Using Analytics to Tackle Your 4 Biggest Marketing Problems

When you’re sick, you probably go to the doctor to find out what’s wrong, right? You don’t simply guess at what might be the problem and hope for the best. Marketing your business is no different. Taking a shot in the dark at what works and what doesn’t without properly examining each process and campaign is sure to end badly. That’s why analytics are so important. By understanding what is generating leads, and more importantly what is happening to those leads once they reach you, you can maximize your chance of converting browsers into paying customers.

Let’s take a look at how good analytics can help you tackle four of your biggest marketing concerns.

Problem #1: I don’t know what content will work and what won’t. Should I just guess?

Marketing on the internet is a science. To truly make the most out of your web activities, you must optimize your interactions so that when someone searches online for a business like yours, it’s your company that will show up at the top of those results. This is done through search engine optimization. A number of reputable sites, like SEO Moz, offer some fantastic (and better yet – free) SEO keyword tools to help you with your targeted keyword analytics. Once you understand exactly what words and terms your audience is using when they’re conducting searches, you’ll know precisely what words and terms to use throughout your site, blog and social media interactions to best capitalize on them.

Problem #2: Something’s wrong but I have no clue how to figure out what it is.

Successful marketing is about more than just designing and implementing a plan. It’s also about being able to recognize when there’s a kink in that plan that may be threatening to derail the entire operation. Otherwise you risk throwing away valuable marketing dollars on things that simply aren’t producing results. Using closed-loop analytics to examine the entire marketing process, from lead to conversion, you can identify what areas of your marketing funnel need work. For example, perhaps you’re getting a ton of traffic but very few conversions. This could mean that you’re focusing your marketing efforts on the wrong areas, so the wrong traffic is being driven to your site. Fix this and you’re back in business without wasting valuable time guessing at what the problem might be.

Problem #3: I’m using social media, but I have no idea how to measure the results.

One of the biggest myths about social media marketing is that ROI can’t be accurately measured. That’s simply not true. In fact, most of the popular platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, allow you to access detailed analytics information about your activities, which you can use to integrate with the other web analytics you are conducting to see the big picture. This helps you narrow down which interactions are producing the best results. Using tools like Google Analytics you can track which social media channels are generating the most traffic, and then narrow it down by specific campaign to further analyze the results.

Problem #4: I know I can track my leads online but I have no way of tracking offline leads.

We say ‘nay, nay’ to this! With tools like our Google Analytics Integration tool, you can now take the guesswork out of your offline advertising campaigns and ROI calculations. You can gather detailed call tracking information to learn exactly how many of your leads were generated through which channels, allowing you to focus your efforts (and marketing budget) on those methods that you know for certain are working. Now you can combine both your online and offline analytics to get “whole picture” results.

If you want to truly understand how your marketing activities are performing (and you should, or you’re most certainly losing money), analytics can help you do so and provide solutions to just about all of your marketing problems. By accurately measuring your results, you’ll be able to maximize your efforts to achieve the best possible return on your investment.

Labels: how to improve marketing performance, marketing, small business tips