Social Media Metrics For Dummies

Using Layered Metrics to Avoid False ROI

Layered metrics is something I use as a kind of shorthand to refer to metrics that track multidimensional data. For example, tracking site visits or unique page views doesn’t give you a lot of deep information, but using advanced segments and other analytics features does.

Connecting accounts like AdWords to your analytics also has a domino effect on data gathering, creating a more complete picture.

Gathering better data

How can you take a standard metric and make it more complex, in turn gathering not necessarily more data, but better data? In short, how do you avoid false ROI?

1. Start with any surface metric that you think will become useful.

2. Decide which goal the metric is going to support.

This step gives you an idea what information you need to layer on top of it.

3. If you use Google Analytics, you’re going to want to create a dashboard for the metric and create custom reports tracking advanced segments for the metric.

The dashboard you create will house some of your layers for this metric.

4. Inside the dashboard, create custom widgets by clicking the New Widget button.

5. Set up your spreadsheet outside of Google Analytics to gather data from other sources and to import CSV data from Google Analytics.

6. In Google Analytics, go to the Custom Reports section and create more detailed reports using advanced segmentation to track aspects of the metric.

You can track metrics like demographic data, time of day of engagement ...