Featured in Mediaplex Newsletter

Evolving from Direct Response to High Level Branding
Red Door Interactive utilizes MOJO Media Attribution to deliver greater results and maximize media influence

Media attribution is often relegated to theoretical discussions, but Red Door Interactive, an independent digital marketing agency, has made applying attributions a part of its offering. And the results are powerful.

Red Door prides itself as an “internet presence management firm” with work ranging from websites to online media to mobile. With 55 employees and clients including Cricket Wireless, Shea Homes and Vistage, Mediaplex’s MOJO platform is their ad server of choice.

Red Door has handled Cricket’s media for few years, including the planning and buying. Over the last year, with the success with existing campaigns, the agency really wanted to help take Cricket to another level as an elite media advertiser.

“This meant moving away from last-in attribution to instead look at the overall impact of the campaign and the entire Path to Conversion® across all ad networks,” says Mikael Greenlief, Red Door’s Online Media Planner. “That way we can identify which networks were influential and which ones were closing sales.”

Red Door introduced attribution modeling to Cricket and worked with Mediaplex to develop the concept of a “network scorecard” to automatically weigh each network across the Path to Conversion and determine overall influence. Mediaplex helped build custom reports which were then sent as datafeeds into a relational database for easier reporting.

“The Mediaplex team was instrumental in building out the functionality for our custom attribution model database,” Greenlief adds. “We didn’t have to go through the datafeeds and instead we got the data in a digestible fashion for our weekly attribution reports. It meant we could focus on the analysis instead.”

The first attribution study involved only display networks. Says Greenlief: “You want to roll out each channel independently to make sure it works before introducing other channels (for example, starting with ad networks, then email, then search). The benefit is that you’ll be able to see how each one influences the other as well as make sure the models work.”

What did they find out? “What you learn most is that if you’re only looking at conversions or cost per conversion, it doesn’t paint a true picture of a campaign,” says Greenlief. “We looked at one network that had 200 less orders, so you might conclude it wasn’t a strong performer. But when you look at its network scorecard of influence, it was clear it was a driver.”

For the next phase of attribution, Red Door introduced other channels such as email, organic search, and implemented the MOJO performance tracker so they had all their acquisition channels covered. This helped determine if a channel or network inspired action by the customer. For example, did they search for a product after an impression or an email? This way, from a media planning perspective, you could give more credit to better influencers.

Their client really appreciated the clarity of this type of analysis. Greenlief states: “It shows them we’re pushing the evolution of their media strategy and other digital marketing. Historically, they would see a network that wasn’t performing from their cost-per-order model and shut it down. But by understanding the interplay between networks, they’re now more open to making buying decisions beyond a last-click mentality. They also appreciate a network’s influential power, which can be just as valuable as its closing ability.”

One example is how Red Door used a video pre-roll buy. Traditionally, pre-roll is not a conversion driver and so the client would not have pursued it. But by showing the Path to Conversion, Cricket was more open to using some of their budget towards higher profile networks. In addition, the video focused on educating the market on their unlimited music download feature rather than a “buy now” call to action.

The resulting influence from that video was 18x better than the network’s average. And when looking at total devices sold from actual revenue numbers, that network had a 200% better affect than any other network. What it demonstrated was that higher profile campaigns do work even if there isn’t a conversion from the creative.

Future endeavors for Red Door include refining Cricket’s campaign work as well as taking attribution studies to other clients. Incidentally, Red Door does not bill their client separately for attribution as it is built into their agreement.

Says Greenlief: “Attribution analysis gives advertisers more success metrics to measure campaigns on beyond cost-per-conversion.” Clearly, it pays to do so.

View Full Mediaplex Newsletter>>>

- Companies provide exclusive backstage access straight from the runway using integrated initiatives including Infographic, Facebook contest, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and more -

SAN DIEGO – February 15, 2012 – Red Door Interactive, a strategic partner dedicated to ensuring businesses engage their customers wherever they are, launched a multifaceted social media campaign for Creative Nail Design (CND) coinciding with CND’s 15^th Anniversary at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York.

 Each season, CND works with designers to develop custom nail styles that communicate the point of view of the current collection, like the Groovy Pinwheel Manicure CND created for Nicole Miller this season.

Now, CND Fashion Week extends to social media via a content strategy that includes real-time Twitter updates and daily blog coverage from CND Co-Founder and Style Director Jan Arnold. Backstage photos and videos are shared via Instagram, YouTube and Tumblr. Runway looks and nail style close-ups are pinned from the blog to Pinterest. An Infographic called “The History of Nails at Fashion Week,” explores the evolution of the nail trend, and a daily Facebook give-away invites fans to choose their favorite runway nail style from the FW12 shows.

Fans can follow along by visiting the following:

• CNDWorld on Twitter
• CND on Facebook
• CNDVideo on YouTube
• CNDWorld on Pinterest
• CNDWorld on Instagram
• CNDWorld on Tumblr
• CNDFashionWeek blog

“Each season, the digital conversation surrounding fashion week gets bigger, as does the focus on nails as the ultimate fashion accessory,” said Elyce DeBrown, Director of Marketing at CND. “We’ve been behind-the-scenes for 15 years and are thrilled to be working with our partners at Red Door Interactive to tell the CND Fashion Week story through social media.”

The overall CND Fashion Week strategy is collaborative by nature, and allows the brand to focus on capturing visual content, while Red Door extends those activities online, providing the technical capabilities and expertise to drive awareness, social share, influencer coverage and conversation.

“In the fashion industry – much like many other markets – consumers are looking to feel a personal connection with the brands they love,” said Crosby Noricks, Director of Social Media for Red Door Interactive. “Social media allows for this, but only when the strategy strikes the right balance between personality, immediacy and value. We’re proud to be able to do that for CND!”

 ”The History of Nails at Fashion Week“ Infographic:

About Red Door Interactive, Inc.
With offices in Denver, San Diego and Carlsbad, Red Door Interactive, Inc. is a strategic partner dedicated to ensuring businesses acquire, convert, retain and engage their customers wherever they are. The firm holds more than a decade of expertise in successfully developing and executing communications initiatives across all touch points to deliver real, measureable results. Clients include Cricket Communications, CND (Shellac), Rubio’s Restaurants, Inc. and Charlotte Russe. Find out more about Red Door Interactive at http://www.reddoor.biz.

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© 2012 by Red Door Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved.

Agile Planning: Translating strategy and execution into real results.
San Diego – Tuesday, March 6th 

Traditional approaches to strategic planning and implementation can translate into wheel$pin, not traction. Consequently, you might find yourself opting for less planning, which isn’t an effective solution either. In the face of change, we need to be translating more strategy and more execution into more traction. Mike Richardson is going to show us how.

As an award-winning Vistage International Chair, the President of Sherpa Alliance and a celebrated author, Mike specializes in the strategy, execution and traction challenges of fast-moving businesses. During this session, he’ll introduce us to Agile Planning as a way to do effective strategic planning and execution. Whether you are one month or six months into your strategic plan, you will learn strategies to help you become more fully In the Driving Seat^® of your organizational agility: the ability to deal with rapidly changing circumstances, while out-executing your competition and stakeholder expectations (of customers, employees, and shareholders). Come see how agile planning can help you get results for your business.

SAVE THE DATE
Tuesday, March 6th
8:30 – 9:00 AM Registration, Breakfast & Networking
9:00 – 10:00 AM Presentation & Questions
10:00 – 10:30 AM Networking

PANELIST:
Mike Richardson, award-winning Vistage International Chair, the President of Sherpa Alliance and a celebrated author.

COST:
- Event only - $35
- Event & signed copy of “Wheel$pin: The Agile Executive’s Manifesto” (Paperback) by Mike Richardson - $53
*you will receive the book at the event

To celebrate Red Door’s 10th anniversary this year (double digits!), we would like to share our personality, core values, and overall excitement through a series of “top 10” blog posts on the 10th each month. 

February – It’s Red Door’s 10^th birthday this month, and we share our February birthday with a couple of esteemed Presidents! As Presidents’ Day approaches, you may find yourself wondering what a past POTUS may have tweeted in their time.  We have seen communication strategies evolve through the years since Cross-Channel strategy could have included a quill pen and lantern signals when George Washington was in office, to President Obama where we watch him live on U Stream and Twitter.  The Red Door Cross-Channel Marketing Team, which includes our email, social media, SEO, and paid media strategists, put together a list of 10 Faux Presidential handles & tweets to celebrate.  Leave a comment with one of your own!

1. George Washington                       1789-1797
   @Number1Prez
   Just got sworn into office – view looks good from the balcony of Federal Hall in NYC! Thanks for making me the first Prez of the United States of America.
2. Thomas Jefferson                            1801-1809           
   @tommy_jefe 
   I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing something good for another. RT if you agree!
3. John Quincy Adams                        1825-1829
   @OfficialJohnQuincyAdams
   “The happiness of society is the end of government.” – John Adams LOL! #UtterancesFromMyFather #TGIF
4. William Henry Harrison                  1841      
   @Prez_WHH     
   Who wins the award for shortest tenure in office? This guy! D*** you pneumonia…
5. Abraham Lincoln                              1861-1865           
   @Honest_AbeL               
   Thanks for all the Facebook comments on my birthday weekend! Everyone desires to live long, but no one would be old.
6. Ulysses S. Grant                                               1869-1877           
   @UssssGrant    
   I know only two tunes: one of them is ‘Yankee Doodle’, and the other one isn’t.
7. Rutherford B. Hayes                       1877-1881           
   @Ruthe_B_Hairy            
   Beard and mustache need trimming, fear Lucy has begun to mistake me for our shepherd Hector.
8. Grover Cleveland                             1885-1889, 1893-1897    
   @DoublePrez   
   I must go to dinner, but I wish it was to eat a pickled herring a Swiss cheese & a chop at Louis’ instead of the French stuff I shall find.
9. Franklin D. Roosevelt                     1933-1945           
   @F_D_Roos      
   Remember you are just an extra in everyone else’s play.
10. Ronald Reagan                                  1981-1989           
    @I_LoveNancy
    The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away.

We also leave you with a Presidential #FF inspiration from a project that the Massachusetts Historical Society has been doing – @JQAdams_MHS is John Quincy Adam’s line-a-day diary in tweets, exactly 200 years later.

- Company’s Cross Channel Marketing Director to discuss how to drive offline sales with location-based social, search tactics -

SAN DIEGO – February 7, 2012 – John Faris, Director of Cross Channel Marketing at Red Door Interactive, a strategic partner dedicated to ensuring businesses engage their customers wherever they are, will speak Monday at Las Vegas’ MAGIC S.L.A.T.E.

The presentation entitled “Driving offline sales with location-based social and search tactics” will help marketers mobilize and localize existing social and search strategies to drive offline activity.

Faris will discuss how consumer purchasing decisions are becoming more influenced by brand and product research conducted online, and how specialty retailers can adapt. According to Google, 89 percent of consumers who buy in key retail categories in-store have conducted online research prior to purchase. To capitalize on consumers’ new inclination to research online before purchasing offline, marketers need to go beyond awareness and direct response campaigns, and start influencing the purchase decision-making process.  This means ramping up mobile content and campaigns, social check-in campaigns, and local search engine marketing efforts.

More information is available at http://www.magiconline.com/slate.

About Red Door Interactive, Inc.
With offices in San Diego, Carlsbad and Denver, Red Door Interactive, Inc. is a strategic partner dedicated to ensuring businesses acquire, convert, retain and engage their customers wherever they are. The firm holds more than a decade of expertise in successfully developing and executing communications initiatives across all touch points to deliver real, measureable results. Clients include Quiksilver, Sutter Home Winery, Cricket Communications, PETCO, Rubio’s, Charlotte Russe and Eagle Creek. Find out more about Red Door Interactive at http://www.reddoor.biz.

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© 2012 by Red Door Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved.

We’re hiring! Looking for a Project Manager to join our Denver office.

Is This You?  From project kick-off to lessons learned, we’re looking for a dynamic team player to execute projects to meet client project goals. You can handle the minutia while keeping the big picture top-of-mind. You will be comfortable having the authority to make quick decisions on the fly as well as know when it’s appropriate to lean on subject matter experts for their insights. You will be able to clearly communicate status, actions and risks to clients while keeping teams engaged and motivated and forward-thinking. You have a dedication to quality and know how to provide value without compromising project goals.

Learning & Growth: You are organized, detail-oriented, and have the ability to learn quickly in a fast-paced environment. You are adept at learning and able leverage new technologies and project management best practices throughout the project life cycle. You will have opportunities to gain mastery in and execute Lean and Agile best practices within the project life cycle. You will engage in career/professional growth opportunities through supervision, mentoring and on-going training.

Our projects: You have the opportunity to manage both external and internal teams throughout complex, multiphase projects. You execute on a variety of project types such as engine optimization (SEO) strategy, online media and web site and application development. You welcome the opportunity to provide solutions and improvements to our project process through regular in-project retrospectives and post-project reviews.

Our team: Working under the larger umbrella of the Project and Process Management team you will join a strong team of project managers. You work with our Senior Estimator and Quality Architect to provide continuous improvements to projects. You provide mentorship to junior members of our team and serve in a leadership role within the PM and project teams.

Is this you? If so, APPLY NOW!

Current Open Positions:

• Director of Business Development, Denver with a proven track record of developing and growing meaningful relationships.
• Senior Web Developer with strong back-end development experience with LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) technologies.
• Search Marketing Manager who can gracefully manage SEO and paid search objectives and develop people.
• Senior Strategist with expertise in turning research into insights and delivering compelling presentations that resonate with executive audiences.
• Project Manager who is a dynamic team player with excellent judgment to execute projects to meet client goals. 

About Red Door Interactive
With offices in San Diego, Carlsbad and Denver, Red Door Interactive, Inc. is a strategic partner dedicated to helping businesses continually evolve by offering a broad array of services. We help brands including Cricket Communications, Eagle Creek, Quiksilver, Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill, and Petco connect seamlessly with customers across all touch points.

- Denver agency finds new location to accommodate expanding team -

Denver – February 2nd, 2012 – Red Door Interactive, a strategic partner dedicated to ensuring businesses engage their customers wherever they are, announced today its move to a new Downtown office space.

Since opening its doors in Denver three years ago, the agency has grown by more than 50 percent and the change was necessary to accommodate its rapidly-expanding team and client base.

“The new location is a great fit for our team and will allow us to expand our multi-office communication and stay connected through advanced technologies,” said Jaime Heather Intile, VP of Business Services and Managing Director in Denver for Red Door Interactive. “In 2011, we were recognized as the top Web Developer in Denver by the Denver Business Journal in terms of revenue which reiterates that brands are coming to us to help them achieve their online goals. We’re looking forward to helping more businesses in Rocky Mountain region!”

Each of Red Door’s three locations possesses a special theme and the Denver design concept is Modern Lodge. The goal is for employees and guests to feel warm and welcome in their work environment and décor entails a fun faux animal-head art installation and the inclusion of natural elements and accents such as beetle kill wood. The office will maintain its open layout, but will also offer small meeting rooms, a gathering hub with built-in booths and bars where people can eat and host informal meetings.

The agency is looking to hire new team members for numerous positions, including Director of Business Development, Art Director, Sr. Web Developer and paid internships in Business Services, Marketing Communications, Research and Strategy, Business Development and Online Advertising. More information on these positions is available at: http://www.reddoor.biz/careers

The new office is located at 1001 17th Street, Suite PL150, Denver, Colo., 80202.

About Red Door Interactive, Inc.
With offices in San Diego, Carlsbad and Denver, Red Door Interactive, Inc. is a strategic partner dedicated to ensuring businesses acquire, convert, retain and engage their customers wherever they are. The firm holds more than a decade of expertise in successfully developing and executing communications initiatives across all touch points to deliver real, measureable results. Clients include Quiksilver, Sutter Home Winery, Cricket Communications, PETCO, Rubio’s, Charlotte Russe and Eagle Creek. Find out more about Red Door Interactive at http://www.reddoor.biz.

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© 2012 by Red Door Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved.

Want a chance to work at a “Best Place to Work“? If so, you’re in luck! Red Door Interactive is currently looking for talent within several departments at both our Denver and San Diego locations.

Senior Web Developer
Internet savvy developer with passion for creating intuitive solutions.
Senior Web Developer wanted to join the Red Door team to work on a variety of exciting projects and clients. You thrive in a collaborative environment, and are adept at aligning technology with client goals. You will be responsible for the successful delivery of projects by developing plans, leveraging internet technologies, and bringing innovative ideas to fruition.
Show us your best stuff- please share your resume and a few selected code examples (with contextual explanation or any appropriate documentation) when you apply. Apply here>>>

Director of Business Development, Denver
Relationship builder and business developer.
Collaborative, resourceful people-person wanted to join the Red Door team. From prospecting to new client engagements you will partner with a multi-disciplinary team of creative thinkers and industry experts to develop and initiate new client relationships. You can marshal resources to create a winning and motivated environment. You draw on your marketing experience, connections in the Denver/Boulder area, and ability to create engagements that provide client value and agency profitability. You have the ability to identify the root need of clients and marry them with the appropriate solution. You are an expert at strategic pitch development, a brilliant presenter and a masterful win-win negotiator.  You have agency experience and a proven track record of developing and growing meaningful relationships. You can handle the minutia while keeping the vision. You’re passionate, informed, hungry for details and able to make smart decisions on the fly. Apply now>>>

Senior Strategist
Brilliant presenter, insights curator, audience influencer.
You are an expert in the principles and methods of primary and secondary research. You get excited when you find insights from consumers, panel data sources and analytics platforms. You are a master at turning those insights into strategic marketing plans and tactical recommendations. As an effective communicator you deliver compelling presentations that resonate with executive audiences. You are a natural collaborator and build positive relationships with clients and colleagues. Apply here>>>

Search Marketing Manager
Resourceful search expert and developer of people.
From development through execution, you manage strategies that support and achieve client SEO and paid search objectives. You seek out the most effective platforms and tools to help clients achieve their branding and/or acquisition goals. You are an effective delegator who collaborates and supports the team to make it possible to achieve clients’ search goals. You thrive on collaboration, and enjoy working with other subject matter experts to optimize client marketing programs. Apply here>>>

Why Red Door Interactive?
Having a career at Red Door Interactive means you are on a team that helps each other win. You will have the opportunity to work with people who embrace Red Door’s Core Values: Inspire, Share, Evolve, Exceed, and 100% Jerk-Free.
 
We are committed to being a great place to work, and Red Door Interactive was included as one of Inc. Magazine & Winning Workplace’s 2010 Top Small Companies to Work For an in Advertising Age’s 2010 Best Places to Work in Marketing & Media.

People practice accolades include:
- Inc Magazine’s Top Small Company Workplace of 2010
- Advertising Age’s Best Place to Work in Marketing & Media 2010
- One of San Diego’s Best Places to Work (2005-2010)
- San Diego Society for Human Resources Management’s Marble Award 2011
- San Diego Society for Human Resources Management’s Crystal Award 2009
- San Diego Society for Human Resources Management’s Marble Award 2007
  
About Red Door Interactive
Red Door Interactive, Inc. is a strategic partner dedicated to helping businesses continually evolve by offering a broad array of services. We help brands including Cricket Communications, Eagle Creek, Quiksilver, Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill, and Petco connect seamlessly with customers across all touch points. 
 
Learn more about a career with Red Door Interactive at www.reddoor.biz/careers.

It’s official: Red Door  opens the doors to our new downtown Denver office on February 6^th! Now we need your help to bring our office to life with fun, inspirational, I-want-to-work-in-here-everyday conference room names.

By now you know that we’re not in the habit of using names like “Board Room” or “Executive Suite.” Rather, we try to contribute to the unique identity of each office: We’ve got our homey HQ in downtown San Diego, our beach house in Carlsbad, and now… our state-of-the-art modern lodge in Denver. 

This week, the Denver crew got together and held a brain-hurricane (10x more powerful than a brainstorm) to pick out names for the new conference rooms. Here’s how the ideas spun out. First, we wanted to tie the names into our modern lodge theme, and into Colorado. So, we picked our favorite mountains. From there, we picked our favorite ski/hike runs (one from each favorite mountain). Then we paired each run with the room it fit best.

Here’s what we came up with so far:

1. Imperial Bowl – from Breckenridge – for the large circular common area.
2. Blue Sky Basin – from Vail – for the larger conference room with more formal table/chairs.
3. Powder Keg – from Arapahoe Basin – for the smaller, more ‘casual’ conference room.
4. Dew Drop – from Telluride – for one of the call rooms.
5. Giggle Gulch (or maybe just The Gulch) – from Steamboat – for the other call room.

What do you think? Post your feedback and ideas, and we’ll send them out to our employees for a final vote!

Exterior of new office in downtown Denver

 And for some extra inspiration, check out more photos of our new Denver home coming to life here.

The new office will be located at 1001 17th Street, Suite PL150, Denver, Colo., 80202.

For anyone who missed the fantastic WAA LA Symposium, here is everything you wanted to know (and were too ashamed at missing such a fabulous event to ask!) 

The future of analytics: Jim Sterne’s keynote was a great opening to the day and focused on the possibilities of the future. Here’s how the road to success looks: 

• Data will let us predict the future, and data modeling will let machines help us make better decisions.
• The future of analytics is collaborative analytics – getting the information out there and getting input from the entire company.
• Ultimately, the future of analytics is up to us, and it’s not the technology that will make it happen – it’s the people who know how to use it.

Success in large organisations: Jorge Laguna from HP and Matt Wright from Keystone Solutions presented a joint client session on the keys to successful testing in large companies: 

• With a successful A/B and Multivariate testing program, a full site redesign is essentially dead. You are continually iterating to improve the experience and your bottom line.
• Build relationships within and with other teams – you can’t succeed alone.
• Recruit the right people internally, but don’t be afraid to bring in external talent that you need to ensure success.
• Document best practices.
• Communicate your success.
• Build a methodology that works for your organisation.
• Allow the necessary agility to move quickly on opportunities, and the flexibility to allow testing to work for different departments globally.
• Future-proof your investments, for when you move to new technologies.

Shawn Hushman from Kelley Blue Book talked about the requirements of successful enterprise analytics, including: 

• Commitment of the organisation, technical alignment and organisational clarity on what was important.
• At KBB, results in analytics drove further demand, until it became a part of the company’s DNA.

Understanding the Multi-Channel Customer: Kristin Shanks from Petco not only succeeded by featuring her adorable puppy in her presentation, but by sharing Petco’s success in understanding their multi-channel customer. Petco’s analytics found that:

• Multi-channel customers (for example, those who shop both in-store and online) are more valuable, spending 3x that of a single channel shopper.
• Petco didn’t just measure the overall lift due to shipping prices and policy changes, but segmented to see the impact on shopping behavior and the shift from in-store to online, to truly understand the incremental lift.
• Shanks readily admits this kind of analysis is not easy for them – they too struggle with data silos. But understand, and rewarding the loyalty of, their multi-channel customer was crucial to their business.

Succeeded in Your Career: Thuy Kim from Experian Consumer Direct shared some of her tips for a successful career in analytics:

• Keep in mind the different roles you have as an analyst. You should be creative and an information architect, presenting data in a way that is understandable (and, in the case of executives, digestible in under 5 minutes) but also act as a project manager, and of course, an analyst.
  • Red Door Interactive Project Manager Malani Shubin added to this that an analyst should also be a sales person. Whether you are on the client, vendor, agency or consulting side, you’re selling your capabilities, and the benefit that you can bring to the business.
  • Don’t forget about building the foundation. Your credibility is based on the success of things you’ve done before.
  • Analytics leaders, stop to think – why should anyone be led by you? What are your team seeing you do, even if you don’t say it? How can you create an impact and earn the right to lead?  

Success in Education: June Dershewitz from Apollo Group (Univ. of Phoenix) and Scott Rutherford from UCI discussed some of the challenges faced by the use of analytics in education. (For example, imagine trying to measure the long term impact of whether use of a mobile app leads to higher grades and graduation!) Some of the successes they shared included:

• UCI’s use of data to decide go/no go on courses ensures that they remain profitable in the face of state cutbacks.
• Education is able to learn from other industries (for example, finance) in how important the investments in analytics facing them will be to their future success, and justify accordingly

Success in data accuracy: Jon Narong from BeachBody.com discussed the importance of data quality, and how the right team structure has helped their organisation to succeed. 

• Analytics is considered a critical production data source, not a secondary concern and its accuracy is a top priority. Of course, you can never truly ensure 100% accuracy, but it is crucial to make the data as accurate as possible and understand why there might be some inaccuracies, not to mention understand their impact.
• Splitting their analytics team into Business and Technical Analytics has allowed deep immersion, less distraction from the team’s core focus and organisational confidence in their data.

Success in Social: Social was definitely a focus at the event, with not only a social media panel but also a great closing keynote from John Lovett at Web Analytics Demystified. Success in social for 2012 is going to involve:

• Moving from “what can we measure?” to “what should we measure?”
• Leveraging learning from different channels – social is not so new or different that we can’t learn from the past. For example, success in social, as in email, isn’t based on the size of your “list” (email addresses, Facebook fans) but on what you do with it from there. How do you market to the audience you’ve built? It’s not enough to have Facebook fans – you need to market to them, and do it well.
• But we are at the whim of the social channels – what metrics they’ll provide, and what they’ll allow to be tracked. You may need to find the right tools to complement your social strategy and even develop your own metrics to measure the impact on your business.
• Focusing on proving value, instead of just experimenting and defining basic metrics. Companies will have to move from the “hype” to truly considering their objectives.
• As John Lovett pointed out, “it’s frickin important to set goals” and you must align your strategy and goals with your corporate culture – “corporate culture will eat strategy for breakfast.”
• Make sure the social work you are doing is actually right for your customers. Twitter and Facebook and YouTube might not be right for your customers, but what about your support forums where customers help each other? (After all, you wouldn’t use television to market to the Amish, would you?)
• Never forget that social customers are just a percentage of your customers – keep it in context with your other initiatives!

Did you miss the WAA LA Symposium? Don’t forget about the great ways that the WAA can help you succeed in your career, by providing local events, education, research, standards, training and certificates, not to mention building your professional network. Check out some of the upcoming Symposiums to find one near you: http://www.webanalyticsassociation.org/?page=symposiums