Jake Peterson, Head of Customer Success at Segment

Analytics Tracking Best Practices November 2014 Presentation

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Jake Peterson - Segment - @DirtyAnalytics Jake Peterson leads the customer success team at Segment, making sure that customer get great fast help, writing beautiful docs, and bringing you expert advice through Analytics Academy. Before Segment, Jake ran his own wildly successful analytics consultancy, Dirty Analytics, where he helped companies integrate analytics tools and analyze their data, oftentimes with Segment.

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Introduction

1

What is Segment?

A single hub to collect, translate and route your data with the flip of a switch.

Overview

Tracking Plan

How to plan out your analytics tracking.

Important Pages

Only record what you need.

Identifying Users

Keep users and anonymous activity straight.

Recording Funnel Events

Iteratively record funnel steps and revenue.

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Tracking Plan Know what you need to track

Planning Outline

First, prepare an outline of all the things you want to track

The outline is useful in:

•  Brainstorming your most valuable events

•  Team collaboration to make sure everyone on the team has the data they need

•  Thinking ahead so your data structure is flexible enough to evolve

•  Scheduling iteration phases or development cycles

Tracking Plan

Planning Outline Example

Signed Up

We need to differentiate paid signups, organic signups, and invitation signups. We’ll use automatically

recorded utm parameters to analyze paid, and then a type event property to differentiate organic and

invitation signups (and in the future maybe referral program stuff, etc.)

Event Property: Signup Type

…

Debugger Call Expanded

When people use the debugger we’re interested in knowing which calls they most often debug. For that

we’ll need to track the coding language being debugged and the method being called.

Event Properties: Code Language Name, API Method

…

Tracking Plan

Detailed Tracking Plan

Next, transfer your outline into a detailed plan

Why …collect each data point?

Ensure that all the events from your outline are important and useful.

What …data gets recorded?

Exact event names, properties and how each one is calculated.

How …does the data get recorded?

Supply an example code snippet for developers.

When …should the tracking script fire?

Explain firing rules for the event. e.g. When a new user sees the Thank You page after registration.

Tracking Plan

Detailed Tracking Plan Example

Sub heading or paragraph can go here Event Why? Properties Firing Rules Code

Signed Up Leads! Also the key identifying event.

type: ‘invite’ if the user was invited and ‘organic’ if they signed up directly

On the welcome page after a new user registers.

analytics.track('Signed Up', { userLogin: ‘DirtyAnalytics’, type: 'invite’, organizationId: ‘12345’ });

Enabled Integration

Key step in activation and indicator for retention.

Integration: the integration being enabled

User enables an integration that was previously disabled.

analytics.track(’Enabled Integration', { integration: ‘KISSmetrics’ });

Segment’s Tracking Plan is available for download here: https://segment.com/help/best-practices/tracking-plans/

Tracking Plan

Pro Tips

No unbounded event names!

Establish a finite set of events and event properties for your team to choose from.

•  Rather than Clicked X Button use Clicked CTA with properties for type, label and destination.

•  Rather than Bought Blue Shirt, record Completed Order with properties for color and product.

Example Best Practice Guides: Tracking Call to Actions and Tracking Landing Pages

Keep things up to date

Integrate updating the tracking plan and installing analytics into your existing business processes

•  Sending marketing emails

•  Launching new products

•  Running advertising campaigns

Tracking Plan

Important Pages Group important content together

Treat pages just like events

•  Create a short list of your important page types

•  Group them together (use Google Analytics content groupings and/or KISSmetrics events

and properties)

Looking at pages this way allows you to really understand how different groups of pages

affect your funnel. And how each variation inside those groups perform.

Important Pages

Important Pages for Segment

Landing Pages

Important Pages

Docs Pages

Blog Pages

Section Three

Which landing pages bring in the most leads?

Section Three

Which blog posts lead to the most signups?

Section Three

Does the integrations or tour page convert better?

Integrations Page Tour Page

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Identifying Users

Section Three

Choosing a User ID

Database ID •  Pro: Unlikely to change •  Con: Not always available Email Address •  Pro: Easy to get •  Con: Most likely to change

Section Three

When to Identify

Email Opt In •  Pro: You know the user early •  Con: Less accurate User Account Created •  Pro: Database ID is available •  Con:

Section Three

How to Identify

Client Side Important for merging anonymous browsing history. Server Side Usually unnecessary. Only send user properties from your server if they are sensitive.

Section Three

Good Traits

•  Email •  Plan •  Address •  Phone •  Company •  Created Date •  Friend Count •  Lifetime Revenue

Section Three

Create a user segment to send a targeted email campaign

Section Three

Do men or women invite more friends to our site?

Section Three

Get a list of users who have done X, Y, and Z

Funnel Events Focus on 3-5 key events

Section Three A generic funnel

Interested A visitor to your site shows interest in your product or service.

Identified An anonymous visitor raises their hand and identifies themselves.

Activated Someone completes the key event that qualifies them as a potential customer.

Purchased You got paid!

Engaged This type of event signals engagement with your product.

Section Three Segment’s funnel

Viewed Tour / Pricing / Docs

Interested.

Signed Up Identified.

Sent Project Data Activated.

Started Subscription Purchased!

Enabled Integration Engaged.

Section Three An e-commerce funnel

Viewed Product Even more interested.

Added Product [to cart]

Activated.

Completed Order Purchased! And identified.

Viewed Blog / Promotion

Engaged.

Section Three

Tracking Revenue Client Side •  Pro: Easy to setup & maintain •  Con: Numbers won’t be perfect Sync in Batches •  Pro: Accurate (when it’s working) •  Con: Hard to maintain, not always up to date

Trigger in Real Time •  Pro: Accurate and up to date •  Con: Hardest to maintain (without zapier, iron.io)

Install KISSmetrics with the flip of a switch

Email friends@segment.com with the code KISSwebinar to get 60 days free on the

Segment Startup plan today!

THANK YOU

Jake Peterson Head of Customer Success at Segment