10x Tigers Take First in the Omniture Web Analytics Competition

Tom Dalton and Tom LeBaron spend a lot of time at 10x Marketing, an Internet Marketing company located in Orem, UT, where they work respectively as the director of Research and Development and as a Client Account Specialist.  Dalton and LeBaron have something else in common--they both are students at Brigham Young University, where Dalton is currently pursuing an MA in Mass Communications and LeBaron studies Business Management with an emphasis in marketing.  Dalton also teaches advanced web design at BYU, instructing students in advanced methods of website design and marketing techniques. 

It was while working on an internship assignment at BYU that LeBaron came across an online banner ad, advertising the Omniture Web Analytics competition sponsored by the Rollins Center for eBusiness, which is a vital part of the BYU Marriott School of Business.  LeBaron says the following in regards to his initial impressions of the competition, “I thought it [the competition] would be a fun way to use the skills that I have been working to develop at 10x Marketing.  At 10x we often use SiteCatalyst [an Omniture product] to analyze our clients’ websites and I felt that the competition would be a chance to hone my skills in a different environment.”

LeBaron invited Dalton to participate in the competition as well, since Dalton has real-world experience with conversion rate enhancement analysis.  Dalton agreed that the challenge would be an enjoyable one.

The Object of the Game
The main challenge of the competition was to take one of Omniture’s clients, HobbyTron, analyze their website and create a business presentation, with no more than three group members, that would clearly focus on the optimization of the HobbyTron website. 

The judging criteria for the competition went as follows:

1)      Establishing key objectives and success metrics  25%

2)      Analysis of factors impacting the success metrics  30%

3)      Recommendations of key opportunities for eBusiness improvement  30%

4)      Professional tone and communications skills in the presentation  15%

Dalton and LeBaron won first place honors in the competition, $2,500 and the opportunity to interview with Omniture.  Both have chosen to stay with 10x Marketing in order to help other companies achieve solid Internet marketing results. (Bad news for Omniture - good news for 10x and its clients).  "I find a great deal of satisfaction helping 10x clients to grow their business," explains Dalton. 

LeBaron attributes the 10x Tigers' success to their focused and easy-to-follow presentation.  Dalton says they also tried to emphasize the fact that improving a website is a process and not just a one-time event.  At any rate, “I think we did what we set out to do,” Dalton says.