Measurement in a Constantly Connected World

by Paul Muret

Smartphones and tablets are the first things many of us check in the morning, and the last things we read at night. We use smartphones on the sidewalk, at work, at lunchtime, in line at the grocery store. In the evenings, we’re on our tablets while we watch TV.

对今天的许多人而言，每天起床的第一件事是查看智能手机或平板电脑。不管是在路上、上班时、午餐中，还是在超市排队的间隙，我们几乎每时每刻都在使用智能手机。到了晚上，一边看电视一边使用平板电脑早已成为许多人的常态。

Being constantly connected has changed our behavior: we simply expect the right information to be at our fingertips. And the more we come to expect that information will be there whenever we seek it out, the more we search and browse, research, share with friends and family, and (most importantly for businesses) buy things.

这种时刻与网络互联的状态改变了我们的行为：我们希望轻动指尖就可以获得想要的信息。我们越希望获得信息，就越依赖搜索、浏览以及研究，直到最终购买商品（对商业活动而言，这是最重要的一点）。

According to Google research, 88% of consumers research products and services before making a purchase, and the average customer consults 10.4 sources before making a choice. Today, these purchase decisions are a product of our activity across screens.

根据谷歌所做的研究，88%的消费者会在购买商品之前对商品或者服务进行调查。在做出最终决定前，每位消费者会平均参考10.4个不同信息源。今天，这些购买决策都是跨媒介跨屏幕搜索的产物。

This is creating tremendous opportunities for business teams to engage customers throughout their new and more complex buying journeys. But before you can take advantage, you have to understand that journey by measuring and analyzing the data in new ways that value these moments appropriately. The payoff is better alignment between marketing messages and consumers'intent during their paths to purchase — and ultimately, better business results.To adapt to this new constantly connected customer, businesses should do three things:

这为商家创造了绝佳机会——在这个全新、更为复杂的购物旅程中牢牢吸引消费者。不过，在充分利用这一优势之前，你必须通过全新的方式衡量和分析数据，更准确地理解顾客购物旅程中的每一时刻。这一做法能帮助你更好地利用营销信息，影响消费者的购买意图，让他们购买产品，最终提高公司业绩。若想迎合这些每时每刻处于互联状态的消费者，商家应做到以下三方面：

Practice Holistic Measurement.

全面衡量。

 Let’s say you’re planning a family summer vacation. You search for “family friendly vacations” on your desktop computer and find a travel site promoting a “kids stay free” offer at your favorite beach. It sounds great, but you decide to do some more research before settling on that particular trip. That evening, while catching up on last week’s TV shows on your tablet, you remember the “kids stay free” offer so you return to the online travel site.

例如，你在为全家计划一次夏日旅行。你在电脑上搜索“适合家庭的旅行计划”，然后发现一家网站正在大力宣传“儿童住宿免费”的促销活动，目的地恰好是你最向往的海滩。这听起来很美，但你还是决定在订购最终行程前多做些研究。某个晚上，当你在平板电脑上观看电视剧时，你突然想起那则“儿童住宿免费”的广告，于是你再次点开了那家旅游网站。

This is the key moment: If the site remembered your earlier interest in family friendly vacations from your desktop, it would show you that same tailored promotion. And chances are you’d be excited by this seamless experience.

关键时刻到了：如果网站留有你早前在电脑上的浏览记录，那么平板电脑上会出现为你量身定制的广告。结果，你很可能会被这样的无缝衔接营销体验所打动。

But consider what happens if the site instead shows you an offer tailored to business travelers. Would that make you more or less likely to buy a family trip? The answer is pretty clear: a complimentary continental breakfast and proximity to a convention center isn't quite as much fun as snorkeling and building sandcastles.

但如果出现的广告是针对商务旅客的呢？答案显而易见：免费的欧陆式早餐和靠近会议中心的住宿位置，显然没有潜水和在沙滩堆城堡吸引人。

The constantly connected consumer comes in contact with your brand in a variety of ways, over many days or weeks, across different devices and channels. They engage with you as they search for information, browse their favorite websites, or watch videos online. A Google research study found that 90% of multi-device owners switched between screens to complete a task. Understanding how customers connect with your brand across these multiple touch-points is the first step toward effective measurement.

永远互联的消费者可以通过多种方法接触到你的品牌，这个过程可能持续几天或几周，并横跨多种电子设备与渠道。他们在找寻信息、浏览网站，或是观看网络视频的过程中实现与你的互动。谷歌的另一项研究发现，为完成一项任务，90%拥有多种电子设备的人会游走于多个屏幕。了解消费者如何通过多个触点与你的品牌取得联系，是迈向有效消费者分析的第一步。

Attribute the Right Value to your Marketing Channels. 

为营销渠道分配恰当的投资。

Our research shows that while only 14% of marketers consider last-click analysis to be “very effective,” over 50% still use last-click measurement as the biggest influencer for a purchase decision. It remains the industry standard in many places. But consumers now come in contact with your brand in a variety of ways, in multiple contexts, across different channels and screens before that last click. Consumer behavior has evolved, and brands need to as well.

我们的研究表明，尽管只有14%的营销人员认为最终点击分析（Last-click Analysis，一种追溯消费者是通过何种渠道进入商家网站的分析方法——译者注）“非常有效”，但仍有超过50%的人认为，最终点击是影响购买的最主要因素。不可否认，它依旧是很多行业的惯用衡量标准。然而，今天的消费者在最终点击之前，已经通过多种方式、环境、渠道以及设备接触到你的品牌。消费者的行为在不断变化演进，而商家也应当跟紧步伐。

Marketers today need a better understanding of how to attribute value to each one of their channels; when you know which ones drive action for different groups, you can value each appropriately and invest in the right points of their customer journey. Tools like Google’s Multi-Channel Funnels and Attribution Modeling help businesses grasp each marketing interaction and how they influence each other along the customer journey.

今天的营销人员需要清楚如何将价值分配到各个渠道中。当你知道哪些渠道可以产生驱动作用时，你就能合理估价并在恰当的渠道上进行投资。

Let’s go back to our travel example. Before the multi-screen era, that travel site you visited might have looked only for the “last click” — the one that brought you to their website right before you bought the vacation package. That click is still hugely important, of course, but now businesses can understand the path leading up to it as well. Were you particularly moved by a search or display ad? Did you receive an email newsletter? Did your friend share an online promotion with you?

让我们回到旅游广告的例子。在进入多屏幕时代之前，旅游网站也许只看重你的最终点击，即在付款前把你带到网站的那一次点击。虽然最终点击依旧很重要，但如今的商家有能力顺藤摸瓜，了解消费者是如何到达那一步的。例如，你是否曾收到促销邮件？是否看到页面广告？是否有朋友与你分享链接？

Developing a strategy based on this richer picture is a crucial part of connecting with on-demand consumers, and it starts by asking the right questions and using the right models for analysis. Are you reaching the right audience at the right scal? Are you doing it profitably? How are your activities interacting with each other to increase the likelihood that you’ll achieve your goals?

要吸引这些新潮消费者，商家要全方位地了解客户，开发出新战略。询问正确的问题及使用正确的分析模型是首要任务。你的信息能否在正确的范围内传达给目标用户？你这样做能否获得收益？如何让你的市场活动形成互动，从而实现营销目标？这些都是需要考虑的问题。

Understanding how different channels work together enables your company to improve these models over time. This will help your organization learn new ways to provide consistent messaging and customer experiences — and help you invest in the right parts of your business as well.

当理解了不同渠道是如何共同起作用的，你的公司就能一步步完善自己的商业模式。这种理解可以帮助你的组织学习到新方法，提供更加稳定的信息与用户体验，从而有的放矢地对营销渠道进行投资。

Act, Measure, Repeat. 

行动，评估，重复。

More searches, posts, views, and connections are producing waves of new data to measure — and some entirely new buying signals. As a result, marketers need to experiment relentlessly with their campaigns. Try developing different creatives for consumers in different geographies. Test various graphics, messaging, and timing. If the audience you’d like to reach is shopping for family vacations, perform A/B tests with slightly different creatives and copy, and carefully measure which ones perform best.

越来越多的搜索、发帖、浏览及联系催生了越来越多的有待分析的新数据以及一些前所未见的购买信号。因此，市场营销人员需要坚持不懈地试验营销活动。例如，你的目标客户在选购家庭旅游产品，你就可以尝试对比测试(A/B tests:将两种不同的展现方法给两组不同的用户同时使用，并对其操作行为进行相互比较，得出哪一方更胜一筹的测试方法——译者注)，保留一些元素的同时更改几处创意，从而仔细评估哪一方案的效果最佳。

Using our travel example, let's say the online travel agency decides to experiment with a number of different creatives for their online display ads. After a period of time, they see that customers who see the promotional “kids stay free” offer on both desktop and tablet buy 17% more vacation packages. That information should now be linked directly to their ad system, to both optimize creative messaging and adjust investments to boost overall sales. More broadly, savvy businesses should be integrating their internal data platforms, such as CRM and in-store systems, with their digital marketing as well.

再回到我们制定旅游行程的例子。假设网上的旅行中介决定在广告中试用几个不同的创意。一段时间后他们发现，在电脑和平板电脑上都看到“儿童住宿免费”广告的消费者购买此行程的可能性增加了17%。这一信息应当直接反馈到广告系统中去，以便优化广告创意，调整投资，从而提升销售额。广而言之，有远见的商家应该将内部信息平台（例如，客户关系管理系统）与他们的数字营销进行整合。

Of course, none of this means less work. But it does mean more opportunity — if marketers spend more time planning, testing, and optimizing their digital efforts. When 60% of online purchases happen after multiple brand interactions, it’s critical to stay agile, and act on the insights of your customers and their journeys.

当然，做到这一切绝非易事。但如果营销人员愿意花更多时间规划、测试并优化他们的数字营销活动，商家就能发掘更多商机。调查显示，在网络购物成交前，60%的消费者会与品牌进行多次互动。在这一过程中，商家的敏锐嗅觉至关重要，你需要通盘了解顾客的消费过程。谋定而后动，往往能出奇制胜！

(译/康欣叶    校/安健)

Paul Muret leads product and engineering for Google Analytics and the related suite of measurement tools. Paul has overseen the development of Analytics since its inception in 2005 through today, and has also been the CEO of two start-ups, including Urchin Software Corporation, which was acquired by Google in 2005.

保罗·米雷（Paul Muret）负责领导谷歌分析产品及相关评估套件的研发。自2005年产品上线以来，他一直负责此项工作。与此同时，他还是两家初创公司的CEO，其中一家名为Urchin Software Corporation，于2005年被谷歌收购。