By now, you’re probably aware of the relationship between data and marketing—whether you’ve simply heard someone mention Google Analytics before, or you’re a full-blown veteran running daily split and conversion tests. The importance of data and data collection has become such common knowledge that almost every business owner and marketer is running tests and using either Google Analytics or an equivalent…
But when something like data collection becomes so popular and “automatic”, it can be easy to forget why you’re doing it—sometimes, you just know you should be doing it. Bill McMurray, Managing Director of Qualtrics APAC, says that “Website analytics can tell you a great deal about what happened, but not why those things happened.”
And the “why” is the most crucial component. If you’re just doing something because the experts are saying you should, but you don’t understand the why behind it, there’s a problem.
First, if you’re collecting data and analytics, you need to understand exactly how that should affect your marketing strategy. You need to have a plan for it before you collect it. What specifically are you looking for? Ask yourself, “What am I going to do with my findings?”
For instance, if traffic is higher on Wednesdays than any other day, you need to know how to use that information within your marketing algorithm:
Not enough conversion, but plenty of traffic? Post the hard sells on Wednesdays. Not enough traffic, but converting well? Post valuable freebies on Wednesday. Not enough of either? Maybe try running a split test to see which results in better results.
But while it’s important to understand the “why” behind your actions, what might be even more important is to understand the why behind your prospect’s actions.
Why is the traffic higher on Wednesdays? What possible factors could be leading to that result? Investigate, and you may find an audience insight that makes the difference between bankruptcy and true wealth.
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