Think.web Blog

I’m used to measure and see the user habitual in website for almost 4 years now. Thanks to all the tools that has come my way [Google Analytics, Omniture, Coremetrics] it’s all has been a peachy experiment for me. That is until this Social Media thingy come storming like a hurricane.

Measuring how they affecting the overall site performance is a piece of cake, but really dwelling into Social Media performance and see how the user habit towards it is still a mind boggling, time consuming and snooze-fest activity to do.

Sure enough two of Indonesia’s highest use Social Media has it’s own analytics. One within the channel, and the other one scattered like a bread crumb that Gretel left like you can see here. But those two type of analytics is not on top of their game yet.

Facebook for example. Yes, the sought after Social Media is smart enough to prepare a simple analytics for Page owner and Apps developer. But is it user friendly enough, is it accurate enough, is it cover all the important stuff? To regular joe perhaps all that single metrics being displayed are sufficient enough.

But when you talk to they who accustomed with analytics for more than a year, single metrics is just not enough. People would start wondering and ask: WHAT IF.

What if “i cross the daily active user with gender/age and cities”
What if “i cross new fans with specific post”
What if “i wanted to know the demographic of the abandoned fans”
and on and on and on…

Not to mention the need to make a tailored analytics based on our very own or our client needs. To make a good fitted dress a.k.a good online campaign report we need a comprehensive tools. I don’t want to have to hand-sewn all of my custom dresses

PS: Dear Analytics God, let Facebook, Twitter and other aspiring new social media out there hear that i need a comprehensive tools to sewn a good report. Amin.

Aside from the long path that Facebook team have to ride, their effort on gradually upgrading their service needs a big salute. One of the progress is they are willingly to share more single metrics and start to cross it with several metrics. You can enjoy them at http://www.facebook.com/insights/. Yet, I still have that: WHAT IF moment in my head.

As an analyst I was dying to have a sufficient tools to expand my analytics mojo, and to spot the exact behavior of my user. I truly wish that Facebook and other Social Media channel out there would gives analytics part a good focus and gradually improve them. Until then, i guess it’s back to the long hour and snooze-fest data collecting method.

PS: Dear Analytics God, let Facebook, Twitter and other aspiring new social media out there hear this whole prayer. Amin.

- Photos taken from here -

“Brain is a speed racer”

Kalau otak kita boleh ikut balap formula satu, sepertinya pasti akan menang.  Salah satunya adalah karena adanya jalur Myelinated.  Jalur ini memungkinkan impulse (rangsang) untuk bergerak 10-100 meter per detiknya.  Ini berarti jarak tempuhnya kurang lebih  22.356 mph untuk 10 meter per detik dan  223.561 mph untuk 100 meter per detik. Masih dibawah jarak tempuh cahaya, but still our brain know how to race.

Sedemikian cepatnya kemampuan proses otak, sampai-sampai saya masih berpendapat bahwa kemampuan seorang analyst yang baik masih jauh lebih bernilai daripada tools yang digunakan untuk melakukan analisa.

Bicara soal analisa online, sampai sejauh ini, otak manusia masih lebih prima daripada kemampuan mesin dalam menandai dan mengolah data. Itu kenapa, menurut saya, semua mesin atau perangkat online yang ada hanya berfungsi sebagai alat bantu. Secanggih apapun solusi yang ditawarkan atau digunakan, pada akhirnya keberadaan seorang analyst (human brain) tetap diperlukan.

Dan ternyata pemikiran saya ini tidak sendiri. Konsep pentingnya keberadan analyst dalam sebuah riset online juga dikemukakan oleh beberapa orang. Salah satunya adalah Katie Paine, pemilik sebuah measurement company online di Amerika.  Dalam salah satu rekaman video youtube, Katie berbagi soal pentingnya faktor manusia dan kemampuan menganalisa. Dan beberapa tips nyata yang berhasil saya rekam adalah bahwa untuk jadi seorang analyst yang baik pastikan melakukan 2 hal dibawah ini:

• Banyak baca buku! Dalam hal analisa mungkin tidak harus baku membaca buku, cukup ambil kata kunci: membaca. Ini berarti bahan bacaannya bisa saja berupa blog, newsletter, email dan apapun yang ada di dunia online.
• Jadi pendengar yang baik! Ini berarti coba “nguping” pembicaraan yang terjadi di dunia online. Bukan cuma seputar brand yang dihandle, tapi juga sepak terjang kompetitor dan mapping keseluruhan aktivitas.

Yang tertarik denger langsung Katie ideas soal analisa kampanye online, silahkan simak penggalan youtubenya. And at the end if you think that tools is everthing, it’s not! You’ve got to have a good analyst to really improve your online campaign. So yes, invest on analyst or cooperate with a company that could help you to analyze.

Image source: screenrant.com