With so many resources spent on social media marketing these days, the job of analyzing its effectiveness in the overall marketing mix is becoming more important.
If you're using Google Analytics to track your site's visitors and revenue, you'll notice that by default you can analyze traffic mediums such as direct, organic etc, but what about social networks as a standalone traffic medium?
To achieve this level of reporting in Google Analytics and to basically tweak Google Analytics to create this traffic medium, you've got two options.
Option 1: Create a standalone Google Analytics social networks traffic profile
1. Under 'Add Website Profile' in the main Google Analytics screen create a new website profile and name it 'social networks' (always keep your original profile intact)
2. Head to 'Filter Manager' in your profile to group all the different social networks to one new medium by applying the following filter
Filter Name - social networks traffic
Filter Type - custom filter then advanced
Field A -> Extract A - under campaign source add your social networks. For example, I’ve used:
digg|aim|friendfeed|econsultancy|blinklist|fark|furl|misterwongs|wikipedia
|stumbleupon|netvibes|bloglines|linkedin|facebook|del\.icio\.us|feedburner|
twitter|technorati|faves\.com|newsgator|PRweb|msplinks|myspace
|bit\.ly|tr\.im|cli\.gs|zi\.ma|poprl|tinyurl
Field B -> Extract B - none
Output To -> Constructor - campaign medium and name it social networks
Field A Required - yes
Field B Required - no
Override Output Field - yes
Case Sensitive - no
Result - now under traffic sources > medium you’ll find a handy ’social networks’ traffic medium source which includes all the social websites previously grouped together
3. Create another filter which will exclude other traffic sources
Filter Name - exclude other traffic sources
Filter Type - custom filter then exclude
Filter field - campaign medium
Filter Pattern - type organic|(none)|direct|cpc|image
Case Sensitive - no
4. Create another filter to show the full referral path by applying the following filter
Filter Name - full referral path
Filter Type - custom filter then advanced
Field A -> Extract A - choose referral and type (.*)
Field B -> Extract B - none
Output To -> Constructor - choose user defined and type $A1
Field A Required - yes
Field B Required - no
Override Output Field - yes
Case Sensitive - no
Result - now under visitors > user defined you'll find the precise profile or URL which is generating your traffic
Use this method to schedule a handy automated email so you'll get the full picture every morning
Option 2: Use advanced segment in Google Analytics
1. Head to 'Advanced Segments' in your main Google Analytics profile
2. Create a new segment and drag the 'source' box which under 'Traffic sources' to 'dimension or metric' window
3. Open the 'Condition' drop down and under '' paste the following sources:
digg|aim|friendfeed|econsultancy|blinklist|fark|furl|misterwongs|wikipedia
|stumbleupon|netvibes|bloglines|linkedin|facebook|del\.icio\.us|feedburner|
twitter|technorati|faves\.com|newsgator|PRweb|msplinks|myspace
|bit\.ly|tr\.im|cli\.gs|zi\.ma|poprl|tinyurl
(this field is limited to 256 characters)
4. Now you can start segmenting the data and compare your social networks traffic medium Vs. other traffic sources which are already segmented such as direct and organic traffic
You can use this method to compare your social networks traffic against other traffic sources by average basket size, conversion rate and much more. .
Learn more...
Those interested in Google Analytics - and web analytics more generally - should read the Online Measurement and Strategy Report published by Econsultancy. For background information on social media, it's worth reading our (free to registered users) Social Media Trends Briefing (June 2009). Econsultancy has also published Social Media and Online PR Template Files, which can be adapted and used for your own projects.
Ran Nir is founder of Conversion Counts, a web analytics and conversion optimisation agency, and a guest blogger at Econsultancy. He can also be found on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Posted 06 May 2009 11:04am by Ran Nir with 36 comments
Tags: Google Analytics, social networks, tracking, referrals, conversion rate
Topics: Online PR & Social Media, Search Marketing - Organic/Natural (SEO), Social Networks & Online Communities, Web Analytics & Optimisation
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Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
3:32AM on 7th May 2009
You have answered several questions I have had. I have been looking for a way to analyze my social networks. After all, if you are trying to make money online then you have to analyze. I am new to internet marketing but am finding sites like yours very useful. I will be backlinking this post from my own site. I wish you continued success.
Director at The Lost Agency
7:11AM on 7th May 2009
Wow! looking at the Twitter Buzz this is a popular article, and i agree thank you.
Creative Director at Foliovision
11:55AM on 7th May 2009
That's a great tip. More solid advanced technical but practical tutorials like this please.
2:50PM on 7th May 2009
Thanks for this great tip!! Just implemented it to an account (option 2) and it works perfectly! Very interesting data!
3:22PM on 7th May 2009
hi,
thanks for the trick.
for Option2 : does it work as soon as you configure it or should we wait 24h to see results ?
Founder at Conversion Counts Ltd
3:40PM on 7th May 2009
Hi Ben
Because you're segmenting available data, it works straight away. Make sure to use reg ex as the matching option and separate the various sources using (|).
Hope this helps.
Ran
4:16PM on 7th May 2009
I tried the second option and still waiting to see results. Thanks for the tip, really practical and useful one.
4:18PM on 7th May 2009
sorry again ^^
not sur to understand the translation of "matches regular expression" (option 2).
In the "sources" drop box menu is it the 1st proposition (there are 14 propositions) ?
sorry for my baaad english
Founder at Conversion Counts Ltd
9:43AM on 8th May 2009
Hey Ben,
One of the conditions under 'source' is matches regular expression (or reg ex as some people refer to). Pick this option and paste your traffic sources such as digg|facebook|myspace so you'll group them to one source.
12:17PM on 8th May 2009
Excelente article! Thank you! Works perfectly in both ways!
12:57PM on 8th May 2009
Ran - that's a brilliant tutorial. Thank you so much!
4:33PM on 8th May 2009
Thanks for a very useful tip!
One small point: in the custom filter, all domains that have a period in them should have a backslash before the period. For example, bit.ly should be bit\.ly in the filter.
Founder at Conversion Counts Ltd
5:00PM on 8th May 2009
Indeed, I've missed that on a few so it should be applied as: |bit\.ly|tr\.im|cli\.gs|zi\.ma|
Thanks for the correction.
3:03PM on 10th May 2009
Hey Ran,
This is a great tutorial. I used Method 1 but came across a hurdle on the Campaign Source - max 255 characters allowed, so I had to drop a few. How did you manage to get all yours in?
Digital Marketing Consultant, Author and Speaker at Marketing Insights Limited
4:29PM on 10th May 2009
Thanks Ran - excellent tip. I've added it to my blog post on Configuring Google Analytics (step 10).
I personally find your Option 2. Advanced Segments best for a review of previous data but can see using Filters is more flexible / controlled.
One gotcha I found is that copying and pasting your regex has line breaks and of course you have to remove the spaces this generates - I was wondering why Twitter and Wikipedia referrals weren't showing.
4:58PM on 10th May 2009
Great post. Thanks for all the info. It can be so hard to measure results from social media. This will help.
1:48PM on 20th May 2009
Hi all,
Great post - we do need to start looking in more detail at the metrics of our social media activities.
I am a bit of a GA amateur and as such I may have made a schoolboy error, but I have tried to follow recipe 1 above, and am getting no data whatsoever at the end of it...
I am supposed to apply the filters to the 'social networks' profile that I created aren't I?How do I get that profile to mine the data collected in from main profile?
Director at The Lost Agency
1:56PM on 20th May 2009
@pauleco, it can be very easy to messup filters so it excludes all information, you also have to wait around 24-48 hours, it takes longer to get the information if you have filters applied.
You should always create a new profile when playing with filters, you cannot reprocess existing GA data that has been collected, the profile can only filter new data.
Since you are based in the UK, have a look at the GAAC partners for Europe, they can often help in hourly packages.
3:49PM on 20th May 2009
@David
Thanks for the pointers - much appreciated. Was in the dark there for a while... will see if anything turns up in my new 'social networks' profile in 48 hours. In the meantime I will have a go with the advanced segmentation one...
Hmm perhaps some consultancy might be useful ;-)
Founder at Conversion Counts Ltd
4:45PM on 20th May 2009
Hi @pauleco,
As David explained, it takes some time before you'll see actionable information in this profile. 'some time' depends on the level of traffic your getting, the number of filters you've set up in this profile etc.
Advance segments on the other hand will work straight away and have the added benefit of using historical data (which I should have mentioned) compared to a standalone profile.
Hope this makes sense.
Ran
2:25PM on 21st May 2009
Hi @Ran
Thanks very much for the extra info - I can confirm that method 1 is now showing data :)
The advance segment worked straight away too cheers..
As an aside - I may well be in touch with you guys shortly (along with a few UK based GAAC partners as suggested) to get a quote on a GA health check a day or two consulting - we aren't 100% confident we have it set up correctly, or that we are using it optimally.
Thanks again all
Director at The Lost Agency
7:51PM on 21st May 2009
@pauleco
GAAC partners can be expensive but if you are not getting an accurate picture of your business they can pay for their service within one or two extra sales.
If this understanding of your business is key to your growth such as your quote form...
Another option which would be useful to consider would be upgrading from Urchin to GA script, which the GAAC partners will be able to advise.
Best of luck and Ran thanks for a great article that has helped business use google analytics.
1:49AM on 24th May 2009
Hi this was a great article. I had a little problem with step#3. There is not mention what to do right before we hit SAVE CHANGES when setting up the filter
In the Create New Filter window there is a section call Apply Filter to Website Profiles. QUESTION: Do we ADD from the WEBSITE PROFILES list the "social networks traffic" profile we just created into the WEBSITE PROFILES box?
3. Create another filter which will exclude other traffic sources
Filter Name - exclude other traffic sources
Filter Type - custom filter then exclude
Filter field - campaign medium
Filter Pattern - type organic|(none)|direct|cpc|image
Case Sensitive - no
2:08PM on 25th May 2009
you state "Under 'Add Website Profile' in the main Google Analytics screen create a new website profile and name it 'social networks' (always keep your original profile intact" but you cannot create a new profile without adding its url.
Which URL should be added to
Please provide the URL of the site you would like to track.
http:// https://Examples: www.mywebsite.com
your suggestion to use social networks is not accepted. Pls. advise
Internet Business Consultant at i-contact web design
2:31PM on 26th May 2009
This is the best little gem of info I've had in the last week. :) Thanks a bunch!
3:28PM on 10th June 2009
Can you fix the missing pictures on this post?
5:51AM on 11th June 2009
Hello Ran, Thanks for the best advice.
I have been searching this social network tracking in Google analytics since 1-2 months. There are some images which are not shown in this post. so still I am confuse for some tips...
Anyways thanks for the helpful tips.
10:55AM on 11th June 2009
all other referral websites show up fine, except bit.ly
it just won't show up in google analytics. any reason why?
7:22PM on 13th August 2009
All things being equal, is there a method above you'd recommend over the other?
9:13PM on 31st August 2009
Thank you for this very useful article. I have been using google analytic. But i didnt know that Im able to do all these..
4:01PM on 6th November 2009
Hi, I have set-up option 1 which appeared to be working fine in the beginning. However, it doen't seem to be excluding other traffic. Any ideas why? And it's not just including other social media sites not in my list, it's showing cpc, organic, email etc. Thanks, Emma
Head of Innovation at fuse8
4:21PM on 9th December 2009
Great step by step guide. With small alterations works for me!
1:07AM on 12th December 2009
Everyday im learning more about Google analytics. I didnt know that google anayltics is that much useful. Thanks for this great article.
10:48PM on 15th December 2009
Absolutely FANTASTIC information. Thank you so much for diving into the details this is incredibly useful and helpful!
SEO Specialist at High Position
7:25AM on 29th December 2009
Many thanks for this .... successfully set up the Social Media segmentation in Google Analytics
6:35PM on 30th January 2010
Stupid question: after I set up Option 2, which screen do I visit to see results like the screenshot?
The 'basket size by traffic source' screen shows a green line but I can't find that anywhere after applying the regex stuff....