40% of the credit – while dividing the remaining 20% amongst the middle touchpoints. Obviously, the model can drastically undervalue the middle, especially in a long path.

Time-decay is a simple algorithmic model that gives most credit to the point closest to conversion, and increasingly less as you move away from it. While it still favors the last touch, it does give some kudos to every step along the way, and as such, it’s the preferred model for many marketers and business owners.

And I haven’t even mentioned your best bet: the custom option (a model based on your platform, audience, marketing, and specific business goals). Avinash Kaushik has a great walkthrough of setting up your own custom model on Google Analytics over at Occam’s Razor.

But be prepared. He begins the post with these ominous words: “There are few things more complicated in analytics (all analytics, big data and huge data!) than multi-channel attribution modeling.”

And he’s not lying. It can be – and usually is – complex, tedious, and frustrating. A lot of it is trial and error over time.

That said, it’s absolutely worth it. Implementing an attribution model helps you understand what’s influencing customers to buy, how they shop, where they’re coming from, and what channels and tactics deserve the lion’s share of the credit (and therefore increased allocation of your marketing budget).

As you start out on your attribution adventure in the e-commerce sphere, there are five things you’ll want to keep in mind before you take that all-important first step.

Assisted Conversions Are the Bulk of Your Sales

Up to 98% of visitors to your site will not buy on their first visit. 55% will leave within 15 seconds of arriving.

84% of consumers say they either “completely” or “somewhat” trust recommendations from family, friends, and colleagues about products. 88% trust reviews from strangers as much as those from people they know.

Average cart abandonment rate is 68.81%.

Econsultancy found that 88% of consumers turn to online reviews when considering a purchase.

All of this is just to point out the obvious: few people are showing up at your digital storefront and buying something on their first visit. They drop by, do some poking around, check out some online reviews, explore your social media accounts, search for upcoming sales or coupons, do a little more virtual window shopping, check out what others are saying about you on Twitter, and finally return to your site when they’re ready to slap down that cash.

Each of those leads them just a little closer to the sale. Each interaction assists in the eventual conversion. The bulk of your sales come from these assisted conversions, so you’d best be tracking them and giving at least some credit to each one so you truly understand your customer behavior and how you should be marketing to them.

Want to see for yourself? Head on over to Google Analytics and check out Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Path Length to see exactly how many conversions are happening after just one interaction, two interactions, three interactions, and so on. You’ll be amazed.

Next, look at Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Assisted Conversions. Take a close look at the last column labeled “Assisted/Last Click or Direct Conversions”. A value less than 1? That channel is typically the last touch point before a conversion (i.e. sale). Greater than 1? It’s a step along the way. Using either first or last touch attribution? Those valuable cogs in the machine are being ignored.

I’ll say it again: assisted conversions are the bulk of your sales. Your model needs to recognize that.

There is No Ideal Attribution Model

Every model has its limitations and shortcomings. In a perfect world, we could just point at the one model to rule them all and be done with it. But it doesn’t work that way.

A custom model is best, but it does take awhile to collect the necessary data and customer understanding to pull it off. And if your data is wonky, it’s going to give you wonky insight.

Attribution modeling is as much art as science. And as much data-supported fact as intuition and educated guesswork.

Your custom model has to reflect your customers and your business. You need to consider the behavior that’s important to your goals, and the “soft” conversions (signing up for the newsletter, requesting a customer rep contact them, and so on) that ultimately carry value because they result in sales…no matter how far down the line.

What are your top conversion paths and top assisted conversions? That tells you what your customers are doing. Are you using those to their full potential? Are you throwing money away on channels that don’t make an appearance in those reports?

Customers search, consider, and buy in different ways. Make a model that works for them. And you.

You Need to Rely on Data

There’s no room in attribution modeling for blind guesses. Your efforts should be guided by hard data at all times and in all things.

Rely on Google Analytics and the enhanced ecommerce plugin to collect the data you need. Set up goals and funnels. Turn to the reports to inform your decisions.

You should be tracking all your efforts as accurately as possible to guarantee solid data and insight.

Use auto-tagging options in Adwords, Bing Ads, and DoubleClick.

Use UTM parameters for social campaigns.

If you’re spending time, energy, or money on something, you should be collecting data on it. Far too many e-commerce platforms don’t actively check and use their analytics. Don’t fall into that group. You’re a savvy business owner, not a statistic, right?

Analytics should not scare you. Anyone can get started with it, regardless of their comfort level with technology (and you more than likely won’t even need to mess around with the code thanks to easy integration with platforms like Magento, Shopify and WordPress plugins).

The more data you have, crunch, and consider, the more accurate your decisions, and the better your understanding on the conversion paths your customers are actually taking to the (virtual) checkout counter.

Want to grow your business and revenue? Get the data. Use the data.

You’re spoiled for choice in the 21st century, and practically every third-party service you employ offers its own set of data collection and analysis (and/or streamlined integration with the most popular analytics platforms) for their particular area. Take advantage of the windfall.

LTV Should be Factored In

Do you want to sell once and be done with it? Or would you prefer customers return again and again? Let’s assume the answer is obvious (because it is).

Consequently, you need to consider the lifetime value (LTV) of each customer. Your top customers – the creme de la creme in the top 1% – are worth up to 18x more than an average customer.

Far too often, though, we give little to no thought to those returning customers and the value they bring with them.

They get ignored, and the conversion path for them might slip through the cracks. Not good. They’re not coming back the same way new customers are discovering you. Their path is unique and needs to be recognized…because it deserves credit for the revenue it’s bringing in.

So look at the traffic in your entire funnel, especially at the top. Chances are, you’ll find a good chunk of those returning customers are coming via direct (entering the address or using a bookmark), social media (when you tweet or post about sales and specials), or email (permission-based marketing is a godsend, so don’t ignore it…get those details early to keep everyone informed and in your funnel).

New customers are more likely showing up via paid ads, organic search, referrals, affiliates, and social media.

It’s all important, but you also know that it’s cheaper to retain a customer than it is to acquire a new one. You’d better make sure you’re recognizing the paths that are bringing them back in your attribution model, and they should carry more weight than those that bring in the new folk.

Step away from single conversion events and think long-term. Consider the lifetime value, not just the order value. Optimize the channels that matter.

Campaign Tracking is a Must

Remember that famous saying: he or she who tracks, survives. Or words to that effect.

We’ve already mentioned how crucial data is to, well, everything. To keep a steady supply of that rich, zesty data flowing, you need to track your marketing campaigns. Each campaign. Every channel.

Email tracking is easy with MailChimp and AWeber. The tools are already in place.

Use UTM parameters to generate custom URLs for your campaigns. Either manually add the tags to the end, or create them quickly with an online generator. You can use them in email, social media, newsletters, guest posting, paid ads, banners, and more. With them, you can effortlessly track each campaign.

Get set-up on both Google Analytics and Bing Webmaster Tools. They’re your one-stop shop for all things data and tracking. Want to understand your customer behavior and click actions better? Seek and ye shall find.

If you’re using more than one marketing channel, campaign tracking is an absolute must. Without it, you really have no idea what’s working, who’s coming from where, what to optimize, and what to scale back.

Analytics shows behavior, while attribution explores the effectiveness of the channels you’ve got in the mix. It’s the perfect pairing.

Here’s what we know for sure:

Attribution is getting harder as marketers turn to more and greater channels, methods, and campaigns.

The bulk of your conversions involve multiple interactions – nearly 80% according to some research.

Despite this, 55.2% of marketers use single-touch attribution models (while only 16.4% use multi-touch, and a frightening 28.4% use either none or don’t know).

Be different. Do the right thing. Build an attribution model that reflects what’s really going on (and for some extra oomph, explore the Attribution Model Comparison Tool on Google Analytics).

Are you on the multi-touch attribution train? What type of model are you currently using? What do you wish you knew when first starting out? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

About the Author: Mo Harake brings over 12 years of ecommerce and digital marketing experience leading brands like FIJI Water, 7Diamonds, Kill Cliff and venture-backed startups to his work as Managing Director of Stray Digital. For more on his approach to ecommerce, content marketing and growth hacking, visit him on LinkedIn or at the Stray Digital blog.

http://ift.tt/2jwOmir from MarketingRSS http://ift.tt/2jvHDVW via Youtube

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Attribution Modeling for Ecommerce: 5 Things All Sellers Need to Know

I’m not going to lie to you: this can get very tricky. It’s so complex that many ecommerce platforms don’t even bother with it.

An attribution model is how you assign credit or value for sales and conversions across various customer touchpoints. It includes all your digital channels – paid search, display, email, social media, organic search, referrals – and the impact that each one has on the eventual conversion.

In the good old days, this was easy. You ran a radio ad, for example, and that brought in five new customers worth $250. That one touchpoint – the ad – got 100% of the credit for those sales. Simple.

But today? According the Content Marketing Institute’s annual report, marketers use an average of 13 tactics, seven different social media platforms, and three paid advertising channels in their efforts.

The route people take to find out about you, learn about you, and ultimately buy something from your ecommerce store can be long and convoluted. Your sales funnel can be big…very big.

How are you supposed to keep track of effectiveness?

Attribution modeling.

But just as the tactics, strategies, and channels have gotten more complicated, so too have the models to assign value to them. They can be basic and rules-based, or elaborate and algorithm-based. Single-touch or multi-touch.

In fact, there are at least five different models that are widely used, and even more depending on how you define and break them down:

First Touch (aka First-Click) assigns 100% of the credit to the first touchpoint in a conversion path. This is great for insight into how people find you (and the top of your funnel), but if they hit three other touchpoints before converting, does it really deserve all the glory?

Last Touch (aka Last-Click) gives the very last touchpoint full credit, no matter how many others they may have traversed. Easy to track and set-up, but almost universally considered worthless nowadays. There’s too much going on beforehand, and it gives zero notice to the top and middle of the funnel activities.

Linear assigns equal value to each step in the conversion path. If a customer traveled through four touchpoints before buying, each would get 25%. This is better – every point is considered and valued – but it tends to overvalue minor ones and undervalue key touchpoints.

Positional favors both the first and last touch – typically giving them each 40% of the credit – while dividing the remaining 20% amongst the middle touchpoints. Obviously, the model can drastically undervalue the middle, especially in a long path.

Time-decay is a simple algorithmic model that gives most credit to the point closest to conversion, and increasingly less as you move away from it. While it still favors the last touch, it does give some kudos to every step along the way, and as such, it’s the preferred model for many marketers and business owners.

And I haven’t even mentioned your best bet: the custom option (a model based on your platform, audience, marketing, and specific business goals). Avinash Kaushik has a great walkthrough of setting up your own custom model on Google Analytics over at Occam’s Razor.

But be prepared. He begins the post with these ominous words: “There are few things more complicated in analytics (all analytics, big data and huge data!) than multi-channel attribution modeling.”

And he’s not lying. It can be – and usually is – complex, tedious, and frustrating. A lot of it is trial and error over time.

That said, it’s absolutely worth it. Implementing an attribution model helps you understand what’s influencing customers to buy, how they shop, where they’re coming from, and what channels and tactics deserve the lion’s share of the credit (and therefore increased allocation of your marketing budget).

As you start out on your attribution adventure in the ecommerce sphere, there are five things you’ll want to keep in mind before you take that all-important first step.

Assisted Conversions Are the Bulk of Your Sales

Up to 98% of visitors to your site will not buy on their first visit. 55% will leave within 15 seconds of arriving.

84% of consumers say they either “completely” or “somewhat” trust recommendations from family, friends, and colleagues about products. 88% trust reviews from strangers as much as those from people they know.

Average cart abandonment rate is 68.81%.

Econsultancy found that 88% of consumers turn to online reviews when considering a purchase.

All of this is just to point out the obvious: few people are showing up at your digital storefront and buying something on their first visit. They drop by, do some poking around, check out some online reviews, explore your social media accounts, search for upcoming sales or coupons, do a little more virtual window shopping, check out what others are saying about you on Twitter, and finally return to your site when they’re ready to slap down that cash.

Each of those leads them just a little closer to the sale. Each interaction assists in the eventual conversion. The bulk of your sales come from these assisted conversions, so you’d best be tracking them and giving at least some credit to each one so you truly understand your customer behavior and how you should be marketing to them.

Want to see for yourself? Head on over to Google Analytics and check out Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Path Length to see exactly how many conversions are happening after just one interaction, two interactions, three interactions, and so on. You’ll be amazed.

Next, look at Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Assisted Conversions. Take a close look at the last column labeled “Assisted/Last Click or Direct Conversions”. A value less than 1? That channel is typically the last touch point before a conversion (i.e. sale). Greater than 1? It’s a step along the way. Using either first or last touch attribution? Those valuable cogs in the machine are being ignored.

I’ll say it again: assisted conversions are the bulk of your sales. Your model needs to recognize that.

There is No Ideal Attribution Model

Every model has its limitations and shortcomings. In a perfect world, we could just point at the one model to rule them all and be done with it. But it doesn’t work that way.

A custom model is best, but it does take awhile to collect the necessary data and customer understanding to pull it off. And if your data is wonky, it’s going to give you wonky insight.

Attribution modeling is as much art as science. And as much data-supported fact as intuition and educated guesswork.

Your custom model has to reflect your customers and your business. You need to consider the behavior that’s important to your goals, and the “soft” conversions (signing up for the newsletter, requesting a customer rep contact them, and so on) that ultimately carry value because they result in sales…no matter how far down the line.

What are your top conversion paths and top assisted conversions? That tells you what your customers are doing. Are you using those to their full potential? Are you throwing money away on channels that don’t make an appearance in those reports?

Customers search, consider, and buy in different ways. Make a model that works for them. And you.

You Need to Rely on Data

There’s no room in attribution modeling for blind guesses. Your efforts should be guided by hard data at all times and in all things.

Rely on Google Analytics and the enhanced ecommerce plugin to collect the data you need. Set up goals and funnels. Turn to the reports to inform your decisions.

You should be tracking all your efforts as accurately as possible to guarantee solid data and insight.

Use auto-tagging options in Adwords, Bing Ads, and DoubleClick.

Use UTM parameters for social campaigns.

If you’re spending time, energy, or money on something, you should be collecting data on it. Far too many ecommerce platforms don’t actively check and use their analytics. Don’t fall into that group. You’re a savvy business owner, not a statistic, right?

Analytics should not scare you. Anyone can get started with it, regardless of their comfort level with technology (and you more than likely won’t even need to mess around with the code thanks to easy integration with platforms like Magento, Shopify and WordPress plugins).

The more data you have, crunch, and consider, the more accurate your decisions, and the better your understanding on the conversion paths your customers are actually taking to the (virtual) checkout counter.

Want to grow your business and revenue? Get the data. Use the data.

You’re spoiled for choice in the 21st century, and practically every third-party service you employ offers its own set of data collection and analysis (and/or streamlined integration with the most popular analytics platforms) for their particular area. Take advantage of the windfall.

LTV Should be Factored In

Do you want to sell once and be done with it? Or would you prefer customers return again and again? Let’s assume the answer is obvious (because it is).

Consequently, you need to consider the lifetime value (LTV) of each customer. Your top customers – the creme de la creme in the top 1% – are worth up to 18x more than an average customer.

Far too often, though, we give little to no thought to those returning customers and the value they bring with them.

They get ignored, and the conversion path for them might slip through the cracks. Not good. They’re not coming back the same way new customers are discovering you. Their path is unique and needs to be recognized…because it deserves credit for the revenue it’s bringing in.

So look at the traffic in your entire funnel, especially at the top. Chances are, you’ll find a good chunk of those returning customers are coming via direct (entering the address or using a bookmark), social media (when you tweet or post about sales and specials), or email (permission-based marketing is a godsend, so don’t ignore it…get those details early to keep everyone informed and in your funnel).

New customers are more likely showing up via paid ads, organic search, referrals, affiliates, and social media.

It’s all important, but you also know that it’s cheaper to retain a customer than it is to acquire a new one. You’d better make sure you’re recognizing the paths that are bringing them back in your attribution model, and they should carry more weight than those that bring in the new folk.

Step away from single conversion events and think long-term. Consider the lifetime value, not just the order value. Optimize the channels that matter.

Campaign Tracking is a Must

Remember that famous saying: he or she who tracks, survives. Or words to that effect.

We’ve already mentioned how crucial data is to, well, everything. To keep a steady supply of that rich, zesty data flowing, you need to track your marketing campaigns. Each campaign. Every channel.

Email tracking is easy with MailChimp and AWeber. The tools are already in place.

Use UTM parameters to generate custom URLs for your campaigns. Either manually add the tags to the end, or create them quickly with an online generator. You can use them in email, social media, newsletters, guest posting, paid ads, banners, and more. With them, you can effortlessly track each campaign.

Get set-up on both Google Analytics and Bing Webmaster Tools. They’re your one-stop shop for all things data and tracking. Want to understand your customer behavior and click actions better? Seek and ye shall find.

If you’re using more than one marketing channel, campaign tracking is an absolute must. Without it, you really have no idea what’s working, who’s coming from where, what to optimize, and what to scale back.

Analytics shows behavior, while attribution explores the effectiveness of the channels you’ve got in the mix. It’s the perfect pairing.

Here’s what we know for sure:

Attribution is getting harder as marketers turn to more and greater channels, methods, and campaigns.

The bulk of your conversions involve multiple interactions – nearly 80% according to some research.

Despite this, 55.2% of marketers use single-touch attribution models (while only 16.4% use multi-touch, and a frightening 28.4% use either none or don’t know).

Be different. Do the right thing. Build an attribution model that reflects what’s really going on (and for some extra oomph, explore the Attribution Model Comparison Tool on Google Analytics).

Are you on the multi-touch attribution train? What type of model are you currently using? What do you wish you knew when first starting out? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

About the Author: Mo Harake brings over 12 years of ecommerce and digital marketing experience leading brands like FIJI Water, 7Diamonds, Kill Cliff and venture-backed startups to his work as Managing Director of Stray Digital. For more on his approach to ecommerce, content marketing and growth hacking, visit him on LinkedIn or at the Stray Digital blog.

Attribution Modeling for Ecommerce: 5 Things All Sellers Need to Know posted first on Kissmetrics Blog

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Attribution Modeling for Ecommerce: 5 Things All Sellers Need to Know

I’m not going to lie to you: this can get very tricky. It’s so complex that many ecommerce platforms don’t even bother with it.

An attribution model is how you assign credit or value for sales and conversions across various customer touchpoints. It includes all your digital channels – paid search, display, email, social media, organic search, referrals – and the impact that each one has on the eventual conversion.

In the good old days, this was easy. You ran a radio ad, for example, and that brought in five new customers worth $250. That one touchpoint – the ad – got 100% of the credit for those sales. Simple.

But today? According the Content Marketing Institute’s annual report, marketers use an average of 13 tactics, seven different social media platforms, and three paid advertising channels in their efforts.

The route people take to find out about you, learn about you, and ultimately buy something from your ecommerce store can be long and convoluted. Your sales funnel can be big…very big.

How are you supposed to keep track of effectiveness?

Attribution modeling.

But just as the tactics, strategies, and channels have gotten more complicated, so too have the models to assign value to them. They can be basic and rules-based, or elaborate and algorithm-based. Single-touch or multi-touch.

In fact, there are at least five different models that are widely used, and even more depending on how you define and break them down:

First Touch (aka First-Click) assigns 100% of the credit to the first touchpoint in a conversion path. This is great for insight into how people find you (and the top of your funnel), but if they hit three other touchpoints before converting, does it really deserve all the glory?

Last Touch (aka Last-Click) gives the very last touchpoint full credit, no matter how many others they may have traversed. Easy to track and set-up, but almost universally considered worthless nowadays. There’s too much going on beforehand, and it gives zero notice to the top and middle of the funnel activities.

Linear assigns equal value to each step in the conversion path. If a customer traveled through four touchpoints before buying, each would get 25%. This is better – every point is considered and valued – but it tends to overvalue minor ones and undervalue key touchpoints.

Positional favors both the first and last touch – typically giving them each 40% of the credit – while dividing the remaining 20% amongst the middle touchpoints. Obviously, the model can drastically undervalue the middle, especially in a long path.

Time-decay is a simple algorithmic model that gives most credit to the point closest to conversion, and increasingly less as you move away from it. While it still favors the last touch, it does give some kudos to every step along the way, and as such, it’s the preferred model for many marketers and business owners.

And I haven’t even mentioned your best bet: the custom option (a model based on your platform, audience, marketing, and specific business goals). Avinash Kaushik has a great walkthrough of setting up your own custom model on Google Analytics over at Occam’s Razor.

But be prepared. He begins the post with these ominous words: “There are few things more complicated in analytics (all analytics, big data and huge data!) than multi-channel attribution modeling.”

And he’s not lying. It can be – and usually is – complex, tedious, and frustrating. A lot of it is trial and error over time.

That said, it’s absolutely worth it. Implementing an attribution model helps you understand what’s influencing customers to buy, how they shop, where they’re coming from, and what channels and tactics deserve the lion’s share of the credit (and therefore increased allocation of your marketing budget).

As you start out on your attribution adventure in the ecommerce sphere, there are five things you’ll want to keep in mind before you take that all-important first step.

Assisted Conversions Are the Bulk of Your Sales

Up to 98% of visitors to your site will not buy on their first visit. 55% will leave within 15 seconds of arriving.

84% of consumers say they either “completely” or “somewhat” trust recommendations from family, friends, and colleagues about products. 88% trust reviews from strangers as much as those from people they know.

Average cart abandonment rate is 68.81%.

Econsultancy found that 88% of consumers turn to online reviews when considering a purchase.

All of this is just to point out the obvious: few people are showing up at your digital storefront and buying something on their first visit. They drop by, do some poking around, check out some online reviews, explore your social media accounts, search for upcoming sales or coupons, do a little more virtual window shopping, check out what others are saying about you on Twitter, and finally return to your site when they’re ready to slap down that cash.

Each of those leads them just a little closer to the sale. Each interaction assists in the eventual conversion. The bulk of your sales come from these assisted conversions, so you’d best be tracking them and giving at least some credit to each one so you truly understand your customer behavior and how you should be marketing to them.

Want to see for yourself? Head on over to Google Analytics and check out Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Path Length to see exactly how many conversions are happening after just one interaction, two interactions, three interactions, and so on. You’ll be amazed.

Next, look at Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Assisted Conversions. Take a close look at the last column labeled “Assisted/Last Click or Direct Conversions”. A value less than 1? That channel is typically the last touch point before a conversion (i.e. sale). Greater than 1? It’s a step along the way. Using either first or last touch attribution? Those valuable cogs in the machine are being ignored.

I’ll say it again: assisted conversions are the bulk of your sales. Your model needs to recognize that.

There is No Ideal Attribution Model

Every model has its limitations and shortcomings. In a perfect world, we could just point at the one model to rule them all and be done with it. But it doesn’t work that way.

A custom model is best, but it does take awhile to collect the necessary data and customer understanding to pull it off. And if your data is wonky, it’s going to give you wonky insight.

Attribution modeling is as much art as science. And as much data-supported fact as intuition and educated guesswork.

Your custom model has to reflect your customers and your business. You need to consider the behavior that’s important to your goals, and the “soft” conversions (signing up for the newsletter, requesting a customer rep contact them, and so on) that ultimately carry value because they result in sales…no matter how far down the line.

What are your top conversion paths and top assisted conversions? That tells you what your customers are doing. Are you using those to their full potential? Are you throwing money away on channels that don’t make an appearance in those reports?

Customers search, consider, and buy in different ways. Make a model that works for them. And you.

You Need to Rely on Data

There’s no room in attribution modeling for blind guesses. Your efforts should be guided by hard data at all times and in all things.

Rely on Google Analytics and the enhanced ecommerce plugin to collect the data you need. Set up goals and funnels. Turn to the reports to inform your decisions.

You should be tracking all your efforts as accurately as possible to guarantee solid data and insight.

Use auto-tagging options in Adwords, Bing Ads, and DoubleClick.

Use UTM parameters for social campaigns.

If you’re spending time, energy, or money on something, you should be collecting data on it. Far too many ecommerce platforms don’t actively check and use their analytics. Don’t fall into that group. You’re a savvy business owner, not a statistic, right?

Analytics should not scare you. Anyone can get started with it, regardless of their comfort level with technology (and you more than likely won’t even need to mess around with the code thanks to easy integration with platforms like Magento, Shopify and WordPress plugins).

The more data you have, crunch, and consider, the more accurate your decisions, and the better your understanding on the conversion paths your customers are actually taking to the (virtual) checkout counter.

Want to grow your business and revenue? Get the data. Use the data.

You’re spoiled for choice in the 21st century, and practically every third-party service you employ offers its own set of data collection and analysis (and/or streamlined integration with the most popular analytics platforms) for their particular area. Take advantage of the windfall.

LTV Should be Factored In

Do you want to sell once and be done with it? Or would you prefer customers return again and again? Let’s assume the answer is obvious (because it is).

Consequently, you need to consider the lifetime value (LTV) of each customer. Your top customers – the creme de la creme in the top 1% – are worth up to 18x more than an average customer.

Far too often, though, we give little to no thought to those returning customers and the value they bring with them.

They get ignored, and the conversion path for them might slip through the cracks. Not good. They’re not coming back the same way new customers are discovering you. Their path is unique and needs to be recognized…because it deserves credit for the revenue it’s bringing in.

So look at the traffic in your entire funnel, especially at the top. Chances are, you’ll find a good chunk of those returning customers are coming via direct (entering the address or using a bookmark), social media (when you tweet or post about sales and specials), or email (permission-based marketing is a godsend, so don’t ignore it…get those details early to keep everyone informed and in your funnel).

New customers are more likely showing up via paid ads, organic search, referrals, affiliates, and social media.

It’s all important, but you also know that it’s cheaper to retain a customer than it is to acquire a new one. You’d better make sure you’re recognizing the paths that are bringing them back in your attribution model, and they should carry more weight than those that bring in the new folk.

Step away from single conversion events and think long-term. Consider the lifetime value, not just the order value. Optimize the channels that matter.

Campaign Tracking is a Must

Remember that famous saying: he or she who tracks, survives. Or words to that effect.

We’ve already mentioned how crucial data is to, well, everything. To keep a steady supply of that rich, zesty data flowing, you need to track your marketing campaigns. Each campaign. Every channel.

Email tracking is easy with MailChimp and AWeber. The tools are already in place.

Use UTM parameters to generate custom URLs for your campaigns. Either manually add the tags to the end, or create them quickly with an online generator. You can use them in email, social media, newsletters, guest posting, paid ads, banners, and more. With them, you can effortlessly track each campaign.

Get set-up on both Google Analytics and Bing Webmaster Tools. They’re your one-stop shop for all things data and tracking. Want to understand your customer behavior and click actions better? Seek and ye shall find.

If you’re using more than one marketing channel, campaign tracking is an absolute must. Without it, you really have no idea what’s working, who’s coming from where, what to optimize, and what to scale back.

Analytics shows behavior, while attribution explores the effectiveness of the channels you’ve got in the mix. It’s the perfect pairing.

Here’s what we know for sure:

Attribution is getting harder as marketers turn to more and greater channels, methods, and campaigns.

The bulk of your conversions involve multiple interactions – nearly 80% according to some research.

Despite this, 55.2% of marketers use single-touch attribution models (while only 16.4% use multi-touch, and a frightening 28.4% use either none or don’t know).

Be different. Do the right thing. Build an attribution model that reflects what’s really going on (and for some extra oomph, explore the Attribution Model Comparison Tool on Google Analytics).

Are you on the multi-touch attribution train? What type of model are you currently using? What do you wish you knew when first starting out? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

About the Author: Mo Harake brings over 12 years of ecommerce and digital marketing experience leading brands like FIJI Water, 7Diamonds, Kill Cliff and venture-backed startups to his work as Managing Director of Stray Digital. For more on his approach to ecommerce, content marketing and growth hacking, visit him on LinkedIn or at the Stray Digital blog.

Attribution Modeling for Ecommerce: 5 Things All Sellers Need to Know