COMM310 Digital Media Metrics

Course description

This course is an introduction to the methods for collecting, analyzing and utilizing audience data for traditional and new media. The class will cover the fundamentals of traditional media audience analysis, web metrics, and social media metrics, specifically as they relate to audience measurement, advertising campaign evaluation and content distribution. Students will learn the methods of data collection, analysis and use for traditional broadcast media, and the transformation of these practices in the newly digitized and converged multiplatform, multiscreen environment. The course will also cover the basics of data capture for new media (at an appropriate technical level), and the use of this data for the design of metrics appropriate for various purposes such as monitoring traffic, conversions and revenue generation. The use of metrics in pricing models for advertising, sales generation and content distribution will also be covered. Students will be introduced to data sources for digital media audience analysis, with a special focus on Google Analytics. Students passing this class would be able to pass the Google Analytics Individual Qualification test.

Course objectives

1. Understand metrics and key performance indicators for web analytics and social media metrics; sources of data for new media, including web analytics platforms such as Google Analytics, online surveys and competitive intelligence.

2. Prepare students to take the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (GAIQ) certification exam.

3. Learn key skills such as quantification, basic statistical tests, reasoning with numbers, performance measurement and tracking, financial metrics.

4. The course is for students who intend to pursue careers in web analytics, digital analytics, social media analytics, or in new media departments of traditional content providers.