Bee Measure

Get Direction From Your Data

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My Favorite (Coronavirus) Data Viz

This month’s issue a tribute to the data visualizations of coronavirus. This crisis has shown us a lot of not-so-great stuff. But it has also revealed the power of data viz. The now-famous “flatten the curve” chart made it possible to easily communicate how individuals’ actions can change outcomes.

Great data visualizations help us understand the abstract and process the world beyond our immediate experience. I’ve highlighted a few of my favorites below. Share widely!

Very Interesting Visualizations

“Flatten The Curve” Explained.

If you’ve been on the Internet at all this past week, you’ve heard the phrase “flatten the curve.” Behind every great data viz is a great story (they say that, right?). Well, this Fast Company article, which includes the gif that launched a million social distancers, explains the history behind everyone’s favorite coronavirus graphic. The idea here is if we pretend the coronavirus is no big deal and continue on with business as usual, we’ll see a large spike in the number of cases, peaking well above a dotted line conveying healthcare capacity. If we don’t panic and stay safe, we’ll see the number of cases smoothed to a long, low hill that doesn’t overwhelm our hospital system.

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What Companies Are Doing With Your Data, A World Without Cookies & Banner Ads Are Back

Content Marketing for Dummies

This article from Search Engine Journal touches on something important: Content that doesn’t convert is just that… content. If you want content that drives interest and donations, you need to look at your metrics. If you’re creating content, it should have a clear purpose and lead people to take another action — whether that’s to learn more, sign up for an event, download research, or donate to your organization. And don’t forget that content drives SEO… just make sure you’re writing like a human and not keyword stuffing in the hopes your post ranks higher on Google.

No More Cookies… Now What?

With the new restrictions browsers are putting on cookies, I wonder if we need to prepare for a cookie-less world. It’s better we accept it now and learn how to survive rather than be annoyed and taken by surprise when they are *actually* blocked. This article offers great advice with specific tactics to successfully advertise without cookies. Which one are you trying? I’ll definitely be using my own first-party data since it’s proven to drive higher conversion rates.

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My Favorite Advice & Data Viz of the Month

My Favorite Advice

Facebook Page Management Made Easy.

Is your organizations’ Facebook Page managed by more than one person? You’re going to want to take advantage of Page Management History, a new feature for Facebook Pages. Why you’ll love it: It shows every single action made on and by your Page, when the actions were taken, and who enacted them. No more guessing who gave your customers information that led to a donation or which team member is engaging the most with followers. Now, you have the answers right at your fingertips.

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New Facebook Ad Metrics, Cookie Consent & Google’s Latest Search Update

Use These Success Metrics for Facebook Ads

People can accuse Facebook of so many things (like election interference or housing discrimination), but you can’t say the platform doesn’t provide advertisers enough data. In fact, the metrics Facebook provides is so overwhelming that figuring out what to pay attention to is the hard part. AdEspresso has long been my go-to for all things related to Facebook Ads. According to their updated guide for 2020, there are a few key metrics to keep an eye on: cost-per-result (CPR), ad impressions, click-through-rate (CTR), cost-per-click (CPC), conversion rates, and costs per conversion (CPC). A key takeaway here is to “track impressions to make sure that customers who see your ad do something about it. Otherwise, the ad isn’t effective.”

Choosing Your Cookies

Recently, I was teaching a class about Google Analytics and someone asked about those opt-in to cookies messages. Exactly what percentage of people accept/decline them? Well, here’s the research on that. It’s less about how many people accept/deny the consent notices and more about whether a majority of those “notices” are even GDPR-compliant. The data here suggests they’re not.

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My Favorite Advice & Data Viz of the Month

My Favorite Advice

How to track your SEO work with Google Analytics.

Yoast is a fantastic resource for tips on improving your site’s SEO. This article is especially juicy because it explains, in detail, how to find the data that will help you track whether your efforts to optimize your site are actually working. And you can use your free Google Analytics account to do this — no need to pay for a fancy SEO service. I like this article because it starts with the easy (looking at total search traffic to your site and whether it’s increasing) and progresses to the more complex (analyzing whether your mobile experience impacts your search engine ranking). It explains this all through detailed, accessible videos that play without sound so you can watch at your desk.

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