What will the cooperation with your company look like if you choose us?
Web analytics can no longer be done by setting something up and being done for months or years. Measurements need to be kept up to date and the data needs to be audited regularly. Long-term development of measurement and its expansion is also key. As a result, we usually maintain long-term cooperation with our clients that start with the following onboarding process.
Onboarding workflow
We have written down a standardized process that we follow with our clients when they contact us and need help with analytics development or a specific implementation. These initial steps are often followed by long-term collaboration.
1. First meeting
We get to know the client’s ideas and situation and come up with a business case. At the first meeting we also agree on a confidentiality agreement and the next steps of our cooperation. These steps usually include an assessment of the current analytical maturity and also evaluate the work/workflow of the team – including all administrative tasks of the company such as billing, communication channels or defining the responsible person. All of these can have an impact on the implementation project and especially its deadlines, so nothing must be overlooked.
2. Evaluation of analytical marketing maturity
We use our proprietary Marketing Meter tool to evaluate client maturity in terms of analytics and marketing. This helps us to rank the client and their projects and offer the best way to develop analytics using our products and services.
3. Audit of existing implementation
If something is already being measured on the client’s website, we start by auditing the existing analytics implementation. In addition to our in-house automated tools, we also use Analytixer.
We perform over 100 automated and semi-automated checks. Our analytics audit is quite extensive, and we analyze both Google Analytics 3 (Universal Analytics) setup and Google Analytics 4 implementation (and of course other marketing code and measurement implementations, including Google Tag Manager.
If there is no existing implementation, we skip this point and move on to the analytical workshop.
4. Analytical workshop
After the implementation audit, we meet with the client and address what the expected outcome is – both from our collaboration and from the analytics itself. In part, we use coaching techniques to get the best information from the client.
Workshop participants include two consultants from our side and representatives from the client’s marketing or product team. We have the best experience when the client-side is represented by an analyst, a product manager, a sales representative, a marketing director, a marketing specialist, or other specialists in specific marketing channels or company processes.
The goal of the workshop is to determine the scope of the implementation where the client’s business goal plays a major role. As with any project, the typical boundaries of analytics are money and time.
The second goal of the analytical workshop is to discover the features, processes and methods that need to be implemented in the upcoming measurement setup. Some may be required by the client, some are suggested by us.
Recommended workshop participants:
- Company owner (Board of Directors, CEO)
- Marketing Director
- Analyst
- Marketing Specialist (SEO, PPC, Social)
- Marketing Manager
5. Supplementary question
If there are additional questions, we will ask them between the workshop and the project concept proposal. Our experience has taught us to never expect or assume anything – we also put emphasis on not so comfortable questions to help us determine the scope of implementation:
- Why do you need to measure it?
- Who will use the data?
- Do you have the process, people, and skills to work with the data (e.g., advanced channel grouping, attribution, content grouping, or a sophisticated system of macro and micro conversions)?
6. Business case proposal
After the workshop and additional questions, we present the final proposal to the client. It is generally presented as an entire project with a specific goal, budget and scope, or as a monthly collaboration depending on the scope of services required.
This is because we prefer to maintain long-term relationships with our clients.
Within the project we then address:
- Non-Disclosure Agreement – NDA
- Framework Agreements
- Personal Data Processing Agreement (GDPR)
- Specific process and strategy
7. Creation and takeover of accounts
After confirming the progress of the measurement strategy and implementation, we connect to the client’s accounts. We do thorough onboarding documentation, which typically finds additional errors and challenges in the analytical implementation, which we then incorporate into an additional implementation plan.
8. Implementation planning
Part of the implementation planning is the creation of a measurement strategy and technical plan, which is later handed over to the programmers for implementation. We start with a generic (standardized) configuration checklist based on the audit and create an individualized version for the project.
As many analysts know, anything can be measured. We focus on the business benefit and its velocity, the priorities of each interest group, and the importance of the items that need to be implemented. We always communicate with all of the client’s subcontractors (agencies, freelancers, etc.) as part of the implementation project preparation. We usually take on the role of summarizing all documentation and technical notes for the web analytics.
9. Implementation
The implementation is usually divided into two parts – settings, which are performed at the level of marketing and analytical tools in client accounts, and code implementation, which is performed by developers according to the assignment and consultation. We usually start with an initial consultation with the developers, handing over the technical plan and explaining the measurement philosophy.
We make notes on problematic parts of the implementation based on the web/mobile technologies used. During the implementation process, which usually takes 1 to 3 months, we are in regular weekly communication with the developers.
We prefer agile development with ticket prioritization. We usually work with collaborative tools and technology used by the developers – in case of lower maturity and lack of project management, we then take the lead and set up the development process for the given technologies and tools.
10. Implementation testing
Implementation testing is performed by at least 2 testers to ensure objectivity and error-free testing.
Part of the testing is done automatically and part manually. We require that the implementation is always performed first on the test environment (development version of the website). As part of the testing, we create a test report that is presented to the client after each implementation test.
After successful tests (everyone on the team gives the green light), the measurement can be deployed on the production version, where again the correctness of the deployment is tested. We perform this testing on the day of deployment, then continuously in the following months we perform (for long-term collaborations) so-called guarantee checks.
11. Visualization of the implementation
In the first weeks after implementation on the production environment, we deliver the final documentation, measurement development strategy and technical plan to the client, where the post-deployment status notes are included. We usually deliver a simple visualization of key events and metrics.
12. Output handover and client education
After the implementation of the measurement, we focus on client education. We typically conduct 3-5 sessions of around 90 minutes to introduce the client to the new measurement strategy. Anyone from the client’s team can attend. We also videotape these sessions so that anyone on the client’s team can watch the workshops in retrospect.
13. Project closure
On completion of the project, we hand over the final documentation and project materials. We suggest the client’s next steps and remove ourselves from the client’s accounts if they are not interested in a long-term relationship. The analytics are then fully managed by the client, who then develops them as they see fit.
Follow-up cooperation
If the cooperation continues as long-term, we make regular adjustments to the measurement, develop the scope of the measurement and its quality together with the client’s marketing team, and refine the campaign audiences or the technical processing of data and visualizations. In addition, implementation guarantee checks are carried out.
For larger projects, some clients also start to build their own analytics team – usually taking over junior activities. We then continue with the senior and strategic tasks. This can include things like incorporating new sites and microsites into the measurement ecosystem, advanced implementations, data processing and transformation, or more complex visualizations.