When you think about data-driven marketing, it’s almost inevitable that your next thought is Google Analytics. That’s how powerful this tool is for people who know how to leverage it for data collection.
When building a marketing strategy, a few things are as important as customer data. With the right tools by your side, collecting this data and putting it to use is much easier. Think of Google Analytics as the Robin to your Batman — but, in this scenario, Batman doesn’t require millions to achieve his goals — just this article on how to collaborate with Robin better.
And if you need professional help to get to your digital marketing destination, then Spring Tide Digital is ready to become your Batmobile. But for now, let’s leave the superhero metaphors behind and talk more in-depth about building a data-driven marketing strategy with Google Analytics.
How to Master Google Analytics in 7 Steps
This is how you employ Google Analytics in your marketing efforts:
1. Set Up and Configure Your Account
Google Analytics may provide a wealth of useful data and insights, but only once it has been correctly set up and configured. The basic steps for integrating Google Analytics into your website are as follows:
- Follow the on-screen instructions to set up a Google Analytics account and a new Analytics property for your website using your existing Google account;
- Put in the tracking number to begin gathering data. To achieve this, you may either hardcode the Google Tag into your website’s header or, for greater flexibility and future-proofing, use Google Tag Manager;
- Data retention, reporting identification, user permissions, and account filters are only a few of the critical settings that should be reviewed and modified. To ensure the reliability of your website statistics, it is crucial to implement filters that block internal traffic;
- Define the objectives you want to measure, such as form submissions, newsletter sign-ups, or ecommerce transactions, by creating events and setting conversions in Google Analytics.
2. Get Familiar With The Dashboard
You can start using Google Analytics once you’ve created an account and implemented the tracking code. The dashboard is the hub of your account and gives you a bird’s eye perspective of how things are going with your website.
Visitor counts, session durations, and bounce rates are just some of the key indicators that can be viewed on the dashboard. You can get a feel for how well your website is doing and how people are interacting with it thanks to these indicators.
3. Explore Reports
It’s time to delve into the reports in Google Analytics once you’ve set up your property and have some data collected. Discover the ins and outs of the reports and dig into the essential basic reports for information you can use.
Learn more about where your website visitors are coming from and what channels are most effective by analysing acquisition reports. Make use of this data to refine your marketing strategies and set priorities.
Examine the paths people travel across your site and the activities they do with the help of engagement reports. Use this information to pinpoint problem areas in the customer journey and enhance the user experience.
Monetization reports let you keep tabs on your online shop’s sales and traffic, as well as customer behaviour during the buying process. Put this data to work keeping tabs on inventory and making informed business moves.
User Attribute and Technology Reports can help you learn more about the demographic data, interests, geography, and technology preferences of your target audience. Apply the information in these reports to your content and messaging to increase engagement.
4. Set Goals
Setting objectives for your website is a powerful feature of Google Analytics. An objective is the final result you wish to achieve with your website marketing campaigns, such as a sale or a newsletter signup.
By creating goals, you can measure how well your site is functioning in terms of reaching your objectives. If you want to examine how your site’s conversion rate evolves, you can monitor things like the number of users who make purchases.
5. Perform Data Analysis
Now that you’re all set up, let the data analysis begin. Understanding the data requires zeroing in on the KPIs that matter for your company.
Metrics like user retention rate, average session time, and the number of app installations are all very important to keep an eye on while administering a mobile app, for example. If you’re running a social networking account, you must pay attention to things like user interaction, post visibility, and account growth.
After settling on the key metrics that matter for your company, you can begin mining the information for insights.
6. Generate Custom Reports
As you gain experience with Google Analytics, you could find that the default reports don’t supply enough data, or they present it in a way that’s not helpful for your specific needs. These problems may be resolved with the help of personalised exploration reports that allow you to provide data in a format that best suits your needs.
A social media campaign’s audience engagement, post reach, and conversion rates can all be the subject of a personalised exploration report. To make sure your social media efforts mesh perfectly with your company goals, this custom analysis can help you hone in on content ideas, zero in on high-performing campaigns, and maximise marketing spend.
7. Segment Your Data
One of the aspects of Google Analytics that marketing teams love most is the ability to employ segments. To zero in on a specific portion of your site visitors, you can create a “segment” of that data. You can divide your audience into subsets based on their actions, such as their referral source or whether they completed a purchase.
Segmenting your site’s users allows you to learn more about how different demographics interact with your site. You may use this data to refine your website’s offerings and better reach your intended audience.
Bonus Step: Let Spring Tide Digital Help
Marketing decisions are much easier to make when you know your advisors are professionals with vast experience and your best interest in mind. Complete your data-driven marketing tools with a team dedicated to your success and watch your business reap the benefits. Contact us and let’s start building data-driven marketing strategies together!
