Key findings

Key findingsFrom Action Research ProjectAction Research Project

Action Research ProjectProject conducted to investigate and evaluate the effectiveness of the online strategies of organisations in the cultural sector.

Involved surveys and data collection from:

Useful findings: AnalyticsThe majority of organisations had not taken the following basic steps when setting up their analytics accounts.

Health check guidelines

Successfully segmented their internal trafficSet up filters to remove case-sensitivity on URLsIntegrated regimented campaign tagging in their e-mail and other online marketing activitiesSet up effective methods of tracking views and downloads of non-HTML pages, such as PDFs.Understanding the way in which Google Analytics calculates time on site and taking this into account in reporting practices.Useful findings: Analytics

Useful findings: social mediaSocial media tended to be used to a different extent by organisatonsReport highlighted that social media tended to have low referral rates

In fact, mobile traffic is growing considerably faster than social media traffic sources combined, yet few organisations had dedicated mobile versions of their websites. As expected, sites with a greater event-focus - thosein the performing arts - drew the highest proportions of mobile traffic.

Useful findings: social mediaThe main points highlighted:

Set objectives for social media that relate to broader objectives within your organisationAlign each high level objective with a set of tangible outcomes that you hope to see happen as a result of social media engagementSelect metrics for social media which relate to these outcomesBefore you start a campaign or any new activity, ensure that you have taken a benchmark of the current position, in order to assess the impact of changes.AttentionHistory of attentionTV industry struggled to engage with two way communicationTV is now having to compete for attention in the living roomMany people have two screens in attention is divided

How TV is changing

How TV is changingEnsures viewers whole attention is dedicated to the programmeIncreases user engagementVast amounts of money are being invested to develop and run these websitesWebsite is only functional for an hour when show is liveFurther trends?Nintendo possibly adopting similar strategy?

Failing forwardsDesign Museum used artists to participate in online Q&A session when their exhibitions were on displayArtists had low IT skills, but staff assisted them with twitter and uploading imagesEnhanced news items on the website and provided interesting content users would read