View Report Page HERE.

This page provides an overview of: (1) Which broad source categories bring traffic to the site in comparison to one another. (2) Which source categories drive the most sessions and which sources have the highest views per session, indicating user engagement levels (i.e., which source drives the multiple page visits within a single session). 

View Report Page HERE.

The first pie chart showcases traffic by default channel group; Organic Search accounts for the majority of Harper’s BAZAAR site traffic. The scorecards call out Organic Social traffic, which accounts for 7.55% of total sessions, and Paid Social traffic, which accounts for 1.55% of total sessions.

The third scoreboard showcases Organic Social views per session in comparison to Paid Social views per session – Organic Social garners 1.3% less views per Session than Paid Social, which sits at 1.13 average views per session. 

Therefore, there is not a drastic difference in engagement when visitors come from Organic vs. Paid Social posts. However, without clarity on the amount spent on Paid Social, this metric is less effective and not as informative. With access to the amount spent on Paid Social, it aids in understanding the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of Paid Social campaigns.

By looking at these stats, the team is able to evaluate whether the money spent on Paid Social is justified by the incremental increase in traffic and pages viewed per session, compared to the Organic Social driven traffic. By analyzing the return on investment (ROI) of Paid Social campaigns, the team can make more informed decisions on budget allocation, allowing them to further optimize their marketing strategies to balance cost and reach effectively (i.e., should we be investing in more paid social? Or would it be money better spent if it were invested into organic social content?).

This page reveals further details into: (1) Traffic by Default Channel Group – via a pie chart (2)Organic Social Traffic driven by each respective source (i.e., social channel) and medium (i.e., type of traffic)– via a pie chart.

I then break the second pie chart down further: (2a) Organic Social Source (i.e., Facebook, Instagram, etc.) average views per session – via a chart, (2b) The portion of sessions each Organic Social source (i.e. Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) accounts for – via a pie chart, and (2c) The percentage of Organic Social traffic driven by each medium (i.e., social, referral, etc.) – via a pie chart.

View Report Page HERE.

This page highlights 4 charts, that of which consist of: (1) May Organic Social Metrics, (2) June Organic Social Metrics, (3) May Other Source Metrics, and (4) June Other Source Metrics. 

These charts illuminate which Session Source/Medium drives the greatest total sessions or highest average views per session within a respective month and source channel(s).

Alongside these charts, multiple scorecards dive deeper into the chart data and provide insight into Organic Social, Other Source, and Overall traffic driven performance over time. 

In June, there was a 18.6% decrease in total Organic Social sessions vs. the month prior and a 1% decrease in Organic Social views per session in June vs. May. In June, there was a 1.5% increase in total Other Source (i.e., excluding Organic Social) sessions vs. the month prior, and there was a 0.9% Increase in Other Source views per session in June vs. May. 

The significant decrease in Organic Social sessions (18.6%), and 1% decrease in views per session, indicates that visitors were less likely to explore additional pages when coming from organic social sources in June vs. May. 

After determining this downtrend is unique to Organic Social, and not a cross-channel trend, it is important to thoroughly investigate the cause of this decrease. Look for changes in: (1) social media algorithms, (2) content strategy, or (3) audience behavior and/or engagement. 

In May, Google Organic Search & Direct Traffic were the top sources - driving a majority of sessions and a high views per session ratio. In June, these sources continued to perform well, with notable increases in Direct Traffic sessions (+68%).  Google search and articles are optimized for SEO, even when content is not sponsored or paid, therefore, it may be beneficial to optimize social content similarly. 

As reported by eMarketer, “Nearly one in four (24%) of respondents primarily use social media for searches… 46% of Generation Z and 35% of millennials prefer social media over traditional search engines.” Therefore, as more consumers continue to use social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook as search engines, it has become increasingly important to structure and optimize social content in a way that remains engaging, but is also beneficial in relation to SEO and search capabilities. 

View Report Page HERE.

This page of the report is dedicated to understanding which site sections are driving traffic to the site(i.e., what site content users gravitate towards - within Organic Social specifically).

The pie chart and chart on the left side of the page reveal that Harper’s BAZAAR’s “Celebrity” section drives the majority of sessions overall at 56.9%, accounting for 11,278,629 sessions, and has one of the strongest average views per session at 1.21. 

This page revealed: (1) Celebrity Section: 6.2% less Organic Social views per session vs. Other Source views per session, (2) BAZAAR Bride Section: 2.5% more Organic Social views per session vs. Other Source views per session, (3) Beauty Section: 3% less Organic Social views per session compared to Other Source views per session, (4) Fashion Section: 3.8% les Organic Social views per session vs. Other Source views per session, and (5) Culture Section: 1.5% more Organic Social views per session vs. Other Source views per session

*Note: These deficits for Organic Social become worse when looking at June data alone – Culture becomes 1.7% less views per session and BAZAAR Bride’s increase narrows to 1%. Moreover, the other 3 site sections experienced a greater decrease in views per session.  

While the "Celebrity" section drives the greatest number of sessions on Organic Social, its views per session ratio is not as strong compared to the overall views-per-session ratio for "Celebrity" – this indicates that when users are organically arriving at the “Celebrity” site section from Social, they are less likely to engage with multiple pages on the site compared to those who come from Other Sources.  

View Report Page HERE.

After breaking down the traffic sources and site sections, this fifth and final page is dedicated to understanding how specific site sections trend on specific Social platforms. The chart and graphs can be filtered allowing one to investigate which sections tend to trend the best on each platform, or vice versa. The upper time series graph displays average views per session over time (i.e., May to June) and includes the dimension of Site Sections. The bottom time series graph displays average views per session over time (i.e., May to June) and includes the dimension of Session Sources. 

This page reveals the Top Platforms for various Sections: 

• Celebrity – greatest traffic source is Facebook (921,695). Best average views per session ratio is Snapchat (1.5).

• Culture – greatest traffic source is Twitter (58,530). Best average views per session ratio is Pinterest (1.1).

• Fashion – greatest traffic source is Twitter (27,955). Best average views per session ratio is Pinterest (1.18). Increase in Views per Session from May to June. 

• Beauty – greatest traffic source is Twitter (13,163). Best average views per session ratio is Pinterest (1.19). Increase in Views per Session from May to June. 

• BAZAAR Bride – greatest traffic source is Twitter (5,009). Best average views per session ratio is Twitter (1.18).

How the respective platforms themselves are trending MoM, Organic Social performance: 

• Snapchat – 1.26 views per session to 1.17 views per session (~7% decrease)

• Pinterest – 1.16 views per session 1.22 views per session (~5% increase)

• Instagram – 1.14 views per session 1.12 views per session (~2% decrease) 

• Facebook – 1.1 views per session 1.09 views per session (~1% decrease)

• Twitter – 1.13 views per session 1.12 views per session (~1% decrease) 

Analyze what type of content trends well on each platform (i.e., short-form video, long-form video, text, image-only, mixed, etc.). 

Diving deeper into content and engagement is key. Understanding the current trends in content and user behavior will help develop a greater understanding as to what is contributing to the Organic Social decline in views per session, but will also help build a strategic path forward. 

• What formats perform well on each platform? What types of content generate the most sessions or greatest views per session ratio?  

Is Organic Social trending downwards? Now, post-report, we know a decline in Organic Social performance occurred on Harper’s BAZAAR, and we can therefore begin to investigate the specific factors that led to the decline of this performance such as: content types, posting times, posting volume, platform/algorithm updates, audience demographic change/shift, technical issues, conversion metrics, and engagement metrics. It is also necessary to investigate the flow of traffic – once people arrive on the site from a social media platform, why are people no longer venturing (as often) to other pages on the Harper’s BAZAAR site? Is it due to a technical issue? Is it due to lack of accessibility to similar content? 

*Social Media driven traffic is unique; often times social media users venture to the site to read the article they saw the post for, and then venture back to that social app afterwards. So, then comes the question of, how do you get people to venture beyond? Include links within the article to other similar articles? List similar articles directly below the end of the article? I believe this is an important question worth exploring and testing into further. 

*Adapt successful content formats and strategies from high-performing sections to those that are underperforming (i.e., use the format of high-traffic producing “Celebrity” content to improve “Fashion” section performance on Facebook).

*We want to replicate past success – whether that be on the same platform, in the same site section, on other platforms, or seen in other sources across the Organic Social channel group.