Tell ‘em what you did

While preparing this morning for a staff meeting, I delved into Google Analytics to see how many people had visited our new online magazine site. I was disappointed by the numbers.
During the meeting, I decided to put the Analytics on the meeting room monitor and walk people through the steps I took to discover these disappointing results. Most in the room were getting their first exposure to web a analytics.
While poking around, we found a page that had a lot of visitors. Further snooping in the analytics revealed that the woman who was the subject of that story had posted a link to it on her Facebook page.
You could almost hear the synapses firing. Ideas came fast and furious around the table for how to capitalize on this discovery. It went further. With this new angle on the audience, whole new communication avenues opened up for us.
What I learned:
– Walk colleagues into and through your discovery. It then becomes their discovery too.
– Even data that disappoints is important information. Duh, things don’t always go as you predict. Treat it as a mystery instead of a failure.
– When in a moment such as this, let the conversation run. A dozen people trying to solve a mystery is a wonderful thing to watch.