Implementing google analytics in marketing activity of simicart , LTD

INTRODUCTION Define the significance of research In a modem market economy like ours in Vietnam today, competition among businesses is inevitable And with the support of technology in the 4.0 industrial revolution contest, more and more businesses find their unique competitive advantage For example, in the íĩeld of commerce, the rise of e-commerce enterprises has created great pressure on traditional commercial enterprises Cash payments were gradually replaced by electronic payment, TV advertising, signs gradually replaced by digital advertising, show-room display was gradually replaced by commercial websites The rapid development of e-commerce is not only due to the value it brings buyers: fast, compact, convenient, anytime, anywhere; but also thanks to the added value for the seller: the ability to measure the effectiveness in real time all activities of the e-commerce website, thereby analyzing, evaluating and taking action in accordance with the situation of his/her business However, in the world in general and in Vietnam in particular, there are still many e-commerce enterprises that have not exploited the second mentioned advantage In this context, the number of web analytics tools is also growing rapidly Many tools were bom, meeting many different needs of e-commerce businesses Among them, Google Analytics, which is provided free from Google, is a typical name with the ability to track many important indicators and the potential for application to the business in e-commerce business is huge Recognizing the importance of web analytics for e-commerce and the beneíĩts that Google Analytics provides as a web analytics tool, I boldly learn about the Google Analytics tool and choose the topic: “Implementing Google Analytics in marketing activity of SimiCart, LTD.” Aims and process of the research Research in the thesis will focus on Google Analytics tool and the status of applying this tool in some e-commerce companies in Vietnam, and simultaneously analyzing the strengths and limitations of the Google Analytics application in these companies aim to propose ways to improve the operation of Google Analytics applications in e-commerce business for Vietnamese enterprises In order to achieve the above goal, the topic has three main tasks to complete: The first is the introduction of web analytics and Google Analytics as a web analytics tool, while presenting the main issues that businesses encounter when applying Google Analytics into business Secondly, introduce Google Analytics application activities in some Vietnamese enterprises, then make evaluations about what those businesses have done successfully and their limited points Thirdly, on the basis of the above assessments, find out the trends in the application of Google Analytics into e-commerce business in Vietnam and propose ways to improve this activity for Vietnamese businesses Object and scope of the research The object of this thesis is the Google Analytics tool and the implementing status of this tool in marketing of SimiCart - a Vietnamese enterprise that provide e-commerce merchants technology solution The research topic is limited in terms of time, space and content as follows: In terms of time, the research topic of the research subjects is in the period from 2016 to May 2019 The proposals made by the topic applied in the period from now to the end of 2020 In terms of space, due to limited research time, the study of Google Analyticstools and the status of applying this tool in e-commerce business is limited to an enterprise in Vietnam In terms of content, the topic only studies Google Analytics on the web and applications of this tool at the level of operation in marketing of business in ecommerce field Research method The thesis belongs to the type of research described, in which the methods of analysis, synthesis, logical reasoning and generalization are used The information used is secondary information collected through document research and direct interviews with employees of the company Structure In addition to the introduction, conclusion, list of reíerences, list of tables and lists of drawings, the topic has a layout divided into chapters equivalent to research tasks: Chapter 1: Google Analytics in e-commerce business overview Chapter 2: Actual Google Analytics implementation of SimiCart Company Chương 3:improvements Development trend of Google in Marketing and some proposed for SimiCart andAnalytics Vietnamese enterprises CHAPTER 1: GOOGLE ANALYTICS IN BUSINESS OVERVIEW 1.1 General overview of Google Analytics in dỉgỉtal marketing activities in e-commerce business 1.1.1 Related terms In order to leam about Google Analytics in general and the application of this tool in e-commerce business in particular, we first need to review some concepts related to it, including digital marketing, digital analytics, e-commerce, ecommerce business, and web analytics Digital marketing According to Hubspot Blog, ‘Digital marketing’ encompasses all marketing efforts that use an electronic device or the internet Businesses leverage digital channels such as search engines, social media, email, and other websites to connect with current and prospective customers Digital marketing can be detĩned by the use of numerous digital tactics and channels to connect with customers where they spend much of their time: Online From the website itself to a business's Online branding assets — digital advertising, email marketing, Online brochures, and beyond — there's a spectrum of strategies that fall under the umbrella of "digital marketing." There are examples of Digital marketing: • Search Engine Optimization (SEO) • Content Marketing • Social Media Marketing • Pay Per Click (PPC) • Affiliate Marketing • Native Advertising Marketing • Automation Email Marketing • Online PR • Inbound Marketing A good digital marketer should have a clear picture of how each digital marketing campaign supports their overarching goals And depending on the goals of their marketing strategy, marketers can support a larger campaign through the free and paid channels at their disposal And in that process, marketers need tools and data to understand the impact of their marketing campaigns on conversion rates and a buyer's joumey, then make business decision for their company That’s why they need analytics tools like Google Analytics Digital analytics Digital marketing analytics is the translation of customer behavior into actionable business data Today's marketers can use digital analytics tools to examine the many Online channels their buyers might interact with and identify new revenue opportunities from existing campaigns (Hubspot Blog) With digital marketing analytics, marketers can understand the effectiveness of their entire marketing strategy, not just the effectiveness of their website Using digital marketing analytics allows marketers to identify how each of their marketing initiatives (e.g., social media vs blogging vs email marketing, etc.) stack up against one another, determine the true ROI (Retum on Investment) of their activities, and understand how well they're achieving their business goals Web analytics Many experts have very different concepts of web analytics Brian Clifton (2008) then simply detĩnes web analytics as an ongoing activity to monitor and monitor the "Online health" status of businesses According to Clifton, web analytics is just a tool to help business owners realize the entire Online businesssituation of a business In other words, he considers web analytics a form of enterprise períồrmance monitoring, just different from other forms of períồrmance monitoring in that web analytics is web-based and responsive use specialized information technology on the website Some other authors, such as Avinash Kaushik in "Web Analytics 2.0", offer the concept of more and more complex web analytics Avinash Kaushik (2010) argues that web analytics is the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data obtained from websites and competitors to continuously improve the Online experience of customers and potential customers from that achieve the desired goals From Kaushik's point of view, web analytics is a complete process from analyzing data to using those analytical results to improve the Products and Services as well as the website's interface to enhance the high-quality Online experience of website users (including customers and potential customers of the business) E-commerce business in general and e-commerce business on the web, in particular, have many advantages compared to traditional commercial business, one of which is the ability to measure activities happening on the website via web analytics activity With the advent of the Internet in 1991, thousands, millions of websites in general and e-commerce business websites, in particular, were established However, web analytics was not formed in this period but must wait until some essential technology is developed such as log file (log file, 1993) and javascript tag (1997), then web analytics newly launched and quickly became one of the most important tasks in the e-commerce business Overall, web analytics are parts of digital analytics, and it can be interpreted as the collection and analysis of data from websites to draw information about the Online business situation of the business, from the information that is drawn, the analyzer will take appropriate actions to achieve the desired goal Web analytics activities often have to use web analytics tools In general,these tools will be set up to assist analysts in one or more of the tasks of web analytics, from accurately collecting data in a timely manner to Processing those data and analysis to make meaningful conclusions There are a lot of web analytics tools on the market today, including some examples: Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Kissmetrics, E-commerce Most customers of SimiCart are merchants in e-commerce field, which is the reason why the term ‘e-commerce’ should be detĩned more clear E-commerce began to form since the Internet was formed in 1991 Since then, this form of commerce has been growing significantly and has great progress compared to other forms of traditional trade As one of the most obvious manifestations of the Internet's impact on people's lives in the era of information technology, e-commerce has been studied by many scholars and various organizations in Vietnam and in the world However, there has not been a complete consensus among studies of the concept of this commercial form Assoc Nguyên Van Hong and Ph.D Nguyên Van Thoan (2013, p 9) wrote: "e-commerce is the purchase and sale of goods and Services through electronic means and telecommunications networks, especially computers and Internet" This concept emphasizes that e-commerce is merely limited to exchanging goods and Services, and other related activities such as marketing, distribution, etc are not taken into account On the other hand, this view considers e-commerce as a two-way process, not only "selling" but also "buying" In terms of media, this concept íồcuses on computers and the Internet Emphasis on the two means is considered necessary because although there are many other electronic means such as television, telephone, radio, but the exchange and sale through means it has never developed rapidly and has strong impacts such as through computers and the Internet Another view of e-commerce is given by the World Trade Organization (WTO) as follows: "E-commerce is meant to produce, distribute, market, sell or deliver goods and Services Service through electronic means This understanding is different from the perspective of Assoc Nguyên Van Hong and TS Nguyên Van Thoan, which it considers both production, distribution, marketing, and freight forwarding activities This view is more comprehensive as consider all commercial activities, but somewhat biased towards sellers without mentioning buyers On the other hand, with no emphasis on any electronic medium, this view does not clearly show the importance of the Internet and computers in today's ecommerce reality In general, the concept of e-commerce should be understood as the conduct of commercial activities, including from the seller (production, distribution, marketing, etc.) and from the buyer (looking for Products) Products, payment, delivery, ), by electronic means, especially the newly developed means of information technology era such as computers and the Internet E-commerce business In order to build an e-commerce business concept, we íĩrst need to consider the concept of business Clause 16, Article 4, Enterprise Law 2014 says: "Business is the continuous implementation of one, several or all stages of the process, investment, from production to product consumption or supply Application Services on the market aimed at proíĩtability " According to this deíĩnition, firstly, business is done by suppliers of goods and Services (sellers) and not consumers Secondly, business is done for proíĩt-making purposes Finally, business may be the continuous implementation of one, several or all of the above stages Combining the concept of Business with the concept of E-commerce, Ecommerce business can be interpreted as the fact that an applied enterprise continuously performs part or all of the operations of business operations byelectronic means, especially computers and the Internet, to eam protĩts Each electronic means is suitable for one or several certain activities in the commercial business, including a number of means such as: - Phone: Voice media can be used in marketing, customer care, - Fax machine: Media for images and documents, mainly used in sending dispatches and contracts - Computers and Internet: multimedia communication, can transmit almost all kinds of information such as audio, images, videos, animations, often done through websites (websites) and can be applied to many business activities, such as marketing, customer care, - Smartphone application: Similar to the aíồrementioned means, applications on smartphones are also capable of transíerring most types of information In the framework of this topic, the author mainly studies e-commerce business activities using Computer tools and the Internet through websites, also known as e-commerce business on the web 1.1.2 Introduction of Google Analytics Google Analytics is a free web analytics tool launched in November 2005 after Google purchased Urchin - a company that provides web analytics Services (Levy, 2011) Google Analytics currently has a paid version of Google Analytics 360 with more íeatures and fewer traffic restrictions, targeting large businesses According to the statistics of the Technology Survey Web site (w3techs.com), as of May 2017, Google Analytics has been used on more than 54.3% of websites on the Internet, equivalent to 83, 4% of websites use any web analytics tool This shows that the popularity of the Google Analytics tool is far superior to that of rivals 27 May 201 -2 Jun 2019 Model Comparison Tool ■'ĨỊ lnsights(5J Conversion S&gmenls Export -V Save Primary Dimension: MCF Channel Croupng Delauh Channel GroLping Look-back Window: Soiirce/Mediuni Set| 30 days pnortũ conversion Souree Medium ữther'» Channel Groupings • Seoondary dimensicn • Q, advanced MCF Channel Croupinạ Orgamc Search {Íorsílecied time raigeị New Tag Choose from cw 50 tag typ« GTM-MKQ72L Morkspacs Changes: Now Editing PUBLISH Live Version Del ault Wockspace Vcrsíon 22 Q seũrơi AỮO A NEW lAtì F*ubl-*hed d«jrs ogu ■■ ữv* Trtggari VVortspace Changes Latesl Version 0 Modital AOdM D«l9t»ũ ttỀ Vanablaa mrr orscRirnoN VtefMXì22 M«Meơ4đ8ysago by mikaệiimicart.com l ATFST VERSíON > Ệ| Eolders Workspacc Changes Figure 3.5: The interíace of Google Tag Manager (Source: https://tagmanager.google.com/ ) Google AdWords is also a tool that businesses should care about Specitĩcally, Adwords is an Online advertising Service developed by Google, where advertisers pay to display ads to web users The Google AdWords System is cookie-based and partly based on keywords detennined by advertisers GoogleLises these features to place ads on pages that are expected to be relevant Advertisers pay when Lisers redirect tlieir browsing to click on ads The partner site receives a part of the income generated Google Adwords System consists of main components: search advertising and display advertising E-commerce businesses often use Google Adwords as an advertiser who buys ads to promote their Products The connection between Google Analytics and Google Adwords helps businesses get the following two benefits: First, businesses can use Google Analytics as a tool to create targeted audience groups for Google Adwords ads It is understandable that the tracking technology of Google Analytics is much more complete than Adwords, so linking with Google Analytics will help to run Online ads on Adwords targeted ads more accurately, which results in a higher profit per cost compared to Lising AdWords separately Secondly, businesses can effectively monitor AdWords advertising directly on Google Analytics Placing AdWords advertising alongside other digital marketing methods such as email marketing helps analysts have an overview of digital marketing methods On the other hand, tracking Adwords advertising effectiveness right on Google Analytics also helps LIS compare costs and benetĩts - profit A Google AdMords Home Campaigns Opportunilies Reports Tools CuslomerlD 293-912-2539 ộ Ậ • Al l campaigns IAII campaigns • Cusíom: Apr1,2017-Apr20 2017 » „ „ Campaigns Adgraa(M Setlings Ads Ad exlenaions Keywords Audiences Dimensions Display Netvvorii E3 Campaign#! E nnike lest simi sales assislanl All bui removed campaigM* • Segmenl • F ihm • Coluuin* • Edlt • All draíts ■ II All experimenls CampaiQn 175! Campaign #1 Delails • ♦ • Find campaigns o View Change History BI ũ straiegy • Aulornale • Budgel " Status " 42,000/day Pauseđ SÍO Impr ’ Cost ? Inleractions ? -1 Inleraction rate * Avg cosl - ■> ■ E mike lestsimi sales ạ2 000May assistant p Eligible íLearning) Ểũ ũ - - - Campaign groups Shared library ĩữtal - all campalgns Total -all campaigns but removed đ2.000/day Ồ0 Figure 3.6: The interíace of Google Adworks - - ỂO (Source: https://adworks.google.com/ ) Google Data Studio is a Google tool that helps create visual and vivid reports One feature of Google Data Studio is that this tool can get data from many different sources Therefore, with the same report, we can combine data connections from Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or even from uploading data storage files (even excel files) It can be said that this tool is quite similar to creating Custom Reports on Google Analytics The other is that while Custom Reports can only use data from Google Analytics, Google Data Studio can use data in many other sources and the presentation style is also more beautiful 63,159 79,108 335,735 48.1% t 5.0% t 3.9% t 0.5% t 0.2% How are site sessions trending? What are the top countries by sessions? Last 30 days vs prevrơus period Sessíons over the fásí 30 days Sessions Sessions (previous 30 days) Which channels are driving engagement? Goaí: Engaged ưsers Country Sessions ’ Pageviews United States 35,218 India 4,508 United Kinqdữm 3,684 rg a n L Canada 2,240 Ref e rra I Germanv 2.090 Sessions IHI PageviewE Figure 3.7: The interíace a report of Google Data Studio (Source: https://datastudio.google.com/ ) Google Search Console (íồrmerly Google Webmaster Tools) is a free Service from Google for webmasters It allows website administrators to clieck the status of their indexing and optimize their website's visibility on the search results table Not only that, Google Search Console also helps business website analysts know exactly the competitiveness of websites on the search results table through search traffic reports in this tool If the link between Google Analytics and Google Seach Console, search traffic reports can be found on the Google Analytics User Attraction report interface Focusing the report tables on a tool helps analysts signitĩcantly increase work efficiency In order to hamess the trial versions (A / B test), businesses should consider using Google Optimize - the newly released free version of Google Optimize 360 Google Optimize allows testing variations website and see how they work compared to the goals that businesses specify This tool monitors the implementation of the test and tells the business which version is best Linking Google Optimize to Google Analytics, businesses will be able to track the results of the testers directly in the Google Analytics interíace with the Experimental report (included in the behavior reporting group) My Ccmcainer * homepage experiment SAVE h ome e a - get slarled (Goal Corĩipletions) Combmalĩon-t- s Baselin e s MSI □ A>40 ■ Improv emenl 8% to 651% -16% to 487% AI-BI 75 sessions 334% -47% to Q A2-B0 89 sessions 140% s A2-B1 BS sesỉions 134% -77% to -77% to Figure 3.8: The interíace of Google Optimize Conversions (Source: https://optimize.google-Com/ ) 3.2.2 Implement Google Analytics systematically Like the implementation of any other business support tool, the Google Analytics using activities need to be implemented in a systematic way to maximize the benetĩts and provide a complete picture of the situation of the e-commerce business Currently, this activity in some Vietnamese enterprises is still fragmented, sporadic and the main reason is the lack of support from business leaders and the lack of compliance with web analytics rules In order for the Google Analytics application to be hnplemented in order, these two things must be overcome Raising awareness of business leaders about Google Analytics Each business leader of any enterprise or Corporation really desires to support activities that bring the highest beneíĩts to businesses However, there are still many leaders who not know about web analytics in general and Google Analytics in particular as well as data-driven business trends in this big data era This leads to them misjudging the importance and necessity of this activity In order to overcome this problem, business leaders should regularly participate in data-oriented marketing seminars and business reporting sessions in the digital environment in order to get the right awareness of the analysis web, Google Analytics and the beneíĩts that this tool can bring to the marketing activities of businesses in particular as well as business operations in general Since then, the leaders will have the direction to direct the implementation of Google Analytics applications in a systematic way and have the necessary intemal information moves so that the employees in the enterprise also have a serious attitude with this activity Ensure the complicmce with web cmalytics principles To comply with the Google Analytics application principles is also one of the important things in a systematic Google Analytics application It helps businesses avoid unnecessary dangers such as data loss, data misleading, leading to wrong business decisions, leaking web analytics information to competitors, etc In order for data integrity to be unaffected through the application of tĩlters, customizations, businesses should create different views for different purposes while retaining backup views in case of making filter creation, there are errors in customization: - Filtered data is no longer recoverable, so it is necessary to create a view that contains no tĩlters or targets - the view contains "all site data" (All website data) - Each business has its own business goals and marketing goals Therefore, it is necessary to have a "Main" view in which tĩlters and goals (goals) must be set up to keep track of what is needed (for example, removing intemal traffic, track the number of items purchased A, ) - The operation process of the enterprise certainly changes in the objectives and methods of data analysis, so the settings of the "Main" view sometimes have to change To ensure the changes are not flawed, an "Experiment" view is required to try these changes before making them on the main view Because there are risks of errors in the experimental mode, so enterprises should never use data in this view to make business decisions Vỉews All VVebsịte Data (uníilter) Exclude Vietnam - Master View * 146416936 MasterView Mĩkếs View A Figure 3.9: Create diííerent views to protect data integrity (Source: https://analvtics.google-Com/ ) Complying with the principle of decentralization - authorization and principles of coníidentiality of web analytical iníonnation should come from the close direction of business leaders, first of all from the plan of deploying operations to determine whether suitable member who pertồrms tasks related to Google Analytics, so they may assign each person correctly and have full access to the Google Analytics account of the business After that, it is necessary to have directed the protection of account information of each individual employee because only one account of a person is stolen will surely have leaked web analytics data ooze out 3.2.2 Develop skỉlựul human resources No matter how powerful Google Analytics is, it is just a tool, the capabilities of the tools are always limited by the ability of its users Therefore, the development of human resources is extremely necessary for the operation of Google Analytics applications can be opthnal To this, businesses have two approaches: through recruiting new human resources and through current humanresource training Developingprofessional human resources through new recruitment In the process of recruiting marketing employees, businesses can add knowledge of web analytics in general and Google Analytics in particular as a criterion for evaluating the selection of candidates Currently, although the general level of web analysis of Vietnamese human resources is not high, there is still a division of marketing staff who understands and wants to develop a career in this direction Adding the above elements to the recruitment notice is one of the ways to ensure that businesses get the attention of the above subjects This approach will create a uniformity of Google Analytics application qualification in the staff of the enterprise and is suitable for businesses who still regularly recruit new people On the other hand, if the enterprise has a stable staff and does not want to recruit too much, disturbing the current situation, it is possible to employ recruiting "headhunters" This option means recruiting a truly professional staff member with web analytics and Google Analytics to take care of the entire web analytics business However, this "headhunting" must be accompanied by a policy to promote awareness of web analytics and data-oriented marketing for the entire staff, otherwise, the effort of a single employee - even with expertise is likely useless Training current human resources to improve professional qualifications In the era of technology development - with the support of the internet in the 4.0 industrial revolution contest, leaming becomes easier than ever with Online courses By watching the videos on sharing site YouTube is that the employees of the business can also find some free courses that provide a basic understanding of the topic they want However, in order to get trained staff who still take advantage of the convenience of Online training, businesses should invest their employees insome courses on reliable web sites like udemy.com or coursera.org to improve their understanding of web analytics Regarding how to use Google Analytics, Google has its own Online training program for those who want to leam more about this tool at https://analytics■ google■ com/analytics/academy/ Participating in this training, leamers will be instructed in detail how to use Google Analytics from basic to advanced and how to combine using Google Tag Manager tool Analytics Academy Courses Google Analytics for Advanced Google Ecommerce Analytics: Google Tag Manager Beginners Analytics From Data to Decisỉons Fundamentals Learn thc basic íeatures of Learn about advanced Google Dỉscover howto use Enhanced ũỉscover how Google Tag Google Analytics including how lo Analytics teatures includỉng data Ecommerce reports in Google Managercan simpliíy thetag create ar accouni, ỉmplement colleclìon, Processing and Analytics 10 make ỉntormed implementalion and managemenl Irackỉng code, analyze basic contìguration and more complex ecommerce business decisions process íor mar íeters, analysts, reports, and set up goals and analysisand markeling lools and developers campaign tracking -> -> -> -> Figure 3.10: Online course on using Google Analytics (Source: littps://analvtics■ google■ com/analvtics/academy/ ) In addition, businesses can also send employees to attend offline training courses or organize internal training activities such as experience exchange sessions between centers and offices (for businesses with geographic division), invite experts in business seminars, to enhance staff capacity, is also a way to promote learning througli practice CONCLUSION In the context that information technology is constantly evolving, ecommerce is becoming more and more popular, web analytics tools are changing the face of many traditional businesses The advertising industry has always assumed that its product is not able to be accurately measured but more intuitive, it is now accepted that Online advertising can be accurately measured to every click The marketing Consulting industry, which is used to working with a traditional buying environment, now has to work with the network environment and is forced to leam how to use web analytics tools In that context, Google Analytics has always been the most popular web analytics tool in the world since it was 'bom' Google Analytics really contributed greatly to changing the rules of playing on the e-commerce playground Despite such popularity, the application of Google Analytics in e-commerce business in Vietnam is only wide and not deep The rate of businesses using this web analytics tool is quite large, but almost all of them only stop at the basic level, most businesses have not fully exploited the potential of Google Analytics application, to tum it into a competitive development trend of data-oriented business advantage strategies, However, with the soon e-commerce businesses in Vietnam must also embark on implementing web analysis at a deeper level, exploiting the maximum potential of Google Analytics The development path is still ahead, businesses still have a lot of work to so that in the near future, activities which apply Google Analytics in e-commerce business will be deployed widely and beneíĩt for all participants ... including digital marketing, digital analytics, e-commerce, ecommerce business, and web analytics Digital marketing According to Hubspot Blog, ‘Digital marketing? ?? encompasses all marketing efforts... engines, Google Tag Manager, Linking and managing links are done on Google Analytics on Admin =^> Property Product Linking Note that certain report tables on Google Analytics will only begin.. .Analytics in marketing activity of SimiCart, LTD. ” Aims and process of the research Research in the thesis will focus on Google Analytics tool and the status of applying this tool in some