Secrets to Teaching Google Analytics the Easy Way

This Post Was Updated for GA4 on February 10, 2020

 

Focus on Analytics

At the Fall Marketing Management Association Conference in Kansas City, which focuses on marketing education, I will be facilitating a workshop with Dr. Holly Syrdal and Dr. Leila Samii on Tool and Approaches for Teaching Digital Marketing:  Focus on Analytics.  This is the fourth time academic colleagues and I have facilitated this type of workshop at MMA.  We are delighted to present this topic to our interested colleagues and I am summarizing the highlights of my talk in this blog post.  A link to the Conference information is included in the list of Web Resources at the end of this post. 

What is Analytics?

Our workshop team thinks that Analytics does not have to mean advanced statistics.  We think that analytics means insights from data and that employers are looking for graduates who can put on a thinking cap and make intelligent inferences from data. Holly and Leila focus on developing insights from data by teaching easy ways to look at social media in Excel and derive insights from that data.  No higher math is required but the focus is on the students being able to make marketing interpretations of data to improve marketing campaigns.

Teaching Google Analytics the Easy Way through Blogging

My section of the workshop is on how the easy way to teach Google Analytics.  In particular, the presentation focuses on teaching introductory Google Analytics with a project that links Google Analytics to a blogger blog.  Blogging is a good way for students to learn the valuable skills of blogging and get started applying course concepts in a digital marketing course to managing a real-life marketing campaign. 

The basic concept is that students create a blog of interest to them and then over the next few weeks they promote the blog on social media and email (Mailchimp).  They also practice using visual images on the blog and writing a long-form blog post (1500 words or more).  The students start out with a simple blog post introducing their blog and then write four other blog posts over about a ten week period. I recommend a few weeks between blog posts so students can analyze the results of the prior post, write another post and give it at least a week to see the effects of any changes in writing style or promotion.

To think about what topic to use for the blog and what keywords to use, I ask the students to turn on Google alerts for topics they might be interested in focusing on for their blog and follow them through the course of the semester.  We also look at Google Trends

Linking Google Analytics to a Blogger Blog

Blogger provides excellent analytics, particularly on individual posts, but these numbers can sometimes appear inflated. To link a blogger blog to Google Analytics, simply copy the URL to the blog, open the admin tab in Analytics and add a web property.  In the process you will be invited to copy and paste HTML tracking code in to the blog.  This is not necessary when using blogger.  Copy the Website Tracking ID, which is in the form of UA (Universal Analytics) followed by numbers, i.e. UA-12345678-1.  Go back to blogger and paste under “Settings/Other” the Tracking ID.  Within a day or so the blog will start showing up in Google Analytics.

 

NOTE:  Since the upgrade to GA4, please note that you must create both a GA and GA4 web property.  Then toggle to Universal Analytics and get the UA code under admin.  

Finding the Tracking Code

In my class, we are not using advanced analytics.  Our undergraduates learn that information in the Marketing Metrics and Analytics Course.  In digital marketing, we learn the basics of analytics.  So we look at page views, the audience, the bounce rate, session length etc.  Students derive insights on the traffic to their blog and how changes such as using more visuals or writing longer copy affect the blog.  Students also report on the insights from blogger, which provide greater details on individual blog posts. 

Google Analytics Tracking Code is Added Under Settings, Other

Reflecting on What Was Learned

Students are required after seeing the results of each post to write a short reflection in Canvas about what they observed from weeks to week.  Students might report that visuals were most appealing to their audience or that LinkedIn resulted in the most page views because of their particular topic.  They might report that the long-form blog posts increased the average page session length. In these posts, I ask them to apply the reading from class.  For example, they might apply the metrics chapter of Zahay and Roberts and pick key metrics.  Or they might create a compelling call to action in their blog and apply the direct marketing material.

Not only can creating and track a blog can teach students analytics and campaign management skills, but this real-life project does not need a project sponsor.  The students and their careers are the client.  Several students have reported to me that they received job offers based on having a blog. It is likely that students will be employed.

Incorporating HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification

During my undergraduate digital marketing course where students blog, students also become certified in Inbound Marketing at HubSpot’s online Academy.  The HubSpot material focuses on the importance of blogging in business applications.  Students sometimes have to be convinced of the benefits of blogging, so there is a link to a blog post with some pertinent statistics at the end of this post.  Basically, blogging can dramatically increase the chances of being ranked highly in search engines and is the number one content marketing tool for most business-to-business firms. 

Learning Google Analytics

My recommendation for learning Google Analytics is Google itself. While formal certification in Google Analytics is available through the Google Academy for Ads, there is a stand-alone video course on Google Analytics for beginners that I highly recommend. This video covers enough material for students to do well in this project and to give you, as an instructor, sufficient background in the material to coach students intelligently.

Incorporating Experts

Sometimes I also bring in a guest speaker to talk about blogging or storytelling. Professors from the communications and journalism programs at your University can be great resources for guests.  Industry experts are also often eager to participate and to coach students.

Wrapping It Up

In summary, blogging is a great skill for students to learn to promote their own brand and the brands of others. Connecting the blog to Google Analytics provides students with additional insights in to the reach and impact of their posts.  By writing reflections each week, students learn to apply course material and explore the most effective blogging techniques for the audience of their blog.

For a detailed syllabus containing information on how to use this assignment in class, log in to Cengage’s website and create a course using the book Zahay and Roberts, Internet Marketing:  Integrating online and offline strategies in a digital environment.  The teaching resources are there as well as a link to our course blog run by MaryLou Roberts with updates on digital marketing material per chapter. Or email me at dblatz@stedwards.edu and I will send along a copy of the syllabus.  Good luck and let me know if you have any questions

Web resources:

Google Analytics for Beginners from Google

10 Reasons Blogging Matters for Content Marketing from Hubspot

How to Write a Blog Post from Orbit Media

MMA Fall Workshop Information

Internet Marketing 4e Update Blog

How to Apply Digital Marketing Certification Content

Applying Principles from a Digital Marketing Certification 

In my prior post on teaching with digital marketing certificates in the undergraduate degree programs at St. Edward's University, I spoke about the available digital marketing certificates, such as Hubspot, HootSuite, Google Analytics and how they could be integrated into a course in Digital Marketing or other University-level courses.  However, as some readers noted in their comments, certifications are just a piece of paper, albeit electronic, and don't  provide real-world application of digital marketing that can aid in the transition to practice.

Certifications Are Like a Driver's License

For example, getting a certificate in AdWords is a bit like getting a driver's license.  When I got my license, I could operate a car, but I lacked the experience to drive in different types of traffic and handle the more challenging aspects of driving.  A driving license let me practice so I could get better.  The same principle applies in digital marketing certification.

Practice Makes Perfect

Therefore, a certificate in Google AdWords or Analytics is not that meaningful without practice in the discipline.  So I wanted to share how, in our classes, students practice these skills.  Let's talk about the major certifications we use in our classes here at St. Edward's University and how students apply these skills.  All of these certification programs are free to the students.  There are others, but we focus on the ones that are of high quality and are available at no cost.

Students and their clients in Social Media class, Fall 2016, St. Edwards' University

Applying HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification and Google Analytics

Many of the digital marketing classes are taken by three majors:  Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Digital Media Management.  In the Digital Marketing and Analytics class, each student effectively plans, implements and measures a digital marketing campaign.  The students write weekly blog posts on a topic related to their major or their personal passion in Blogger, which can easily be linked to Google Analytics under settings . They write about the information in Google Analytics and and Blogger statistics each week as they promote their blog and practice with posting different types of content.  The project Students comment on where their traffic is coming from and relate that to the personas from their blog

This project allows students to practice the good blogging principles of HubSpot Inbound Marketing certification such as the use of white space, headings, the effective use of headings and good titles.  Students also learn the basics of analytics that prepares them to become analytics certified in our Marketing Metrics class. The Google Analytics certification allows students to practice on an e-commerce database provided by Google, which is another great way to practice their certification knowledge.

Applying Google AdWords Certification

Google Adwords certification is great and gives students a resume builder and an understanding of paid search. To apply these concepts,  one approach is simply to have the students create sample ads and critique them in class. Another approach is to use a marketing simulation.  

However, arguably the best way to practice AdWords is to have the students compete in the Google Online Marketing Challenge (GOMC) or to work with a client on a project.  In the challenge, students get a $250 budget to work with a company that has not had a paid search campaign on AdWords at least in the last six months.  In a client project scenario, I have worked with companies that provided a similar budget and we have worked on paid search campaigns of interest to them.  Each approach has it's pros and cons, which I will discuss in another blog post.

The good news is that Google now allows students to take AdWords Certification for free, which involves passing the Fundamentals exam and an exam on one other on a topic such as search, video or mobile advertisements.  In fact, Google recommends that students become AdWords certified before or during the GOMC.  We have restructured our courses so that students do the GOMC in the senior course in the Marketing major, having previously been certified in the required Digital Marketing and Analytics course.  I know other Universities where the challenge in the sole focus of a course and I have taught it that way also. The projects can be done simultaneously, but, as I covered in a prior blog post in this series (check out the blog archive), the Challenge is so time consuming that involvement in it can take away from other classroom learning in digital marketing.

Applying Hootsuite Platform Certification

In our social media classes, students also write a blog related to their professional aspiration in the context of a personal branding exercise and plan. Students then use the Hootsuite social media management tool, which is available while they are getting Hootsuite Platform certified, to promote that blog and their personal brand.  This free certification is just how to use the tool and a bit about social media, but does not include the Social Media Marketing Certification, which is now, unfortunately, a paid exam. They learn how to use the Hootsuite. platform and also how to analyze the effects of their posts.

Students also apply the Hootsuite Certification material when they work with real-life clients in the second half of the class.  In addition to making suggestions as to how to manage the process of a social media management tool, students recommend which platforms to use and how frequently to post.  Clients have then implemented these suggestions and had applicable results in just a few weeks of working with students in our class. 

Plan, Implement, Measure

In all of these examples of applications of certification, the students learn how to plan, implement and measure a marketing campaign, whether it be it be promoting their personal brand, launching a blog or creating a paid search campaign.  Certification programs on their own are not effective in helping students understand the material or get jobs after graduation.  These projects provide application for deeper learning and professional preparation. We also incorporate HubSpot Inbound Sales and Salesforce Trailhead in to our Sales class, but I will cover this approach in a later blog post.  

Please let me know what other approach you take in your classes to apply the tools of digital marketing certifications. All of these certifications an be used in conjunction with textbooks that I have co-authored with Cengage to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Comment on this blog, email me at dblatz@stedwards.edu or catch me on social media.  Good luck!

Three Approaches to Incorporating Industry Certification in Undergraduate Marketing

How to Approach Digital Marketing Certifications

This past September 14-16th, at the Marketing Management Association Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, there were several sessions, including my own, focused on incorporating certifications in digital marketing platforms and techniques in to the Marketing Curriculum in undergraduate programs in business schools.  We teach digital marketing and analytics, social media marketing, marketing metrics and traditional marketing topics at St. Edward's University. However, all of the courses have a digital marketing element and many incorporate industry certification. These approaches are to have the students complete the certification on their own, incorporate a certification in to one course or incorporate certifications throughout the curriculum at The Munday School of Business at St. Edwards's University in Austin, Texas.  There are pros and cons to each approach but the benefits of certification to students are clear.

Benefits of Certification

I coordinated the pre-conference workshop on teaching digital marketing with Dr. Janna Parker from James Madison University and Dr. Leila Samii from Southern New Hampshire University. The benefits to certification appear to be indisputable.  Students who receive certifications in industry programs such as Hootsuite™ for social media management or HubSpot for Inbound marketing get a real world experience and also get a badge or a certificate for their resume or LinkedIn profile.  For digital marketing, where comparatively few students receive this type of certification, at this point certification can be a true point of difference.  The types of certification we discussed at the Conference were Google AdWords, HubSpot Inbound and Hootsuite Platform certification.  The above graphic shows how we have incorporated certifications or 'badges' throughout or Marketing undergraduate curriculum. The three approaches discussed at our presentation and at the conference are outlined underneath this paragraph.

Three Approaches

1) Make certification optional.  In this approach, certifications are optional at the end of particular courses and are mentioned in the course but not integrated.  A benefit of this approach is that students get to choose the certification that are really of interest to them. However, from experience I found that few students take advantage of this option.

2) Use the certification as the final exam.  A colleague of ours, Archana Kumar from Montclair State University, discussed using the Google AdWords Fundamentals exam as a final examination in a retail course where the students promoted an e-commerce website using AdWords. Students took the examination in class and reported a good pass rate by studying for the examination as for any final.

3) Integrate certification in to the course.  This is the approach I am taking this semester with our Digital Marketing and Analytics course.  Students are getting HubSpot Inbound certified because the course focuses on web/mobile design and conversion optimization, email and social media marketing.  The HubSpot modules mirror what is happening in class, although with less of an emphasis on mobile technology. and the general structure of the HubSpot inbound methodology is similar to that used in our class.  During the course the students watch the module and will take the HubSpot Inbound examination.
Students are also studying Google AdWords and getting certified in that program. The AdWords training videos are excellent and include many  Unfortunately, we don't have the time to have them work on a project using AdWords so that might be a more difficult certification project to manage. I will certainly keep everyone posted on our progress.  We just started the process this week and everyone in class became a Google Partner and is ready to go.

How it Works in Class

Using certifications in class is relatively easy.  Each of the vendors has a website where the students sign up for a free account.  Hubspot Academy includes transcripts and PowerPoint slides for its videos, making it the easiest certification to adapt to classroom use. Hootsuite Academy has a series of videos and a learning guide where the students can take notes.  AdWords has a website complete with other resources for getting certified.  With some creativity, each of these tools can be adapted to the classroom.  Students can provide proof of certification to earn class points. 

Pros and Cons

In general, these industry certifications work well.  One clear benefit to the instructor is not having to record all the information or keep it updated. Everything is done by the industry vendor.  However, that means that when the vendor makes changes, the instructor has to be flexible and so does the class. I have had vendors change certification modules in the middle of the semester and it has sometimes been an inconvenience to the class.  Clear communication and using the experience as a learning tool helps ease any problems encountered. Overall, the benefits for the students seem to outweigh and personal inconveniences. 

Industry Certifications Still New

In summary, there are many approaches to integrating certifications in to our Marketing curriculum to benefit our students.  As these industry partnerships are new, there is a learning curve and time will tell which approaches are the most effective.  Do you have any ideas/experiences  on the subject?  For more about our "Teaching Digital" workshop, check out the MMA site.  There is also more detail on my presentation on Slideshare.  For information on certifications, look upHubSpot Inbound certification, Google AdWords and Hootsuite Academy.  If you would like to look at sample syllabi, send me an email at dblatz@stedwards.edu and I can put you on our distribution list.