Tag: analytics

Categories
Analytics

What I Learned from Analysing 500 New Users Using Google Analytics

An image to capture attention from reader

Hi everyone! It’s been quite a while since we had a new analytics post. This time, we are doing some analytics on our own website here at https://tanweixiang.com/. Over the past two months, we have gained close to 500 new users, and therefore we decided to curate this special post as a reward to show some behind the scenes web analytics.

Do read this post, click around, share it, for us to have more complex data to be analysed in future!

A quick overview of Google Analytics, there are some general reports on Audience, Acquisition, Behaviour and Conversions. Audience is basically who views our posts. Acquisition answers the question on how we get the audience. Behaviour answers questions on what content our audience may be more interested in. We would not be writing about conversions as we have not researched too much into this yet.

The types of reports available on Google Analytics.

Audience

1. Most of our Audience are from Singapore.

For the past two months, Top 3 Audience are from Singapore, United States and Hong Kong.

For the past two months, our top 3 Audience are from Singapore, United States and Hong Kong. It is aligned with our expectations as the content is mostly tailor made for Singapore, and shared through social media accounts with a high Singapore following.

2. Most of our Audience access the website with a Mobile Phone or Tablet.

Top 3 Systems used are Android, iOS and Windows.

From this, we found out that 80% of our audience access the website using a mobile phone or tablet. Therefore, we know that it is important to keep our system optimised for mobile phones and tablets, which typically have a smaller screen size than laptops and desktops.

Acquisition

1. While Largely Driven by Social Media, We have grown a Direct Audience and Achieved some SEO.

About a third of our audience comes through direct and search engine traffic.

While social media remains the key to some of the post traffic, we are heartened that there is also a large amount of organic traffic coming in. With this, we feel more confident in curating original content for great readers like you.

While we’re at this, do take a look at one of our posts which may have been missed on:

Key Takeaways from my In-office turned Work-from-Home Internship

2. Our Top Social Media Traffic is LinkedIn, While Instagram Follows Closely Behind

Linkedin, Instagram and Facebook are our top 3 social media.

LinkedIn remains as the top source where users visit. A key possibility is that the blog attract more readers in the Business sector. Being a blog on Analytics, Innovation, Marketing and Management, this is consistent with the expected audience. Instagram remains close behind as student content also drives some of the traffic for the website.

Behaviour

1. Our Readers Tend to stay on Each Page for 1.5 Minutes.

The average time each user spends on a page.

1.5 minutes is the current duration our readers tend to spend on a page. The implication could be that the content may or may not be interesting enough, or just the vast sea of content all around and there is not enough time to read through everything. When we manage our own digital posts, we could try to benchmark on how long to post, in order to ensure that the attention span of the audience is not overlooked.

2. Our Top Pages includes the Root Domain, as well as posts catered to Business School/ University Life

Our top 3 posts, as well as our main page.

This summary of views by page title indicates the content which interests readers more. A good blog post generates great viewership, this is why we will continue to curate posts which interest you as the reader.

That is all for the analysis for today! Hope you enjoyed, do follow us on our channels, we only have linkedin so far! https://www.linkedin.com/company/tanweixiang/

To read some of our top posts, do click the links below:

https://tanweixiang.com/ntu-nbs-internship-hunting-guide-tips-from-an-nbs-graduate-with-3-mnc-internship-experiences/
https://tanweixiang.com/three-reasons-why-i-picked-a-specialisation-in-business-analytics-at-nanyang-business-school/
Nanyang Business School: Business Analytics Module Selection Guide
Categories
Analytics Marketing

Which Major to Pick? Business Analytics vs Marketing (Ex-NBS Student)

As a recent business graduate, I was once faced with the choice to select my specialisation in business school. Two of the most important contenders being Business Analytics and Marketing. For the record, I have taken 6 Business Analytics Modules in Nanyang Business School, 1 Marketing Module in Nanyang Business School, and 2 Marketing Modules during my exchange at ESSEC Business School in France. I eventually decided after my first year to specialise in Business Analytics. I shall do a one by one comparison by features so you could make the informed choice in knowing what you want to specialise in.

Career Prospects

Let’s face it, most of us come to business school with the intention to focus on our careers. This shall be the first point which I will focus on.

As a Business Analytics Graduate, what I observed is that Business Analytics Students are very versatile. A large proportion would decide to go into Banking, Technology and Consulting related roles as business analysts, data analysts, financial analysts, operations analysts, marketing analysts, human resource analysts, etc. There would also be a certain proportion who will end up in leadership programmes organised by the various multinational companies due to the fluid nature of analytics being applicable to many walks in management!

For Marketing Students, classmates who I have met tend to be interested in a variety of careers. A significant portion would aim to go into the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) or Retail sector, or into Marketing Agencies, focusing on branding, trade marketing, social media, e-commerce, sales among many other possible roles. There would also be some students who move on to B2B marketing, non-profit organisations or Human Resources. Marketing also similarly can be applied to many walks in management and are also highly sought after by leadership programmes.

Be it whether you’re a Business Analytics or Marketing Student, this post may be relevant for you!

https://tanweixiang.com/ntu-nbs-internship-hunting-guide-tips-from-an-nbs-graduate-with-3-mnc-internship-experiences/

Quantitative Content

For Business Analytics, the quantitative content tends to be the massive amount of coding involved. I have personally been involved in Python, SQL, R, SAS, Tableau, PowerBI, Excel projects among many others. It is also important to understand the underlying assumptions behind each of the statistical models which are used when doing analysis. Some of the models include regressions, decision trees, linear and non linear programming, association rules etc. This content is generally more applicable to the wide business context.

For Marketing, there is some quantitative content. I shall use the example of the marketing module which I took in NTU, Marketing Analytics, where we did a variety of analysis, with perceptual mapping, Customer Lifetime Value Calculations, Regressions, Conjoint Analysis. This content is more specific to the marketing and management context.

Qualitative Content

For Business Analytics, there is a focus on problem solving approaches, problem formulation, analysis and conclusion, along with recommendations. It is a rather standard but important framework.

For Marketing, there is more qualitative content, including creative problem solving, connecting the dots between the theory and practice.

Classmates

For Business Analytics, in Nanyang Technological University, there is a good mix of classmates, with a third of the cohort being students who take computing classes. This means that you could learn from the computing perspective, coupled with your own business knowledge.

For Marketing, classes tend to be majority business students, with a sprinkle of social science students occasionally. There will likely be more knowledge exchange while in class and expect class participation to be extremely exciting!

Tutors

For Business Analytics, tutors tend to come from a variety of fields, with some who have a mathematical and programming background, and others with business management and consulting backgrounds.

For Marketing, tutors tend to come mainly from the business management sector, specifically in the consumer business industries.

Mode of Assessment

For Business Analytics, the mode of assessment is commonly group project heavy, with it taking up a majority of the semester time even outside of class, as well as some quizzes. Out of my 6 modules, only one had a formal final examination, and every module had at least one project deliverable.

For Marketing, the key focus is on in class activities, quizzes and final examinations. Besides some readings and exam preparation, most of the learning is done inside of the classroom while interacting with one another. You may have a bit more of a work life balance while doing marketing modules, but they definitely require in classroom attendance.

This is my two cents worth when comparing Business Analytics and Marketing!

Follow me on my newest journey of Adult learning in marketing:

Why I decided to return to University while Working Full Time

Do read this article for why I took Business Analytics.

https://tanweixiang.com/three-reasons-why-i-picked-a-specialisation-in-business-analytics-at-nanyang-business-school/

For more on how to maximise your business school experience,

Make the Most Out of Your Business School Experience (NTU Nanyang Business School Graduate)

Photo Credits: Photo by Samson on Unsplash

Categories
Analytics

General and Unrestricted Electives Guide – From NBS Business (Business Analytics) Graduate

Took 26au (9 Courses) of Unrestricted Electives, more than twice of the required amount!
Took 26au (9 Courses) of Unrestricted Electives, more than twice of the required amount!

You have read about what to take in the Business Analytics Specialisation in NBS, you would also notice that there is a lot of General and Unrestricted Electives which would need to be done as part of the curriculum. There are many choices and it might be difficult to make a choice. (I experienced this first hand and ended up overloading unrestricted electives to more than twice the requirement.) I am here to help you plan your electives.

Study a Minor

One of the things about studying in a leading university like Nanyang Technological University is the chance to take a minor programme. As of writing, there is over 40 minors for students to choose from. Here are some minors which I feel would be complementary to the Business programme at Nanyang Business School.

Minor in Entrepreneurship

To complement my Business Analytics degree, I decided to take up a Minor in Entrepreneurship programme, where I was given the opportunity to start my own business with a team consisting of students from both Business and Engineering. Business and Entrepreneurship is complementary as there is a slightly different perspective when working for a business and running your own business. A key takeaway which I had was the ownership of the outcome of business decisions which my team and I had to make over the course of the whole minor. It was especially satisfying to make a profit after overcoming many hardships.

Minor in Environmental Sustainability

I did not manage to take this minor but it was one of my minors in consideration. In this world where sustainability is growing in importance by consumers, an environmental sustainability minor would expose business students to ethical decision making, and taking into account the true cost of business decisions. I took one module in this minor, AB0502 MANAGING SUSTAINABILITY, where I had the chance to come out with a business plan to revive the dying Peranakan culture in Singapore.

Minor in Strategic Communications

I was a bit too late when I wanted to do this minor, it was only offered at the point of admission to NTU. This would be a very useful minor for those who have to deal with interactions with people (basically most business majors have to.). Would not elaborate too much on this as I did not get exposed to any of the modules, do comment below if you took this minor and would like to share you experience!

Study Related Modules

Another way you can use your electives is to study modules related to your major. As a business student, there is only 6 specialisation modules which you are required to take on, which may not be enough knowledge, especially if you want to learn the many other aspects in Business. As a Business Analytics Student, my interest in management has prompted me to take on electives in Marketing, as well as Programming, as I feel that these would aid me in being a more rounded business graduate! No matter what your specialisation is, I strongly encourage you to at least try a module or two outside of the specialisation. For all you know, you might realise that the other specialisation may be more interesting to you!

Do Modules on Exchange

If you had the chance to go for exchange, you would realise that the lessons conducted while on exchange may be in an entirely different format from how lessons are at NTU and NBS. Some schools have specific specialties, for instance in ESSEC Business School where I went for exchange, there was a strong focus in marketing and entrepreneurship, therefore I decided to take up related modules to gain a world view in the world class institution for the subject matter. Engaging with the foreign students on exchange also challenged my perspective on things and developed me as a person.

Try Something Different

If the former three options don’t suit your taste, why not try something different? You could learn a new language, play a new sport, or take up art classes. With so many schools in NTU, I’m sure you will find electives which will interest you!

[NEW] MOOC Courses

Recently, Nanyang Technological University has allowed for credit transfer of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) from e-learning content providers like Coursera and EdX. I have personally tried some e-learning from them but not the approved courses for NTU. For more information do refer here! Do read about my MOOC experience here:

Reflections from 3 Months of Distance Learning on Coursera

If you liked this post, you might also need help with an analytics module choice:

Nanyang Business School: Business Analytics Module Selection Guide

Otherwise, here is a general picture of why I took up a specialisation in business analytics:

https://tanweixiang.com/three-reasons-why-i-picked-a-specialisation-in-business-analytics-at-nanyang-business-school/

Do read other Analytics related posts here!

I have also come out with a Tier List of Modules in NTU NBS on Youtube, do take a look here!