Anomaly is a deviation from the expected value. The main challenges are: (a) how much the deviation should be to be classified as an anomaly, and (b) what time frame or subset of data should we examine. The simplest way to answer those questions is to use your marketer’s intuition. As an e-commerce manager, you […]
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Platform metrics: Some ideas
I was chatting with Lauri [1] about platform research. I claimed that the research has not that many implications for real-world companies apart from the basic constructs of network effects, two-sidedness, tipping, marquee users, strategies such as envelopment, and of course many challenges, including chicken-and-egg problems, monetization dilemma, and remora’s curse (see my dissertation on […]
My website go hacked — here’s what I learned
My friend Vignesh alerted me earlier this week that my site has been hacked and is forwarding to some malware site. At first, I called GoDaddy to ask for help. That was useless. It turns out their tech support consists of sales reps trying to sell you shit — no help for cleaning the site. […]
Digital analytics maturity model
Digital analytics maturity model: Concepts — here, focus on is on buzzwords and realization that “we should do something”. Tools — here, focus is on tools, i.e. “Let’s use this shiny new technology and it will solve all our problems.” Value — here, we finally focus on what matters: how will the tools and technologies […]
Problem of continuous value in SaaS business
A major challenge for many SaaS businesses is to provide continuous value, so that the users are compelled to continue using the service. There’s a risk of opportunism if the user can achieve his goals with one-time use; he then either uses the free trial version, or only subscribes for one month. For example, some […]
Identifying opportunities that Google and Facebook can’t handle
It’s almost impossible to beat Facebook’s or Google’s algorithms in ad optimization, because they have access to individual-level data whereas the advertiser only gets aggregates, and even their supply is limited. But, there are two opportunities I see which Google and Facebook don’t handle: 1. Use of CRM data Especially purchase history (=lifetime value), product […]
Grassblade model of startup acquisition
Grassblade model of startup acquisition = an incumbent is waiting until an upstart rival exceeds a KPI threshold x (e.g., 1 million users). Observations: ‘x’ needs to be defined so that it is big enough to prove the momentum, yet small enough to give a decent valuation — let the startup grow long enough, it […]
Managing business development of an ad platform
Here’s a great example of a business development program of an ad platform: Google provides similar service through its AdWords Partner program. Facebook and Google are offering the free 1-on-1 help for one simple reason: It improves the quality of ads. Because of this, two positive effects take place: a) the users are happier. As two-sided […]
How to reach B2B audiences online? That’s the question.
Introduction It *is* indeed the question – most often focus of B2B digital marketing is on lead generation and marketing automation. Much less has been written about targeting. Yet, B2B targeting is far from having been solved. The typical conversation between decision makers and agencies goes something like this. Client: “All this online advertising is […]
How to achieve a good score from Google Pagespeed Insights
Speed is one of the most important ranking factors in technical search-engine optimization (SEO). Besides search rankings, pagespeed directly or indirectly influences Quality Score in AdWords (and thus to click prices), and, perhaps most importantly, to the usability of website. Better usability, more conversions. PageSpeed Insights is a free service by Google to score the […]