Facebook Analytics vs. Google Analytics

Facebook Analytics and Google Analytics are both designed to track user behaviors to target advertisements and measure conversion rates, allowing business owners and social media marketers to measure the success of their campaigns and adjust their advertising strategy when necessary. However, there are a couple of key differences between the two that result in differences in the conversions they display.

Device Attribution

One difference between Facebook and Google is how each view devices. While Google views every device as a new user, Facebook’s omni-channel analytics is capable of determining when a tablet, PC/laptop, and mobile device are being used by the same person as long as that user is logged into their Facebook account. That means that Facebook is better able to determine when a user has viewed an ad previously on their mobile device, then visited the advertised website on a tablet or desktop later on, for example. Facebook Analytics allows you to monitor activity across devices and understand the customer journey.

Attribution Windows

Perhaps the most significant reason for the difference in conversions between Google and Facebook is their attribution windows. Google’s standard reporting for conversions are defaulted to a “Last Non-Direct Click” attribution model which is the final touchpoint immediately before a customer places an order.

Facebook Analytics, on the other hand, analyzes conversions at a far more generous rate. Facebook’s attribution window automatically defaults within 28 days of clicking your ad and within 1 day of viewing your ad. That means that after a Facebook ad has been viewed or clicked on day 1 and the user places an order on day 26 by means of a Google ad or email campaign (any marketing channel, really), Facebook counts it as a conversion no matter if the visitor touched multiple marketing channels since clicking/viewing the Facebook ad. The algorithms Facebook uses to track impressions and conversions are different than Google Analytics, but there are ways to pull the data differently that might bridge the gap a bit. Another thing to consider is Facebook considers likes, shares, and comments on ads as clicks and counts them as conversions.

Comparing Conversion Rates with Different Attribution Windows

While Facebook Analytics and Google Analytics will most likely always report a discrepancy between conversions, users can easily change the settings in Facebook Analytics to compare rates with different attribution windows or reduce the attribution window to minimize the gap in conversion rates.

To do this, users can change attribution windows via the following path while viewing their campaigns:

Campaign > Columns > Customize Columns > Attribution Settings (Attribution settings is a little hard to find; it’s down in the bottom right corner)

From here, making a selection of “Clicks” for 1, 7, or 28 days will change the attribution window. By selecting a click attribution window of 1 day, the gap in conversion between Facebook Analytics and Google Analytics should reduce and there should be a difference in both Website Return on Ad Spend and Website Purchase metrics.

Which Analytics Tool is the Best?

While both Facebook Analytics and Google Analytics are useful marketing tools, neither is particularly “better” than the other. Those who restrict their marketing to only Facebook or Instagram advertising are best to restrict themselves to Facebook Analytics at its default settings to accurately monitor the success of their ad campaigns.

Business owners and marketers who use other methods of marketing outside of Facebook and Instagram can benefit from both Facebook Analytics and Google Analytics but may need to test different settings on Facebook Analytics to better understand how well their advertising campaigns are working across all platforms.

The post Why Facebook Conversions Don’t Match Google Analytics appeared first on Upward Commerce.

Typically cultivated by a company’s chief marketing officer (CMO), compiling, managing, and measuring marketing efforts and performance to optimize effectiveness is key. Through gathered metrics and given formulas, CMOs become more efficient at employing tactics that work for a company and minimize wasted online marketing dollars.

To be vital in today’s industry, CMOs must adapt as the market fluctuates. The expectations of a marketer are evolving as platforms and media expand. Recently, a Deloitte report proposed five new expectations current CMOs must embody in order to become top-tier marketers:

1. Take on top-line growth
2. Own the customer experience
3. Dig into data-based insights
4. Operate in real-time
5. Master metrics that matter

Although most of the listed attributes require a keen understanding of quantifiable and data-driven concepts, the ability to master meaningful metrics is arguably most important. Without the metrics that matter, marketers are unable to grow the top line, influence the customer experience, or make the real-time decisions that often define a brand.

According to HBR, customer acquisition represents 36.6% of how companies are using marketing analytics.

What and How to Measure

Metrics that matter to core brand-building are differentiated in fundamental groups that gather and assess particular data points. These analytics provide the critical information that allows marketers to understand how well – and in what ways – their marketing plan is working. These groups include:

Top-level metrics: Return on marketing objectives (ROMO) and return on investment (ROI).
Funnel effectiveness metrics: Awareness, engagement, engagement rates, outcomes & conversion rates.
Funnel efficiency metrics: Cost per impression, cost per engagement and cost per outcome.
Paid, owned and earned media metrics and comparison ratios.

Each group contains formulas to gather metrics specific to a company’s goals, means, and overall effectiveness.

Top-level metrics

ROMO
Brand value is determined by calculating return on marketing objectives via costs and returns over time. ROMO varies based on business and is usually expressed in units of time.

ROI
[return – cost] / [cost]

Return on marketing investments requires the marketer to define what constitutes a return, and then stack-rank programs and channels to determine the best tactic moving forward.

Funnel Effectiveness Metrics

Awareness
[impression volume]

The first stage of the buyer’s journey, awareness calculates the number of people reached by a brand or message. They are tracked by program, campaign, product, customer type, etc.

Engagement
[sum of total engagements (weighted or not)]

Considered a middle-of-the-funnel metric, engagement tracks whether the company’s target audience is taking action and in what way. This simple sum can be measured in likes, clicks, opens, saves, etc.

Engagement Rates
[engagement] / [impressions]

Engagement rates quantify the success of impressions to actionable engagements. The metric provides means to measure a campaign’s effectiveness.

Outcomes
[lead volume, customers acquired, sales revenue]

The final stage of the funnel metrics, outcomes help establish a baseline for future company sales goals while quantifying driven business results.

Conversion Rates
[outcomes] / [impressions]
[outcomes] / [engagement]

These metrics reveal how well a marketing campaign is moving customers from brand awareness or engagement to defined outcomes. Conversion rates can help diagnose campaign issues by isolating funnel components.

Funnel Efficiency Metrics

Cost per Impression
[spend] / [impression]

CPM is necessary to determine both ROI and channel-mix decisions. It determines how costly channels are for generating brand awareness.

Cost per Engagement
[spend] / [engagement]

This metric assesses how cost effective a campaign is while producing engagement.

Cost per Outcome
[spend] / [outcome volume]

Foundational to channel-mix decisions, cost per outcome determines the overall cost per lead; it is essentially a glimpse at general profitability.

Paid, Owned and Earned Media Metrics

The owned and earned media metric group requires additional insight. The paid media includes media businesses must buy to use, such as online banners, text ads, and radio and television spots; the data is usually measured in volume of impressions. Owned media is defined as content consumed on sites and communities already purchased and owned by the company. This is measured in visits or page views. Lastly, earned media is defined as free media received by word-of-mouth consumers on properties such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. These metrics are measured in likes, retweets, pins, etc.

Paid-to-Owned Media Ratio
[owned media impressions] / [paid media impressions]

Paid-to-Owned showcases how effective paid media is at acquiring owned impressions. It’s an essential metric for evaluating marketing campaigns for products that customers greatly consider before buying.

Paid-to-Earned Media Ratio
[earned media impressions] / [paid media impressions]

This metric measures the effectiveness of paid media generated from word-of-mouth or free impressions. It can be used as a baseline for creative teams or future development.

Owned-to-Earned Media Ratio
[earned media impressions] / [owned media impressions]

The owned-to-earned ratio evaluates buzz for products and programs on owned properties. They compare effectiveness of campaigns against each other.

The Upward Advantage

To create marketing solutions while identifying key metrics tailored to your business, Upward Commerce proudly offers an innovative team of experts from the tech, retail, and branding industries. Our unique boutique consultancy capitalizes on marketing analytics that matter by providing strategic and hands-on guidance for a more efficient marketing, technology, merchandising, and operations strategy.

Gathering marketing metrics is fundamental when defining a business based on customer engagement, budget allocation, and organizational skills. Upward Commerce assists eCommerce companies by driving digital growth based on gathered metrics. In today’s omnichannel online industry, Upward Commerce is dedicated to helping clients acquire, convert, and retain more customers than ever before.

The post Guidebook to Marketing Analytics that Matter appeared first on Upward Commerce.