Utilizing Third-Party Data Sources such as Comscore
Utilizing third-party data sources like Comscore can significantly boost a
company’s understanding of its audience, industry trends, and competitors.
Comscore gathers data from many sources (like user panels, partnerships, and
website tracking) to provide insights about how audiences engage with different
media across web, TV, and apps. Here’s a simple breakdown of how Comscore
data helps companies make better decisions in web analytics.
1. What is Comscore?
● Comscore is a tool for gathering audience insights and competitive data. It
helps businesses understand user behaviors across multiple platforms, like
mobile, desktop, and TV, and lets them compare their performance with
competitors.
Example: Imagine you’re a streaming service like Netflix. Comscore can tell you
how your audience size and demographics compare to competitors like Disney+ or
Amazon Prime Video.
2. How Comscore Data Helps in Web Analytics
a. Understanding Market Trends
● Comscore provides data on how entire industries or specific market
segments perform over time. By combining this data with your own, you get
a bigger picture of where the industry is headed, allowing you to adapt.
Example: If Comscore shows that mobile media consumption is rapidly
increasing, a company might focus more on mobile-friendly design or prioritize
mobile ad campaigns.
b. Detailed Audience Insights
● Comscore offers in-depth demographic and psychographic details like age,
interests, and income level. This helps segment your audience more
effectively, beyond what tools like Google Analytics offer.
Example: If you’re a clothing brand, Comscore can reveal that your audience is
primarily high-income millennials who engage heavily with video content. You
could then target this group with video ads on platforms where they spend the most
time.
c. Cross-Platform Behavior Analysis
● Comscore tracks users across different devices (like desktop, mobile, and
TV). This shows how people interact with your brand on various platforms,
providing insight into their complete journey.
Example: A travel website might see that users start their search on mobile but
book trips on desktop. With this insight, the company can create cross-device ads
that guide users from one device to another.
d. Benchmarking Against Competitors
● Comscore data allows you to measure your site’s traffic, engagement, and
other metrics against competitors or industry averages. This helps identify
areas where you can improve.
Example: If Comscore shows that a competitor’s mobile site has much higher
engagement, your team could study their mobile experience to see if faster load
times or easier navigation might be factors.
3. How to Integrate Comscore Data into Analytics Reports
a. Accessing Comscore Data
● APIs and Data Exports: You can access Comscore’s data using their API to
pull it directly into data visualization tools like Google Data Studio or
Tableau. Data can also be downloaded in formats like Excel, which can be
merged with internal analytics.
b. Creating Comprehensive Reports
● Audience Profiles: By combining Comscore’s audience insights with
Google Analytics data, you get a richer view of your audience’s
demographics, interests, and device preferences.
● Cross-Platform Engagement: Visualize how users move between devices,
like starting on mobile and finishing on desktop, using funnel charts to track
this journey.
● Competitor Comparisons: Blend Comscore data with your metrics to see
how you stack up against competitors. Use charts to show key metrics, like
session duration, and where you lead or lag in the industry.
c. Adding Context to Metrics
● Augmenting Traffic Data: Your internal tools show traffic on your site, but
Comscore adds context by showing traffic across the industry. This lets you
gauge your market share and see how well you attract your audience
compared to competitors.
● Evaluating Advertising Impact: Comscore’s data can reveal which
platforms best reach your target audience, allowing you to focus ad spending
where it’s most effective.
Advanced Techniques in Web Analytics: Cohort Analysis and User Explorer
When it comes to understanding how users interact with a website or app, two
advanced web analytics tools—Cohort Analysis and User Explorer—are very
useful. These tools give you deeper insights into user behavior over time, helping
you make smarter decisions to improve your site or app. Here’s a simplified
breakdown of each tool with examples to show how they work.
1. Cohort Analysis
Cohort Analysis groups users based on a common characteristic or activity during
a specific time period (like the date they first visited your site). By analyzing these
groups (or "cohorts") over time, you can see how user behavior changes. This helps
businesses learn about user retention, engagement, and which groups are more
valuable.
Key Uses of Cohort Analysis
● User Retention: If you group users based on when they first visited your
site, you can track how many come back over time. For example, if users
who joined in January keep coming back, but those from March don’t, you
know your January strategies were effective.
● Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): By tracking the spending of different
user groups, you can see which marketing campaigns brought in high-value
customers. If a campaign from last summer brought in users who spend
more over time, it might be worth repeating.
● Feature Adoption: You can track how quickly different groups start using a
new feature. For instance, if users who signed up in February quickly
adopted a new messaging feature but March users didn’t, you could explore
why.
● Campaign Effectiveness: Compare users acquired from different campaigns
to see how they perform. For example, users from a Facebook ad might
spend more than those from an email campaign.
Types of Cohorts
1. Acquisition Cohort: Groups users by when they first visited, like by day or
month. This type is useful for tracking retention.
2. Behavioral Cohort: Groups users based on actions they took, like "signed
up" or "made a purchase." This helps analyze engagement patterns.
3. Custom Cohort: Allows complex grouping based on multiple actions, like
users who signed up and then used a feature within a week.
Example of Cohort Analysis in Action
Let’s say a fitness app launched a new tracking feature. They group users based on
when they signed up and monitor how each group interacts with the feature over
the next 30 days. By doing this, they can see if recent users find the feature more
useful than earlier users, giving insights into feature adoption.
2. User Explorer
User Explorer lets you look at the journey of individual users across sessions on
your site. This tool helps you understand the detailed behavior of specific users,
which can be helpful for personalizing experiences or identifying issues.
Key Uses of User Explorer
● Personalizing Experience: If you know a user frequently views a certain
product, you could show them relevant recommendations or promotions next
time they visit.
● Identifying High-Value Users: By analyzing specific user actions, you can
see which behaviors lead to high-value conversions (like purchases or
subscriptions), allowing you to target similar users.
● Troubleshooting Issues: If multiple users leave the checkout process at the
same point, you can review their steps to pinpoint where they had trouble.
● Conversion Optimization: Compare the paths taken by users who
converted versus those who didn’t. If converters always use a specific
feature, you might emphasize it for others.
Example of User Explorer in Action
Suppose an online course platform sees that users sign up but don’t enroll in
courses. With User Explorer, they can follow the journey of individual users who
enrolled and those who didn’t. They might find that users who explore the course
catalog convert more than those who skip it. This insight could guide them to make
the catalog more prominent.
3. Combining Cohort Analysis and User Explorer
Using Cohort Analysis and User Explorer together can give you a fuller picture
of user behavior.
Example of Combined Use
Imagine you run an e-commerce site and want to evaluate a recent holiday
marketing campaign.
● Cohort Analysis: First, use Cohort Analysis to group users acquired during
the campaign. Track their activity and see if they’re returning, browsing, or
making repeat purchases.
● User Explorer: Next, use User Explorer to drill down into individual users
in the cohort. By studying specific journeys, you might find that some users
return and make purchases while others only browse. This can help you
identify the patterns that make a campaign successful.
Together, these insights let you tailor future campaigns and product updates to
engage users better and improve their experience on your site.
Analyzing Geo-Social Data
Geo-social data combines location information with social interaction details,
giving you insights into where and how people engage with your brand or content.
It’s especially useful for businesses with local services, regional marketing
campaigns, or a strong social media presence. By understanding where your
audience is and how they interact with your brand socially, you can tailor strategies
to connect with people in specific locations effectively.
Here’s how different tools help with geo-social data analysis:
1. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is great for tracking where your website’s traffic is coming from
geographically and how people from different areas behave on your site.
● Geo Reports: These show you metrics like user sessions, bounce rates (how
quickly people leave), and conversions by location. For instance, if you run
an online store, you can see that visitors from a particular city are more
likely to complete a purchase, which can help you plan city-specific
promotions.
● Custom Dimensions: You can set up custom fields to track social
interactions, such as shares or comments, alongside location data. For
example, you might find that users from California are more likely to share
your blog posts, which could guide you to create more content tailored to
that audience.
2. Social Media Analytics Platforms
Each social platform has built-in analytics to show engagement and user locations,
helping you see where your content performs best.
● Facebook Insights: This tool shows where your likes, shares, and comments
are coming from. For example, if you’re a small business in New York and
see high engagement from users in Texas, you might consider running
Texas-specific ads or even opening a location there.
● Twitter Analytics: Offers data on tweet views, interactions, and follower
locations. If you notice that followers from a particular region engage more
with your tweets, you can craft content that appeals to those interests or
concerns.
● Instagram Insights: Lets you see where your followers are based and how
they interact with your posts. For example, if you post about winter fashion
and see more likes from colder regions, you could increase such posts during
winter months to appeal to that audience.
3. Third-Party Tools
Beyond built-in social analytics, there are third-party tools that offer deeper
analysis across multiple platforms and combine both geographic and social data.
● Hootsuite Analytics: This tool helps you monitor social performance on
different platforms and provides location-based reports. Hootsuite also
integrates with Google Analytics, so you can see, for example, if users who
follow you on social media in a specific region are more likely to visit your
website and make a purchase.
● Sprout Social: Provides detailed location-based social engagement reports.
For instance, if you run a restaurant chain and find that people in one city are
more engaged, you might consider hosting an event there to boost local
engagement.
● Geofeedia: This tool is particularly useful for location-specific social
monitoring. For example, if you manage a music festival, you can track
social posts within the festival’s area, giving you real-time insights into
attendee sentiment and helping you adjust or amplify content accordingly.
Real-World Example
Imagine a clothing brand launching a new collection. By analyzing geo-social data,
they discover that their Instagram posts about the collection get a lot of
engagement from New York, while website traffic data from Google Analytics
shows high conversion rates in Los Angeles. The brand can use this insight to
focus its marketing on Instagram ads targeting New Yorkers, while also setting up
local events or pop-ups in Los Angeles to boost sales.
Case Studies in Web Analytics and Web Scraping Integration
Integrating web scraping with web analytics helps companies gather data from
external sources (like competitor sites, forums, and job boards) and combine it with
their own analytics to make smarter business decisions. Here are some examples
that show how businesses have benefited from this combination.
1. E-commerce Price Monitoring
● Company: An online retail platform
● Goal: To keep an eye on competitors’ prices and adjust their own prices to
stay competitive.
How They Did It:
● Web Scraping: They used a tool to check competitor websites every day to
gather information about product prices, discounts, and stock levels.
● Web Analytics: The scraped data was combined with their own analytics on
sales, conversion rates, and customer behavior.
Results:
● Dynamic Pricing: They could adjust their prices based on competitor
pricing, helping them attract more customers who were looking for better
deals.
● Increased Revenue: Sales went up by 15% in six months as they became
more competitive in pricing.
● Better Inventory Management: By knowing what products were in
demand, they could manage stock more effectively and avoid running out or
overstocking.
Example: Imagine a clothing store that adjusts its prices whenever a competitor
runs a sale. By knowing competitors’ prices, the store can offer similar deals,
keeping customers interested and boosting sales.
2. Travel Industry Market Analysis
● Company: A travel booking website
● Goal: To understand which travel destinations are popular and what
customers are looking for.
How They Did It:
● Web Scraping: They gathered data from travel forums, social media, and
other booking sites to find out which destinations were trending, customer
reviews, and new travel interests (like eco-tourism).
● Web Analytics: This data was merged with their analytics on bookings,
website visits, and user engagement.
Results:
● Trend Identification: They found new travel trends, like a rising interest in
eco-friendly tourism, and adjusted their marketing accordingly.
● Enhanced User Experience: They customized offerings to fit customer
preferences, increasing bookings by 20% for popular new destinations.
● Targeted Advertising: Ads focused on trending destinations led to higher
engagement and conversions.
Example: A travel site that notices a growing interest in eco-friendly resorts can
start promoting these options more, increasing bookings from environmentally
conscious travelers.
3. Job Market Insights for Recruitment
● Company: A recruitment agency
● Goal: To understand job trends, including which skills are in demand, to
help clients hire more effectively.
How They Did It:
● Web Scraping: They collected job listings data from job boards and
company websites, including job roles, required skills, salaries, and
locations.
● Web Analytics: Combined this with their own data on candidate
applications, job placements, and user activity on their site.
Results:
● Data-Driven Insights: By knowing which skills were most sought after,
they could improve their training programs to help job seekers be more
competitive.
● Market Forecasting: By observing trends, they could predict future hiring
needs, helping clients with their long-term hiring strategies.
● Increased Placement Rate: These insights led to a 30% rise in successful
job placements.
Example: If a recruitment agency sees that many tech companies are hiring for
data scientists, they might prioritize training candidates in data science, increasing
the chances of successful placements.
These case studies show how combining web scraping with analytics helps
businesses make better decisions, stay competitive, and improve their services
based on real-time, relevant data from outside sources.
