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• Use data to develop impactful video content

  28 septembre 2021, par Ben Erskine — Analytics Tips, Plugins

  Creating impactful video content is at the heart of what you do. How you really engage with your audience, change behaviours and influence customers to complete your digital goals. But how do you create truly impactful marketing content ? By testing, trialling, analysing and ultimately tweaking and reacting to data-informed insights that gear your content to your audience (rather than simply producing great content and shooting arrows in the dark).

  Whether you want to know how many plays your video has, finish rates, how your video is consumed over time, how video was consumed on specific days or even which locations users are viewing your video content. Media Analytics will gather all of your video data in one place and provide answers to all of these questions (and much more).

  

  What is impactful video content ?

  Impactful video content grabs your audience’s attention, keeps their attention and promotes them to take measurable action. Be that time spent on your website, goal completion or brand engagement (including following, commenting or sharing on social). Maybe you’ve developed video content, had some really great results, but not consistently, nor every time and it can be difficult to identify what exactly it is that engages and entices each and every time. And we all want to find where that lovely sweet spot is for your audience.

  Embedded video on your website can be a marketing piece that talks about the benefits of your product. Or can be educational or informative that support the brand and overall impression of the brand. And at the very best entertaining at the same time. 

  84% of people say that they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video. Building trust, knowledge and engagement are simply quicker with video. Viewers interact more, and are engaged longer with video, they are more likely to take in the message and trust what they are seeing through educational, informative or even entertaining video marketing content than solely through reading content on a website. And even better they take action, complete goals on your website and engage with your brand (potentially long term).

  It is not only necessary to have embedded video content on your website, it needs to deliver all the elements of a well functioning website, creating the very best user experience is essential to keeping your viewers engaged. This includes ensuring the video is quick to load, on-brand, expected (in format and tone) and easy to use and/or find. Ensuring that your video content is all of these things can mean that your website users will stick around longer on your website, spend more time exploring (and reading) your website and ultimately complete more of your goals. With a great user experience, your users, in turn, are more likely to come back again to your website and trust your brand. 

  All great reasons to create impactful video content that supports your website and brand ! And to analyse data around this behaviour to repeat (or better) the video content that really hits the mark.

  

  Let’s talk stats

  In terms of video marketing, there are stats to support that viewers retain 95% of a message when they view it in a video format. The psychology behind this should be fairly obvious. It is easier (and quicker) for humans to consume video and watch someone explain something than it is to read and take action. Simply look at the rise of YouTube for explanatory and instructional video content !

  And how about the 87% of marketers that report a positive ROI on using video in their marketing ? This number has steadily increased since 2015 and matches the increase in video views over the years. This should be enough to demonstrate that video marketing is the way forward, however it needs to be the right type of video to create impact and engagement.

  Do you need more reasons to consider honing and refining your video content for your audience ? And riding this wave of impactful video marketing success ?

  

  But, how do we do that ?

  So, how do you make content that consistently converts your audience to engaged customers ? The answer is in the numbers. The data. Collecting data on each and every piece of media that is produced and put out into the world. Measuring everything, from where it is viewed, how it is viewed, how much of it is viewed and what is your viewer’s action after the fact.

  While Vimeo and YouTube have their own video analytics they are each to their own, meaning a lot more work for you to combine and analyse your data before forming insights that are useful. 

  Your data is collected by external parties, and is owned and used by these platforms, for their own means. Using Web Analytics from Matomo to collect and collate media data can mean your robust data insights are all in one place. And you own the data, keeping your data private, clean and easy to digest. 

  Once your data is across a single platform, your time can be spent on analysing the data (rather than collating) and discovering those super valuable insights. Additionally, these insights can be collated and reported, in one place, and used to inform future digital and video marketing planning. Working with the data and alongside creative teams to produce video that talks to your audience in an impactful way.

  The more data that is collected the deeper the insights. Saving time and money across a single platform and with data-backed insights to inform decisions that can influence the time (and money) spent producing video content that truly hits the mark with your audience. No more wasted investment and firing into the dark without knowledge. 

  Interrogating the ideal length of your video media means it is more likely to be viewed to the end. Or understanding the play rate on your website of any video. How often is the video played ? And which is played more often ? Constant tweaking and updating of your video content planning can be informed by data-driven human-centric insights. By consistently tracking your media, analysing and forming insights you can build upon past work, and create a fuller picture of who your audience is and how they will engage with future video content. Understanding your media over time can lead to informed decisions that can impact the video content and the level of investment to deliver ROI that means something.

  

  Wrap Up

  Media Analytics puts you at the heart of video engagement. No more guessing at what your audience wants to see, how long or when. Make every piece of video content have the impact you want (and need) to drive engagement, goal completion and customer conversion. Create a user experience that keeps your users on your website for longer. Delivering on all of those delicious digital marketing goals and speaking the language of key stakeholders throughout the business. Back your digital marketing, with truly impactful content, and above all else deliver to your audience content that keeps them engaged and coming back for more.

  Don’t just take our word for it ! Take a look at what Matomo can offer you with streamlined and insightful Media Analytics, all in one place. And go forth and create impactful content, that matters.

  Next steps :

  Check out our detailed user guide to Media Analytics

  Or, if you have questions, see our helpful Video & Audio Analytics FAQ’s

• Google Analytics 4 (GA4) vs Matomo

  7 avril 2022, par Erin

  Google announced that Universal Analytics’ days are numbered. Universal Analytics will be replaced by Google Analytics 4 (or GA4) on the 1st of July 2023. 

  If Google Analytics users want to compare year-on-year data, they have until July 2022 to get set up and start collecting data before the sun sets on Universal Analytics (or UA).

  But is upgrading to Google Analytics 4 the right move ? There’s a lot to consider, and many organisations are looking for an alternative to Google Analytics. So in this blog, we’ll compare GA4 to Matomo – the leading Google Analytics alternative. 

  In this blog, we’ll look at :

  What is Matomo ?

  Matomo is a powerful privacy-first web analytics platform that gives you 100% data ownership. First launched in 2007, Matomo is now the world’s leading open-source web analytics platform and is used by more than 1 million websites. 

  Matomo’s core values are based on ethical data collection and processing. Consistently more businesses and organisations from around the globe are adopting data-privacy-compliant web analytics solutions like Matomo. 

  Matomo offers both Cloud and On-Premise solutions (and a five-star rated WordPress plugin), making for an adaptable and flexible solution. 

  What is Google Analytics 4 ?

  Google Analytics 4 is the latest version of Google Analytics and represents a completely new approach to data-modelling than its predecessor, Universal Analytics. For an in-depth look at how GA4 and UA compare, check out this Google Analytics 4 vs Universal Analytics comparison. 

  Google Analytics 4 will soon be the only available version of analytics software from Google. So what’s the issue ? Surely, in 2022, Google makes it easy to migrate to their newest (and only) analytics platform ? Not quite.

  Google Analytics 4 vs Matomo

  Whilst the core purpose of GA4 and Matomo is similar (providing web analytics that help to optimise your website and grow your business), there are several key differences that organisations should consider before making the switch.

  Importing Historical Data from Universal Analytics

  Google Analytics 4

  Users assuming that historical data from Universal Analytics could be imported into Google Analytics 4 were faced with swift disappointment. Unfortunately, Google Analytics 4 does not have an option to import data from its predecessor, Universal Analytics. This means that businesses won’t be able to import and compare data from previous years.

  Matomo

  If you don’t want to start from scratch with your web analytics data, then Matomo is an ideal solution for data continuity. Matomo offers users the ability to import their historical Universal Analytics data. So you can keep all that valuable historical data you’ve collected over the years.

  

  User Interface

  Google Analytics 4

  GA4’s new user interface has been met with mixed reviews. Many claim that it’s overly complex and difficult to navigate. Some have even suggested that the tool has been designed specifically for enterprises with specialised analytics teams. 

  

  Matomo

  Matomo, on the other hand, is recognised for an easy to use interface, with a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars for ease of use on Capterra. Matomo perfectly balances powerful features with a user-friendly interface so valuable insights are only a click away. There’s a reason why over 1 million websites are using Matomo. 

  

  Advanced Behavioural Analytics Features 

  Google Analytics 4

  While Google Analytics is undoubtedly robust in some areas (machine learning, for instance), what it really lacks is advanced behavioural analytics. Heatmaps, session recordings and other advanced tools can give you valuable insights into how users are engaging with your site. Well beyond pageviews and other metrics.

  Unfortunately, with this new generation of GA, Google still hasn’t introduced these features. So users have to manage subscriptions and tracking in third-party behavioural analytics tools like Hotjar or Lucky Orange, for example. This is inefficient, costly and time-consuming to manage. 

  

  Matomo 

  Meanwhile, Matomo is a one-stop shop for all of your web analytics needs. Not only do you get access to the metrics you’ve grown accustomed to with Universal Analytics, but you also get built-in behavioural analytics features like Heatmaps, Scroll Depth, Session Recordings and more. 

  Want to know if visitors are reaching your call to action at the bottom of the page ? Scroll Depth will answer that.

  Want to know why visitors aren’t clicking through to the next page ? Heatmaps will give you the insights you need.

  You get the picture – the full picture, that is. 

  

  Data Accuracy

  Google Analytics 4

  GA4 aims to make web and app analytics more privacy-centric by reducing the reliance on cookies to record certain events across platforms and devices. 

  However, when site and application visitors opt-out of cookie tracking, GA4 instead relies on machine learning to fill in the gaps. Data sampling could mean that your business is making business decisions based on inaccurate reports. 

  Matomo

  Data is the backbone of web analytics, so why make critical business decisions on sampled data ? With Matomo, you’re guaranteed 100% unsampled accurate data. So you can rest assured that any decisions you make are based on actual facts. 

  Compliance with Privacy Laws (GDPR, CCPA, etc.) 

  Google Analytics 4

  Google is making changes in an attempt to become compliant with privacy laws. However, even with GA4, users are still transferring data to the US. For this reason, both Austrian and French governments have ruled Google Analytics illegal under GDPR.

  The only possible workaround is “Privacy Shield 2.0”, but GDPR experts are still sceptical of this one. 

  Matomo

  If compliance with global privacy laws is a concern (and it should be), then Matomo is the clear winner here. 

  As an EU hosted web analytics tool, your data is stored in Europe, and no data is transferred to the US. On the other hand, if you choose to self-host, the data is stored in your country of choice.

  In addition, with cookieless tracking enabled, you can say goodbye to those pesky cookie consent screens. 

  Also, remember that under GDPR, and many other data privacy laws like CCPA and LGPD, end users have a legal right to access, amend and/or erase the personal data collected about them. 

  With Matomo you get 100% ownership of your web analytics data. This means that we don’t on-sell to third parties ; can’t claim ownership of the data ; and you can export your data at any time.

  

  Wrap up

  At the end of the day, the worst thing an organisation can do is nothing. Waiting until July 2023 to migrate to GA4 or another web analytics platform would be very disruptive and costly. Organisations need to consider their options now and start migrating in the next few months. 

  With all that said, moving to Google Analytics 4 could prove to be a costly and time-consuming operation. The global trend towards increased data privacy is a threat to platforms like Google Analytics which uses data for advertising and transfers data across borders.

  With Matomo, you get an easy to use all-in-one web analytics platform and keep your historical Universal Analytics data. Plus, you can future-proof your business by being compliant with global privacy laws and get access to advanced behavioural analytics features. 

  There’s a lot to weigh up here but fortunately, getting started with Matomo is easy. Try it free for 21-days (no credit card required) and see for yourself why over 1 million websites choose Matomo. 

  While this is the end of the road for Universal Analytics, it’s also an opportune time for organisations to find a better fit web analytics tool. 

  21 day free trial. No credit card required.

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• 10 Key Google Analytics Limitations You Should Be Aware Of

  9 mai 2022, par Erin

  Google Analytics (GA) is the biggest player in the web analytics space. But is it as “universal” as its brand name suggests ?
  

  Over the years users have pointed out a number of major Google Analytics limitations. Many of these are even more visible in Google Analytics 4. 

  Introduced in 2020, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has been sceptically received. As the sunset date of 1st, July 2023 for the current version, Google Universal Analytics (UA), approaches, the dismay grows stronger.

  To the point where people are pleading with others to intervene : 

  

  Main limitations of Google Analytics

  Google Analytics 4 is advertised as a more privacy-centred, comprehensive and “intelligent” web analytics platform. 

  According to Google, the newest version touts : 

  • Machine learning at its core provides better segmentation and fast-track access to granular insights 
  • Privacy-by-design controls, addressing restrictions on cookies and new regulatory demands 
  • More complete understanding of customer journeys across channels and devices 

  Some of these claims hold true. Others crumble upon a deeper investigation. Newly advertised Google Analytics capabilities such as ‘custom events’, ‘predictive insights’ and ‘privacy consent mode’ only have marginal improvements. 

  Complex setup, poor UI and lack of support with migration also leave many other users frustrated with GA4. 

  

  Let’s unpack all the current (and legacy) limitations of Google Analytics you should account for. 

  1. No Historical Data Imports 

  Google rushed users to migrate from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4. But they overlooked one important precondition — backwards compatibility. 

  You have no way to import data from Google Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4. 

  Historical records are essential for analysing growth trends and creating benchmarks for new marketing campaigns. Effectively, you are cut short from past insights — and forced to start strategising from scratch. 

  At present, Google offers two feeble solutions : 

  • Run data collection in parallel and have separate reporting for GA4 and UA until the latter is shut down. Then your UA records are gone. 
  • For Ecommerce data, manually duplicate events from UA at a new GA4 property while trying to figure out the new event names and parameters. 

  Google’s new data collection model is the reason for migration difficulties. 

  In Google Analytics 4, all analytics hits types — page hits, social hits, app/screen view, etc. — are recorded as events. Respectively, the “‘event’ parameter in GA4 is different from one in Google Universal Analytics as the company explains : 

  

  This change makes migration tedious — and Google offers little assistance with proper events and custom dimensions set up. 

  2. Data Collection Limits 

  If you’ve wrapped your head around new GA4 events, congrats ! You did a great job, but the hassle isn’t over. 

  You still need to pay attention to new Google Analytics limits on data collection for event parameters and user properties. 

  

  These apply to :

  • Automatically collected events
  • Enhanced measurement events
  • Recommended events 
  • Custom events 

  When it comes to custom events, GA4 also has a limit of 25 custom parameters per event. Even though it seems a lot, it may not be enough for bigger websites. 

  You can get higher limits by upgrading to Google Analytics 360, but the costs are steep. 

  3. Limited GDPR Compliance 

  Google Analytics has a complex history with European GDPR compliance. 

  A 2020 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) invalidated the Privacy Shield framework Google leaned upon. This framework allowed the company to regulate EU-US data transfers of sensitive user data. 

  But after this loophole was closed, Google faced a heavy series of privacy-related fines :

  • French data protection authority, CNIL, ruled that  “the transfers to the US of personal data collected through Google Analytics are illegal” — and proceeded to fine Google for a record-setting €150 million at the beginning of 2022. 
  • Austrian regulators also deemed Google in breach of GDPR requirements and also branded the analytics as illegal. 

  Other EU-member states might soon proceed with similar rulings. These, in turn, can directly affect Google Analytics users, whose businesses could face brand damage and regulatory fines for non-compliance. In fact, companies cannot select where the collected analytics data will be stored — on European servers or abroad — nor can they obtain this information from Google.

  Getting a web analytics platform that allows you to keep data on your own servers or select specific Cloud locations is a great alternative. 

  Google also has been lax with its cookie consent policy and doesn’t properly inform consumers about data collection, storage or subsequent usage. Google Analytics 4 addresses this issue to an extent. 

  By default, GA4 relies on first-party cookies, instead of third-party ones — which is a step forward. But the user privacy controls are hard to configure without losing most of the GA4 functionality. Implementing user consent mode to different types of data collection also requires a heavy setup. 

  4. Strong Reliance on Sampled Data 

  To compensate for ditching third-party cookies, GA4 more heavily leans on sampled data and machine learning to fill the gaps in reporting. 

  In GA4 sampling automatically applies when you :

  • Perform advanced analysis such as cohort analysis, exploration, segment overlap or funnel analysis with not enough data 
  • Have over 10,000,000 data rows and generate any type of non-default report 

  Google also notes that data sampling can occur at lower thresholds when you are trying to get granular insights. If there’s not enough data or because Google thinks it’s too complex to retrieve. 

  In their words :

  

  Data sampling adds “guesswork” to your reports, meaning you can’t be 100% sure of data accuracy. The divergence from actual data depends on the size and quality of sampled data. Again, this isn’t something you can control. 

  Unlike Google Analytics 4, Matomo applies no data sampling. Your reports are always accurate and fully representative of actual user behaviours. 

  5. No Proper Data Anonymization 

  Data anonymization allows you to collect basic analytics about users — visits, clicks, page views — but without personally identifiable information (or PII) such as geo-location, assigns tracking ID or other cookie-based data. 

  This reduced your ability to :

  • Remarket 
  • Identify repeating visitors
  • Do advanced conversion attribution 

  But you still get basic data from users who ignored or declined consent to data collection. 

  By default, Google Analytics 4 anonymizes all user IP addresses — an upgrade from UA. However, it still assigned a unique user ID to each user. These count as personal data under GDPR. 

  For comparison, Matomo provides more advanced privacy controls. You can anonymize :

  • Previously tracked raw data 
  • Visitor IP addresses
  • Geo-location information
  • User IDs 

  This can ensure compliance, especially if you operate in a sensitive industry — and delight privacy-mindful users ! 

  6. No Roll-Up Reporting

  Getting a bird’s-eye view of all your data is helpful when you need hotkey access to main sites — global traffic volume, user count or percentage of returning visitors.

  With Roll-Up Reporting, you can see global-performance metrics for multiple localised properties (.co.nz, .co.uk, .com, etc,) in one screen. Then zoom in on specific localised sites when you need to. 

  

  7. Report Processing Latency 

  The average data processing latency is 24-48 hours with Google Analytics. 

  Accounts with over 200,000 daily sessions get data refreshes only once a day. So you won’t be seeing the latest data on core metrics. This can be a bummer during one-day promo events like Black Friday or Cyber Monday when real-time information can prove to be game-changing ! 

  Matomo processes data with lower latency even for high-traffic websites. Currently, we have 6-24 hour latency for cloud deployments. On-premises web analytics can be refreshed even faster — within an hour or instantly, depending on the traffic volumes. 

  8. No Native Conversion Optimisation Features

  Google Analytics users have to use third-party tools to get deeper insights like how people are interacting with your webpage or call-to-action.

  You can use the free Google Optimize tool, but it comes with limits : 

  • No segmentation is available 
  • Only 10 simultaneous running experiments allowed 

  There isn’t a native integration between Google Optimize and Google Analytics 4. Instead, you have to manually link an Optimize Container to an analytics account. Also, you can’t select experiment dimensions in Google Analytics reports.

  What’s more, Google Optimize is a basic CRO tool, best suited for split testing (A/B testing) of copy, visuals, URLs and page layouts. If you want to get more advanced data, you need to pay for extra tools. 

  Matomo comes with a native set of built-in conversion optimization features : 

  • Heatmaps 
  • User session recording 
  • Sales funnel analysis 
  • A/B testing 
  • Form submission analytics 

  

  9. Deprecated Annotations

  Annotations come in handy when you need to provide extra context to other team members. For example, point out unusual traffic spikes or highlight a leak in the sales funnel. 

  This feature was available in Universal Analytics but is now gone in Google Analytics 4. But you can still quickly capture, comment and share knowledge with your team in Matomo. 

  You can add annotations to any graph that shows statistics over time including visitor reports, funnel analysis charts or running A/B tests. 

  10. No White Label Option 

  This might be a minor limitation of Google Analytics, but a tangible one for agency owners. 

  Offering an on-brand, embedded web analytics platform can elevate your customer experience. But white label analytics were never a thing with Google Analytics, unlike Matomo. 

  Wrap Up 

  Google set a high bar for web analytics. But Google Analytics inherent limitations around privacy, reporting and deployment options prompt more users to consider Google Analytics alternatives, like Matomo. 

  With Matomo, you can easily migrate your historical data records and store customer data locally or in a designated cloud location. We operate by a 100% unsampled data principle and provide an array of privacy controls for advanced compliance. 

  Start your 21-day free trial (no credit card required) to see how Matomo compares to Google Analytics ! 

  21 day free trial. No credit card required.

  Your email address
  

  Your website address
  

  Your Analytics subdomain will be .matomo.cloud (change)

  Choose your analytics subdomain
  

  .matomo.cloud

  I hereby accept the terms and conditions and the data processing agreeement (DPA).

  
  Your information will be used to create an account on our cloud service. For more information please consult our privacy policy.
  
  

  » Start improving your websites now