Generating a marketing strategy from scratch can be REALLY tough. I do it every day and I still struggle sometimes. If you want to be successful, you need a starting place. For some people, a marketing strategy template will do the job. For others, however, a more detailed strategy is necessary. When that’s the case, you should start building your marketing strategy from quantifiable results of past efforts.
To do this, you can look at past sales data or CRM data, but probably the most universal source of information for marketers is Google Analytics, so I recommend starting there.
Introduction: Google Analytics For Dummies
“But Tim, I don’t know anything about Google Analytics!!”
It’s okay. Take a deep breath.
First and foremost, you don’t need to be a Google Analytics whiz to figure out how to manage the platform. While Google Analytics has robust capabilities, you really only need to understand a few when you’re getting started with your marketing strategy. You may not be an expert, but if you learn the following components of Google Analytics, you’ll know enough to be dangerous.
- Audience: BEFORE YOU CLICK ON THE AUDIENCE TAB, PLEASE REPEAT THE FOLLOWING FIVE TIMES: “I only care about the overview.” The Audience tab can be very intimidating to new users because there’s SO MUCH you can look at. Demographics? Interests? Behavior? Shiny objects! Ignore these. Just focus on the overview. This will give you plenty of information to inform your marketing strategy.
Look at the past year of site data organized by month. Use this data to provide yourself with a baseline expectation. What do your average sessions each month look like? What about the percent of new visitors? Bounce rate? Do you see any unusual peaks or valleys in the number of sessions or page views?
- Acquisition: In my opinion, this is the best way to determine what mediums you want to focus on. Click on Acquisition and go to “All Traffic > Channels” This will give you a look at where your web traffic comes from. Dive into each channel individually. What trends do you see? Is there one medium that stands out from the others? Use this information to determine where you want to focus your energy.
- Behavior: Finally, what content is important? The behavior tab will help you determine this. By going to “Behavior > Site Content > All Pages,” you can see which items are drawing the most traffic and which items are drawing the least. From there, you can generate a content calendar that revolves around the content that you already know your target audience wants to read.
Once you’ve mastered these basics, you’ve got enough information to craft a smart digital marketing strategy for your brand.
What Figures in Google Analytics Can I Use in My Marketing Strategy?
This is probably the most common question I get on Google Analytics. “Tim, what ONE METRIC should I look at?” The truth of the matter is that there isn’t ONE metric that reigns supreme, and because everyone’s business goals are different, everyone’s measurements will be different. That said, here are some of the key figures that I focus on when measuring success for my digital brands:
- Sessions/Month
- Pages/Session
- Average Session Duration
- Sessions/Month From Organic Search
- Sessions/Month From Social
- Sessions/Month From Email
In my experience, if you’re tracking these numbers every month, it’s easy to get an accurate snapshot of what’s working and what’s not working within your marketing efforts.
Drawing Accurate Conclusions From Google Analytics
If there’s one thing that marketers can learn from politicians, it’s this: Numbers can say anything you want them to say. With that in mind, how can you use Google Analytics to draw accurate conclusions, instead of providing a biased or slanted view of what’s going on? Here are a few things I like to focus on to ensure my data is accurate:
- Make Notes Around Big Events: If you’ve ever had a blog blow up or “go viral,” you’ve surely seen the “viral bump” that happens to your traffic. We saw it here when we merged companies to become MilesHerndon. On one day, we saw a GIANT spike in traffic, and as nice as that is, it throws off our future reporting because it would be totally unfair to measure ourselves against that traffic the next month. By clicking the little arrow below your analytics graph you can add annotations to help you remember why peaks and valleys happen so you’re accounting for outliers in your reporting.
- Look Through At Least 3 Lenses: Sometimes, one view can be deceptive, that’s why I always like to look at my Google Analytics through three different lenses: Sessions, Page Views and Unique Sessions. Sessions is the default option, but what happens if you see a giant decrease in bounce rate, meaning users are viewing more pages? Sessions won’t account for this, but Page Views will. Is your traffic coming from new people or returning visitors? Unique Sessions will help answer that question.
- Cite Your Sources: Before I finish any Analytics reporting, I always ask myself “What are my traffic sources doing independently?” Maybe organic search is growing like crazy while social is tanking. If I don’t look at my sources independently, I won’t know where to focus my energy.
Do you have questions about leveraging Google Analytics in your marketing strategy? If so, we can help! Reach out to us or fill out the form below to get a FREE digital marketing strategy template!
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