So why is Google Analytics so important to your business? For a completely free analytics package, the benefits of using Google Analytics are impressive. The potential to see where the buying cycle of your customer starts and finishes used to be a marketing holy grail and is now available at your fingertips.
Attribute your marketing budget to the channels that deliver conversions
Through multi channel analytics you can delve all the way to the source of your customer, the keywords they used to find you and the process they followed to make a purchase. For example, though Google Adwords you can track the last click for the conversion but potentially many conversions may begin with Adwords but then finish through direct traffic. Up until this point you have attributed the conversion to direct traffic, not PPC. However now armed with this information you can increase your PPC budget as you know it will translate into transactions later down the line.
Define how long your buying cycle is
Another important feature added to Analytics is understanding the time lag from a visit to a sale. In all businesses, we make our own assumptions about the time it takes a customer to decide to buy but with the new time lag report, it gives it to you in black and white. This then gives you the ability to target your CRM strategy and remarketing strategy to coincide with the buying pattern of your customer meaning that you can increase the efficiency of your marketing budget.
Pinpoint where your customers are coming from
Do you advertise through PPC? If you do, you know that the costs seem to be escalating on a monthly basis so understanding how the customer interacts with you is vital eg through a mobile phone, a tablet, a PC and on what device. For example, you may have an overall conversion rate of 2% on your website but mobile users are not converting at all. Without looking at the audience mobile report, you would not be able to gain that insight and then be able to divert your budget in a better way.
Remember Google Analytics is free and gives you fantastic opportunities to explore and increase your company’s revenue no matter how big or how small you are. It is important to understand the data and then use it properly to make sure that you see the best results possible. If your website converts then it gives you the opportunity to compete and grow your business. If it doesn’t convert and you are not using Google Analytics, start today! You are guaranteed to be surprised, illuminated and better informed.
