Harvard University Extension School

Digital Marketing, Big Data and Web Analytics

Course Information
Term: Spring 2017 Instructor: Christina Inge | Email:
christinainge@fas.harvard.edu Location: Online Web Conference, Wednesdays,
5:30-7:30pm Introduction and Objectives
As big data moves into the mainstream, marketers are seeing the opportunity to make the profession
more scientific and numbers-driven than ever before. In addition, with measurement at the center of
every marketing campaign, marketers have the opportunity to prove the return on investment of their
programs with unprecedented accuracy. Yet, this wealth of data can be overwhelming. Every channel has
its own metrics, every demographic group's behavior can be mined for targeting information. What are
the numbers that matter? And what are they really telling us? How can we best leverage big data and
marketing analytics to optimize results? This course explores the growing role of data in marketing.
Taking a two-fold approach, the course looks in-depth at the two primary kinds of data available to
marketers: internal, or what is called marketing analytics, and external, or big data. Using real-world
examples and practical exercises, the course allows students to understand the interactions between
both kinds of data, and how best to use both to improve marketing outcomes, demonstrate return on
investment to the C-suite, and create increasingly effective marketing campaigns.

What We Will Be Doing:

Students will design a marketing analytics program to meet the needs of a specific business--either their
own, or one based on a case study. In four parts, students will define and refine KPIs, analyze business
requirements, select appropriate analytics platforms, and use data to solve real business problems. Using
case studies, HBS data simulations, and examples from both for-profit and non-profit organizations,
students will learn how analytics can be used to optimize all areas of marketing:

Consumer behavior prediction

Advertising targeting and optimization
Social media and new platforms
Mobile experience and outreach

This practical, project-based class will culminate in a marketing analytics strategy that is applicable to a
real business problem or meets an organization's ongoing need to leverage data to reach consumers

Materials and Resources:

Hemann,C and Burbary, K. (2013). Digital marketing analytics: Making sense of consumer data in
a digital world. Que Publishing. Retrieved from Free version
http://marketingcuriosity.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/01/digital-analytics.pdf
Davenport, T. (2016). Data analytics simulation: Strategic decision making. Harvard Business
Review. Available in your Coursepack

Readings:
Readings will be assigned each week for discussions. Preliminary readings for some weeks are included in
the syllabus. More will be added for each week, and will form the basis of the discussion questions.

Assessment:
Written projects: 60%
Teams will work together on projects, presenting a substantial mobile enterprise solution proposal by the
end of the semester. It will be an iterative process, with individual portions (initial problem statement,
proposed technology, implementation plan) due throughout the semester building to a final proposal
presentation and paper. As the final proposal grows, papers will be worth progressively more towards
the grade:

Paper 1: 5% Paper
2: 10% Paper 3:
10% Paper 4:
15%
Final paper: 20%
Participation: 40%
Participation consists of posting at least one substantial post and two replies to both weekly threaded
discussions (general and weekly topic-specific) and attendance at weekly live online lecture.
Disability Services:
The Extension School is committed to providing an accessible academic community. The Accessibility
Office offers a variety of accommodations and services to students with documented disabilities. Please
visit www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/resources/disability-services-accessibility for more
information.

Academic Integrity:
You are responsible for understanding Harvard Extension School policies on academic integrity
(www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/student-conduct/academic-integrity) and how to use
sources responsibly. Not knowing the rules, misunderstanding the rules, running out of time, submitting
the wrong draft, or being overwhelmed with multiple demands are not acceptable excuses. There are no
excuses for failure to uphold academic integrity. To support your learning about academic citation rules,
please visit the Harvard Extension School Tips to Avoid Plagiarism
(www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/resources/tips-avoid-plagiarism), where you'll find links
to the Harvard Guide to Using Sources and two free online 15-minute tutorials to test your knowledge of
academic citation policy. The tutorials are anonymous open-learning tools.

Agenda:
Week 1: What is Data?
Objectives:
Describe what is meant by marketing analytics
Describe what is meant by Big Data in a digital marketing context
Apply basic principles of marketing analytics to a business problem
Distinguish between internal and external data

Week 2: Analyzing Internal Data: Overview

Objectives:
Apply the basic capabilities of Google Analytics to a marketing problem
Describe the kinds of data available from standard Google Analytics
Analyze a sample data set involving visits, pageviews, and referral source data
Paper 1 Due Sunday, February 5 (Assignment 0)

Week 3: Analyzing Internal Data: Conducting an Audit

Objectives:

Develop appropriate strategies for internal auditing of marketing data sources, tools, and
utilization
Create an effective project plan for a data audit
Devise recommendations from a basic, intermediate, and comprehensive audit
Present audit results in a variety of formats for both marketing analytics teams, external
stakeholders, and C suite

Week 4: Search Data

Objectives:
Describe the key metrics used in Search Engine Optimization
Utilize Google keyword tools to identify top search terms in a specific vertical
Analyze inbound links for a specific domain
Identify the importance of key metrics such as inbound links, PageRank, and domain authority in
search engine optimization

Week 5: Competitive Data

Objectives:
Describe key metrics for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, including reach, clicks, retweets,
favorites, and shares
Create Social Listening initiative to ascertain an organizations reach and sentiment
Identify key social advertising metrics and features, such as Facebook LookAlikes

Assignment 1 due Sunday, February 26, 2017

Week 6: Social Analytics

Objectives:
 Define key social metrics for campaign goals across multiple social platforms, including Facebook,
Instagram, and video-based platforms
Understand the benefits and limitations of sentiment analysis
Create a dashboard of social media metrics that meet organizational goals, including reach
Utilize multichannel, multitouch attribution to better attribute conversions from social
media and word of mouth

Week 7: Email Analytics & Marketing Automation

Objectives:
Apply key metrics for an email campaign, including opens, clickthroughs, and measures of
engagement such as unsubscribes/list growth to specific campaign goals
Create an A/B testing campaign
Distinguish between A/B and multivariate testing

Week 8-Spring Break

Week 9: Audience Buying and Advertising

Objectives:
Understand the importance of audience buying in new models of advertising
Assess audience buying vendors, such as DoubleClick

Week 10: Video and Media Metrics

Objectives:
Evaluate key metrics used to measure advertising such as impressions, clickthroughs
Discuss the ROI of display advertising
Develop metrics for measuring video marketing

Assignment 2 due Sunday, April 2, 2017

Week 11: Data Mining and Predictive Analytics

Objectives

Understand the role of data mining in predicting consumer behavior, product development, and
advertising messaging
 Describe key technologies and techniques used in mining consumer data, including Hadoop
Create a model for applying predictive analytics in the creation of marketing strategy

Week 12: Data Mining and Predictive Analytics

Building on Week 10, this week, students will work with data simulations and real-world datasets to
develop a deeper, yet still practical understanding of data mining. No coding background is required.

Objectives:

Develop a plan to mine third party data

Apply principles of Predictive Modeling to digital marketing initiatives

Week 13: Tool Selection and Developing In-House Talent

This week, well examine a little appreciated, critical aspect of an effective marketing analytics strategy:
building a toolset that meets the current and projected needs of the organization.

Objectives:
Identify key factors in tool selection
Develop a checklist of prioritized needs for optimizing marketing IT spend
Create a training and assessment plan to develop in-house talent in an increasingly competitive
and varied market for technical marketing

Assignment 3 due Sunday, April 23, 2017

Week 14: Evangelizing Analytics

Assignment 4 due Sunday, May 7, 2017

Week 15: The Future of Analytics

Objectives
 Create a marketing dashboard to meet the needs of a data-driven organization
Understand predictive analytics role in marketing
Create a plan for meeting an organizations analytics needs over the course of several years