BY NORVIN EITZEN
Have you ever been overwhelmed by the mountains of data derived from your marketing operations? It might be that you are so overwhelmed, and so busy, that you take an ignorance is bliss approach, choosing to have faith that the clicks are coming so it must be working.
Have faith—you’re not alone. In fact, many of the business owners we consult with are completely honest with us and that they don’t have the time or desire to jump in the marketing data game. In the end, marketing data is full of possible insights about your business operations. And without a proper map, it’s simple to get lost. Think Tokyo without Google Maps. Without getting into technical mumbo jumbo, let’s take a leisurely stroll around the realm of analytics at a high level to see how they can work wonders for your company.
Understanding the Wealth of Data:
Think of your marketing data as a treasure trove. Every visit to your website, every click on your ad, and every share on social media adds a coin to the hoard. This data is a literal goldmine–who’s interested in your services, which of your posts resonate with your target audiences, or how many eyeballs your digital ads are reaching. It’s not just about big vanity numbers (e.g. pageviews); it’s about meaningful clues on how to win the game of customer attraction.
The Challenge for Businesses:
Like most busy businesses, you’re busy steering the ship. Taking a detour into the “Sea of Data” might seem like not only a daunting task, but something that we don’t really have time to deal with right now. Many business owners are in the same boat (or ship rather), thinking it requires some sort of data scientist on staff, or some shady SEO guy that keeps spamming us with messages. But what if you and your team could easily translate that data into simple, actionable insights? That’s the real magic we’re after. A way to identify the most meaningful data that will give us that low-hanging ROI.
Key Analytics Every Business Should Monitor:
Even if you’re not that tech-savvy, there are a few data quick-wins that can give you an indication of how healthy your digital footprint is. For example, how many new visitors are exploring your website over a certain time frame? What’s the average time they’re spending on it? Are they producing conversions like filling out contact forms or downloading your resources? Overall, these are simple things to look at regularly if everything is set up properly.
- Engaged Sessions: gone are the days of page views – Google Analytics 4 (GA4) tracks session engagement so we are only looking at users that are actually doing something.
- Conversions: make sure that key events (downloads, forms) are being properly tracked as conversions.
- Pages and screens: be sure to watch the content that is getting the most attention. Make sure people are getting to the right content that is going to drive ROI.
- Traffic acquisition: watch how people are getting to your site. This will give clues whether to beef up advertising or organic channels.
These are just some of the key data points that you should monitor, but there are many many more. It’s important to tailor your marketing data reporting to meet the needs of your business.
From Data to Strategy: Real-Life Applications:
Here’s where things get interesting. Imagine you find out that most of your website visitors are dropping by on weekday evenings? You could use this tidbit of juicy marketing data to time your online customer service for those hours, right? Or say you notice a particular blog post that is getting lots of attention from organic channels. Why not create a series on that topic? Small observations in the Sea of Data can lead to big wins in customer engagement.
Tools and Solutions for Analytics:
You don’t need a toolbox filled with confusing gadgets to make sense of your data. There are friendly, easy-to-use tools out there designed with you, the busy business owner, in mind. These tools can automatically track and sort your data, leaving you with clear charts and graphs instead of spreadsheets full of numbers. Make sure you have these setup at a minimum, you wouldn’t believe how many businesses we come across that have no clue.
- Google Analytics (GA4) – a free tool from Google. Just pop in a few lines of code into your website and you are off to the races. Graphs, charts, literally everything is in here.
- Google Search Console – another free one that allows you to see what people are searching for on Google (and partners) in order to reach your site. Don’t underestimate the power of organic search.
- Google Tag Manager (GTM) – this tool allows you to really hone in on specific events on your website and capture very specific conversions. We use this often to measure specific phone numbers interactions and email link clicks.
- Ads Integration – if you are using ad platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn, etc., make sure that the data from these platforms is properly streaming back to GA4.
Partnering for Success:
Sometimes, a few heads are better than one, especially when it comes to sifting through data. Better yet, a few heads that have navigated marketing analytics tools before are even better yet. If your business really doesn’t want to get involved in setting up all these tools and figuring out what to report on, outsourcing to a digital marketing agency can take the pressure off your shoulders. A good digital agency can handle regular data interpretation and advise on the next steps for your business’s marketing strategy.
Data analytics doesn’t have to be a headache. It’s all about unlocking the stories behind the numbers and using those insights to make smart moves to improve your business.
Ready to turn data into results?
Get in touch with us for a friendly chat on how we can bring clarity to setting up your analytics tools and how analyzing your marketing numbers will help your business thrive.