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Web tracking invigorates firm's marketing efforts: a decided improvement closely follows a change in tracking tools - Special Focus

Communications News, Feb, 2002

The concept of measuring its Web traffic is nothing new to Tektronix--the company had been doing it for a number of years. The Beaverton, OR-based test, measurement and monitoring manufacturer offers more than 1,400 products and technologies. Its broad range of instruments for virtually every measurement application populates the design centers, laboratories and communications networks of a wide range of global companies.

Initially, the company implemented tracking tools with an IT slant, allowing the company to measure bulk numbers of users and hits. This approach, however, did not aptly allow the company to drill down to the finer level of detail needed to make informed business decisions. The original tools were designed primarily for use by IT employees, so reports were not easy for non-IT managers to access and read.

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According to Rich McBee, Tektronix' senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing, this method did not provide the information needed for its managers to make decisions on marketing initiatives, such as Internet promotional efforts.

"We were making decisions based on instinct rather than fact, because we were not set up to get the information we needed," says McBee. "For example, we could not determine whether a certain area of the site was used enough to make it worth the time and expense of upgrading. What we needed was an analytical tool that business users throughout the company could employ to obtain the critical information needed to make day-to-day marketing and business decisions."

One of the primary features the selection team sought was an easy-to-use menu and interface that would allow managers to generate and view the reports themselves at any time. After the requirements were studied, the team determined that nearly all of its needs could be met with the standard reports provided by the CommerceTrends solution from WebTrends (www.webtrends.com), Portland, OR. With only a small amount of customization, Tektronix installed the solution in a cluster configuration that collected information from a series of servers.

During the implementation process, the Tektronix team made several suggestions to the WebTrends developers regarding features for future releases--the most notable, one that allowed business partners to download large quantities of data into an Excel spreadsheet for further analysis. This feature was added shortly after the Tektronix implementation.

"The CommerceTrends reporting was exactly what we were looking for," says McBee. "Managers could use the tool to track traffic patterns without getting an IT person involved. The information allowed us to make fact-based decisions."

Soon after implementing the solution, the marketing team noticed a spike in traffic patterns. After comparing traffic reports with the marketing plan, they discovered-that the increase corresponded to a recent series of on-the-road seminars. The marketing team was able to determine the level of interest these seminars prompted, and prove to upper management that implementing these road shows was well worth the time and expense required.

Analyzing the success of these seminars through the increased Web traffic also initiated a highly targeted follow-up campaign. By studying the paths customers had taken through the website, the team was able to focus specifically on attendees' interests.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the success of the seminars had a significant impact on our bottom line," McBee says. "And this is only one example of the ways in which the analysis has enabled us to become more effective marketers. We have been able to measure and manage aspects of our website promotions, based on facts rather than instinct. As a result, we have greatly increased the return on our Internet marketing activities."

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Technology Industry

Web tracking invigorates firm's marketing efforts: a decided improvement closely follows a change in tracking tools - Special Focus

Communications News, Feb, 2002

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