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• How to create a scheduled task – Introducing the Piwik Platform

  28 août 2014, par Thomas Steur — Development

  This is the next post of our blog series where we introduce the capabilities of the Piwik platform (our previous post was How to create a custom theme in Piwik). This time you’ll learn how to execute scheduled tasks in the background, for instance sending a daily email. For this tutorial you will need to have basic knowledge of PHP.

  What can you do with scheduled tasks ?

  Scheduled tasks let you execute tasks regularly (hourly, weekly, …). For instance you can :

  • create and send custom reports or summaries
  • sync users and websites with other systems
  • clear any caches
  • import third-party data into Piwik
  • monitor your Piwik instance
  • execute any other task you can think of

  Getting started

  In this series of posts, we assume that you have already set up your development environment. If not, visit the Piwik Developer Zone where you’ll find the tutorial Setting up Piwik.

  To summarize the things you have to do to get setup :

  • Install Piwik (for instance via git).
  • Activate the developer mode : ./console development:enable --full.
  • Generate a plugin : ./console generate:plugin --name="MyTasksPlugin". There should now be a folder plugins/MyTasksPlugin.
  • And activate the created plugin under Settings => Plugins.

  Let’s start creating a scheduled task

  We start by using the Piwik Console to create a tasks template :

  ./console generate:scheduledtask

  The command will ask you to enter the name of the plugin the task should belong to. I will simply use the above generated plugin name “MyTasksPlugin”. There should now be a file plugins/MyTasksPlugin/Tasks.php which contains some examples to get you started easily :

  class Tasks extends \Piwik\Plugin\Tasks
  
  {
  
      public function schedule()
  
      {
  
          $this->hourly('myTask');  // method will be executed once every hour
  
          $this->daily('myTask');   // method will be executed once every day
  
          $this->weekly('myTask');  // method will be executed once every week
  
          $this->monthly('myTask'); // method will be executed once every month
  
  
  
          // pass a parameter to the task
  
          $this->weekly('myTaskWithParam', 'anystring');
  
  
  
          // specify a different priority
  
          $this->monthly('myTask', null, self::LOWEST_PRIORITY);
  
          $this->monthly('myTaskWithParam', 'anystring', self::HIGH_PRIORITY);
  
      }
  
  
  
      public function myTask()
  
      {
  
          // do something
  
      }
  
  
  
      public function myTaskWithParam($param)
  
      {
  
          // do something
  
      }
  
  }

  A simple example

  As you can see in the generated template you can execute tasks hourly, daily, weekly and monthly by registering a method which represents the actual task :

  public function schedule()
  
  {
  
      // register method remindMeToLogIn to be executed once every day
  
      $this->daily('remindMeToLogIn');  
  
  }
  
  
  
  public function remindMeToLogIn()
  
  {
  
      $mail = new \Piwik\Mail();
  
      $mail->addTo('me@example.com');
  
      $mail->setSubject('Check stats');
  
      $mail->setBodyText('Log into your Piwik instance and check your stats!');
  
      $mail->send();
  
  }

  This example sends you an email once a day to remind you to log into your Piwik daily. The Piwik platform makes sure to execute the method remindMeToLogIn exactly once every day.

  How to pass a parameter to a task

  Sometimes you want to pass a parameter to a task method. This is useful if you want to register for instance one task for each user or for each website. You can achieve this by specifying a second parameter when registering the method to execute.

  public function schedule()
  
  {
  
      foreach (\Piwik\Site::getSites() as $site) {
  
          // create one task for each site and pass the URL of each site to the task
  
          $this->hourly('pingSite', $site['main_url']); 
  
      }
  
  }
  
  
  
  public function pingSite($siteMainUrl)
  
  {
  
      file_get_contents($siteMainUrl);
  
  }

  How to test scheduled tasks

  After you have created your task you are surely wondering how to test it. First, you should write a unit or integration test which we will cover in one of our future blog posts. Just one hint : You can use the command ./console generate:test to create a test. To manually execute all scheduled tasks you can execute the API method CoreAdminHome.runScheduledTasks by opening the following URL in your browser :

  http://piwik.example.com/index.php?module=API&method=CoreAdminHome.runScheduledTasks&token_auth=YOUR_API_TOKEN

  Don’t forget to replace the domain and the token_auth URL parameter.

  There is one problem with executing the scheduled tasks : The platform makes sure they will be executed only once an hour, a day, etc. This means you can’t simply reload the URL and test the method again and again as you would have to wait for the next hour or day. The proper solution is to set the constant DEBUG_FORCE_SCHEDULED_TASKS to true within the file Core/TaskScheduler.php. Don’t forget to set it back to false again once you have finished testing it.

  Starting from Piwik 2.6.0 you can alternatively execute the following command :

  ./console core:run-scheduled-tasks --force --token-auth=YOUR_TOKEN_AUTH

  The option “–force” will make sure to execute even tasks that are not due to run at this time. So you won’t have to modify any files.

  Which tasks are registered and when is the next execution time of my task ?

  The TasksTimetable plugin from the Marketplace can answer this question for you. Simply install and activate the plugin with one click by going to Settings => Marketplace => Get new functionality. It’ll add a new admin menu item under Settings named Scheduled Tasks.

  Publishing your Plugin on the Marketplace

  In case you want to share your task(s) with other Piwik users you can do this by pushing your plugin to a public GitHub repository and creating a tag. Easy as that. Read more about how to distribute a plugin.

  Advanced features

  Isn’t it easy to create scheduled tasks ? We never even created a file ! Of course, based on our API design principle “The complexity of our API should never exceed the complexity of your use case.” you can accomplish more if you want. For instance, you can define priorities, you can directly register methods from different objects and classes, you can specify at which time of a day a task should run and more.

  Would you like to know more about tasks ? Go to our Tasks class reference in the Piwik Developer Zone.

  If you have any feedback regarding our APIs or our guides in the Developer Zone feel free to send it to us.

• How Media Analytics for Piwik gives you the insights you need to measure how effective your video and audio marketing is – Part 1

  31 janvier 2017, par InnoCraft — Community

  Do you have video or audio content on your website or in your app ? If you answered this with yes, you should continue reading and learn everything about our Media Analytics premium feature.

  When you produce video or audio content, you are either spending money or time or often both money and time on your content in the hope of increasing conversions or sales. This means you have to know how your media is being used, when it is used, for how long and by whom. You can simply not afford not to know how this content affects your overall business goals as you are likely losing money and time by not making the most out of it. Would you be able to answer any of the above questions ? Do you know whether you can justify the cost and time for producing them, which videos work better than others and how they support your marketing strategy ? Luckily, getting all these insights is now so trivial it is almost a crime to not measure it.

  Getting Media Analytics and Installation

  Media Analytics can be purchased from the Piwik Marketplace where you find all sorts of free plugins as well as several premium features such as A/B Testing or Funnel. After the purchase you will receive a license key that you can enter in your Piwik to install and update the plugin with just one click.

  The feature will in most cases automatically start tracking your media content and you don’t even need to change the tracking code on your website. Currently supported players are for example YouTube, Vimeo, HTML 5, JW Player, VideoJS and many more players. You can also easily extend it by adding a custom media player or simply by letting us know which player you use and we will add support for it for you.

  By activating this feature, you get more than 15 new media reports, even more exportable widgets, new segments, APIs, and more. We will cover some of those features in this blog post and in part 2. For a full list of features check out the Media Analytics page on the Piwik Marketplace.

  Media Overview

  As the name says, it gives you an overview over your media usage and how it performs over time. You can choose any media metrics in the big evolution graph and the sparklines below give you an overview over all important metrics in a glance.

  

  It lets you for example see how often media was shown to your users, how often users start playing your media, for how long they watched it, how often they finished it, and more. If you see some spikes there, you should definitely have a deeper look at the other reports. When you hover a metric, it will show you a tooltip explaining how the data for this is collected and what it means.

  Real-Time Media

  On the Real-Time page you can see how your content is being used by your visitors right now, for example within the last 30 minutes, last 60 minutes and last 24 hours.

  It shows you how many plays you had in the last minutes, for how long they played it, and it shows you currently most popular media titles. This is great to discover which media content performs best right now and lets you make decisions based on user behaviour that is happening right now.

  

  Below you can see our Audience Real-Time Map that shows you from where in the world your media is being played. A bigger circle indicates that a media play happened more recently and of course you can zoom in down to countries and regions.

  

  All the reports update every few seconds so you can always have a look at it and see in just a second how your content is doing and how certain marketing campaigns affect it. All these real-time reports can be also added as widgets to any of your Piwik Dashboards and they can be exported for example as an iframe.

  Video, Audio and Media Player reports

  Those reports come with so many features, we need a separate blog post and cover this in part 2.

  Events

  Media Analytics will automatically track events so you can see how often users pressed for example play or pause, how often they resumed a video and how often they finished a video. This helps you better understand how your media is being used.

  

  For example in the past we noticed a couple of videos with lots of pause and resume events. We then had a look at the Audience Log – which we will cover next – to better understand why visitors paused the videos so often. We then realized they did this especially for videos that were served from a specific server and because the videos were loading so slow, users often pressed pause to let the media buffer, then played the media for a few seconds and then paused it again as they had to wait for the video to load. Moving those videos to another, faster server showed us immediate results in the number of pauses going down and on average visitors watched the videos for much longer.

  Audience Log

  At InnoCraft, we understand that not only aggregated metrics matter but also that you often need the ability to dig into your data and “debug” certain behaviours to understand the cause for some unusual high or low metrics. For example you may find out that many of your users often pause a video, then you wonder how each individual user behaved so you can better understand the why.

  

  The audience log shows you a detailed log of every visitor. You can chronologically see every action a visitor has performed during their whole visit. If you click on the visitor profile link, you can even see all visits of a specific visitor, and all actions they have ever performed on your website.

  This lets you ultimately debug and understand your visitors and see exactly which actions they performed before playing your media, which media they played, how they played your media, and how they behaved after playing your media.

  The visitor log of course also shows important information about each visitor like where they came from (referrer), their location, software, device and much more information.

  Audience Map

  The Audience Map is similar to the Real-Time Map but it shows you the locations of your visitors based on a selected date range and not in real time. The darker the blue, the more visitors from that country, region or city have interacted with your media.

  

  Coming in part 2

  In the next part we will cover which video, audio and media player reports Media Analytics provides, how segmenting gives you insights into different personas, and how nicely it integrates into Piwik.

  How to get Media Analytics and related features

  You can get Media Analytics on the Piwik Marketplace. If you want to learn more about this feature, you might be also interested in the Media Analytics User Guide and the Media Analytics FAQ.

• What is Behavioural Segmentation and Why is it Important ?

  28 septembre 2023, par Erin — Analytics Tips

  Amidst the dynamic landscape of web analytics, understanding customers has grown increasingly vital for businesses to thrive. While traditional demographic-focused strategies possess merit, they need to uncover the nuanced intricacies of individual online behaviours and preferences. As customer expectations evolve in the digital realm, enterprises must recalibrate their approaches to remain relevant and cultivate enduring digital relationships.

  In this context, the surge of technology and advanced data analysis ushers in a marketing revolution : behavioural segmentation. Businesses can unearth invaluable insights by meticulously scrutinising user actions, preferences and online interactions. These insights lay the foundation for precisely honed, high-performing, personalised campaigns. The era dominated by blanket, catch-all marketing strategies is yielding to an era of surgical precision and tailored engagement. 

  While the insights from user behaviours empower businesses to optimise customer experiences, it’s essential to strike a delicate balance between personalisation and respecting user privacy. Ethical use of behavioural data ensures that the power of segmentation is wielded responsibly and in compliance, safeguarding user trust while enabling businesses to thrive in the digital age.

  What is behavioural segmentation ?

  Behavioural segmentation is a crucial concept in web analytics and marketing. It involves categorising individuals or groups of users based on their online behaviour, actions and interactions with a website. This segmentation method focuses on understanding how users engage with a website, their preferences and their responses to various stimuli. Behavioural segmentation classifies users into distinct segments based on their online activities, such as the pages they visit, the products they view, the actions they take and the time they spend on a site.

  Behavioural segmentation plays a pivotal role in web analytics for several reasons :

  1. Enhanced personalisation :

  Understanding user behaviour enables businesses to personalise online experiences. This aids with delivering tailored content and recommendations to boost conversion, customer loyalty and customer satisfaction.

  2. Improved user experience :

  Behavioural segmentation optimises user interfaces (UI) and navigation by identifying user paths and pain points, enhancing the level of engagement and retention.

  3. Targeted marketing :

  Behavioural segmentation enhances marketing efficiency by tailoring campaigns to user behaviour. This increases the likelihood of interest in specific products or services.

  4. Conversion rate optimisation :

  Analysing behavioural data reveals factors influencing user decisions, enabling website optimisation for a streamlined purchasing process and higher conversion rates.

  5. Data-driven decision-making :

  Behavioural segmentation empowers data-driven decisions. It identifies trends, behavioural patterns and emerging opportunities, facilitating adaptation to changing user preferences and market dynamics.

  6. Ethical considerations :

  Behavioural segmentation provides valuable insights but raises ethical concerns. User data collection and use must prioritise transparency, privacy and responsible handling to protect individuals’ rights.

  The significance of ethical behavioural segmentation will be explored more deeply in a later section, where we will delve into the ethical considerations and best practices for collecting, storing and utilising behavioural data in web analytics. It’s essential to strike a balance between harnessing the power of behavioural segmentation for business benefits and safeguarding user privacy and data rights in the digital age.

  

  Different types of behavioural segments with examples

  1. Visit-based segments : These segments hinge on users’ visit patterns. Analyse visit patterns, compare first-time visitors to returning ones, or compare users landing on specific pages to those landing on others.
     • Example : The real estate website Zillow can analyse how first-time visitors and returning users behave differently. By understanding these patterns, Zillow can customise its website for each group. For example, they can highlight featured listings and provide navigation tips for first-time visitors while offering personalised recommendations and saved search options for returning users. This could enhance user satisfaction and boost the chances of conversion.
  2. Interaction-based segments : Segments can be created based on user interactions like special events or goals completed on the site.
     • Example : Airbnb might use this to understand if users who successfully book accommodations exhibit different behaviours than those who don’t. This insight could guide refinements in the booking process for improved conversion rates.
  3. Campaign-based segments : Beyond tracking visit numbers, delve into usage differences of visitors from specific sources or ad campaigns for deeper insights.
     • Example : Nike might analyse user purchase behaviour from various traffic sources (referral websites, organic, direct, social media and ads). This informs marketing segmentation adjustments, focusing on high-performance channels. It also customises the website experience for different traffic sources, optimising content, promotions and navigation. This data-driven approach could boost user experiences and maximise marketing impact for improved brand engagement and sales conversions.
  4. Ecommerce segments : Separate users based on purchases, even examining the frequency of visits linked to specific products. Segment heavy users versus light users. This helps uncover diverse customer types and browsing behaviours.
     • Example : Amazon could create segments to differentiate between visitors who made purchases and those who didn’t. This segmentation could reveal distinct usage patterns and preferences, aiding Amazon in tailoring its recommendations and product offerings.
  5. Demographic segments : Build segments based on browser language or geographic location, for instance, to comprehend how user attributes influence site interactions.
     • Example : Netflix can create user segments based on demographic factors like geographic location to gain insight into how a visitor’s location can influence content preferences and viewing behaviour. This approach could allow for a more personalised experience.
  6. Technographic segments : Segment users by devices or browsers, revealing variations in site experience and potential platform-specific issues or user attitudes.
     • Example : Google could create segments based on users’ devices (e.g., mobile, desktop) to identify potential issues in rendering its search results. This information could be used to guide Google in providing consistent experiences regardless of device.

  

  The importance of ethical behavioural segmentation

  Respecting user privacy and data protection is crucial. Matomo offers features that align with ethical segmentation practices. These include :

  • Anonymization : Matomo allows for data anonymization, safeguarding individual identities while providing valuable insights.
  • GDPR compliance : Matomo is GDPR compliant, ensuring that user data is handled following European data protection regulations.
  • Data retention and deletion : Matomo enables businesses to set data retention policies and delete user data when it’s no longer needed, reducing the risk of data misuse.
  • Secured data handling : Matomo employs robust security measures to protect user data, reducing the risk of data breaches.

  Real-world examples of ethical behavioural segmentation :

  1. Content publishing : A leading news website could utilise data anonymization tools to ethically monitor user engagement. This approach allows them to optimise content delivery based on reader preferences while ensuring the anonymity and privacy of their target audience.
  2. Non-profit organisations : A charity organisation could embrace granular user control features. This could be used to empower its donors to manage their data preferences, building trust and loyalty among supporters by giving them control over their personal information.

  

  Examples of effective behavioural segmentation

  Companies are constantly using behavioural insights to engage their audiences effectively. In this section, we’ll delve into real-world examples showcasing how top companies use behavioural segmentation to enhance their marketing efforts.

  

  1. Coca-Cola’s behavioural insights for marketing strategy : Coca-Cola employs behavioural segmentation to evaluate its advertising campaigns. Through analysing user engagement across TV commercials, social media promotions and influencer partnerships, Coca-Cola’s marketing team can discover that video ads shared by influencers generate the highest ROI and web traffic.

     This insight guides the reallocation of resources, leading to increased sales and a more effective advertising strategy.

  2. eBay’s custom conversion approach : eBay excels in conversion optimisation through behavioural segmentation. When users abandon carts, eBay’s dynamic system sends personalised email reminders featuring abandoned items and related recommendations tailored to user interests and past purchase decisions.

     This strategy revives sales, elevates conversion rates and sparks engagement. eBay’s adeptness in leveraging behavioural insights transforms user experience, steering a customer journey toward conversion.

  3. Sephora’s data-driven conversion enhancement : Data analysts can use Sephora’s behavioural segmentation strategy to fuel revenue growth through meticulous data analysis. By identifying a dedicated subset of loyal customers who exhibit a consistent preference for premium skincare products, data analysts enable Sephora to customise loyalty programs.

     These personalised rewards programs provide exclusive discounts and early access to luxury skincare releases, resulting in heightened customer engagement and loyalty. The data-driven precision of this approach directly contributes to amplified revenue from this specific customer segment.

  Examples of the do’s and don’ts of behavioural segmentation 

  

  Behavioural segmentation is a powerful marketing and data analysis tool, but its success hinges on ethical and responsible practices. In this section, we will explore real-world examples of the do’s and don’ts of behavioural segmentation, highlighting companies that have excelled in their approach and those that have faced challenges due to lapses in ethical considerations.

  Do’s of behavioural segmentation :

  • Personalised messaging :
    • Example : Spotify
      • Spotify’s success lies in its ability to use behavioural data to curate personalised playlists and user recommendations, enhancing its music streaming experience.
  • Transparency :
    • Example : Basecamp
      • Basecamp’s transparency in sharing how user data is used fosters trust. They openly communicate data practices, ensuring users are informed and comfortable.
  • Anonymization
    • Example : Matomo’s anonymization features
      • Matomo employs anonymization features to protect user identities while providing valuable insights, setting a standard for responsible data handling.
  • Purpose limitation :
    • Example : Proton Mail
      • Proton Mail strictly limits the use of user data to email-related purposes, showcasing the importance of purpose-driven data practices.
  • Dynamic content delivery : 
    • Example : LinkedIn
      • LinkedIn uses behavioural segmentation to dynamically deliver job recommendations, showcasing the potential for relevant content delivery.
  • Data security :
    • Example : Apple
      • Apple’s stringent data security measures protect user information, setting a high bar for safeguarding sensitive data.
  • Adherence to regulatory compliance : 
    • Example : Matomo’s regulatory compliance features
      • Matomo’s regulatory compliance features ensure that businesses using the platform adhere to data protection regulations, further promoting responsible data usage.

  Don’ts of behavioural segmentation :

  • Ignoring changing regulations
    • Example : Equifax
      • Equifax faced major repercussions for neglecting evolving regulations, resulting in a data breach that exposed the sensitive information of millions.
  • Sensitive attributes
    • Example : Twitter
      • Twitter faced criticism for allowing advertisers to target users based on sensitive attributes, sparking concerns about user privacy and data ethics.
  • Data sharing without consent
    • Example : Meta & Cambridge Analytica
      • The Cambridge Analytica scandal involving Meta (formerly Facebook) revealed the consequences of sharing user data without clear consent, leading to a breach of trust.
  • Lack of control
    • Example : Uber
      • Uber faced backlash for its poor data security practices and a lack of control over user data, resulting in a data breach and compromised user information.
  • Don’t be creepy with invasive personalisation
    • Example : Offer Moment
      • Offer Moment’s overly invasive personalisation tactics crossed ethical boundaries, unsettling users and eroding trust.

  These examples are valuable lessons, emphasising the importance of ethical and responsible behavioural segmentation practices to maintain user trust and regulatory compliance in an increasingly data-driven world.

  Continue the conversation

  Diving into customer behaviours, preferences and interactions empowers businesses to forge meaningful connections with their target audience through targeted marketing segmentation strategies. This approach drives growth and fosters exceptional customer experiences, as evident from the various common examples spanning diverse industries.

  In the realm of ethical behavioural segmentation and regulatory compliance, Matomo is a trusted partner. Committed to safeguarding user privacy and data integrity, our advanced web analytics solution empowers your business to harness the power of behavioral segmentation, all while upholding the highest standards of compliance with stringent privacy regulations.

  To gain deeper insight into your visitors and execute impactful marketing campaigns, explore how Matomo can elevate your efforts. Try Matomo free for 21-days, no credit card required.