A Guide to Digital Marketing Analytics
Many would agree that digital is the future of marketing. Digital marketing is made up of many different components, including search engine optimization (SEO), social media, social media advertising, content marketing, and Google AdWords. With so many important areas to focus on, it can be difficult to know which areas to focus on and how to measure the success of digital marketing as a whole.
How can you know when a digital campaign is successful? One of the biggest advantages of digital marketing is the ability to analytically measure results and to track what’s working and what’s not. These are some of the most important metric factors to consider when analyzing a digital marketing campaign.
Impressions
Image via Flickr by Joe The Goat Farmer
Impressions can be synonymous with views. Impressions are times that your post, ad, or content is viewed; they are times the ad gets placed in front of people. While it’s a good idea to consider impressions, they should not be the only measurable factor when evaluating success.
The problem with impressions is that it’s not always possible to tell how many of those impressions are repeated. You could have hundreds of new views, or you could have one user viewing the content hundreds of times. However, paying attention to these numbers can help you understand if your ad is grabbing attention or not.
Engagements
The internet has opened up the communication lines between businesses and their customers. Engagements give you the ability to measure just how comfortable your consumers are with reaching out to you and engaging with your brand. Engagement is important because these repeated interactions strengthen the relationship a consumer has with a brand.
The stronger the relationship is, the more likely consumers are to purchase from you or work with you. Additionally, customers are more likely to recommend and share a brand that they already trust. Brands can increase their engagement numbers by using content that’s relevant and interesting and encourages the customer to act.
Conversions
Conversions are one of the most talked-about factors in digital marketing. Your final goal is to encourage your customer to take action. These actions are known as conversions. A conversion can look different depending on the type of business and the goals the business is trying to achieve.
Conversions might include:
- Website visits
- Purchase of an item
- Registering for an upcoming class
- Opting in for a newsletter
The first step in getting great conversion results is to identify a goal. Without first setting a clear goal, it’s difficult to tell how well you’re doing. Start with a realistic goal, and then adjust it as needed. Fortunately, there are many tools available for measuring conversions. Google Analytics is a great place to start.
Full Cycle Digital Marketing
When it comes to digital marketing, many business owners are concerned with seeing action. Of course, conversions are important, but you cannot expect a consumer to immediately take action. The conversion is considered the bottom level of the sales funnel.
A successful digital campaign requires awareness, interest, decision, and then action. Without first nurturing potential customers with brand awareness and engagement, it will be very difficult to get them to take action. It’s important to have a digital strategy that meets each of these marketing points. Digital methods like content marketing can be used across multiple cycles.
High-quality content can bring awareness to your customers, initiate interest, assist with the buying decision, and encourage a reader to take action. However, each piece should be carefully designed to meet its intended purpose.
Identifying Problems in the Selling Cycle
Paying attention to digital marketing analytics can not only give you analytical data to measure your marketing efforts, but it can also help you identify problems in the selling cycle.
Problem: Minimal Impressions
Minimal impressions could indicate that you’re not targeting the right keywords. It could also mean that your intended ad budget is not high enough to compete with the used keyword. A problem at this level often identifies problems with the digital strategy.
Problem: Low Engagement Rates
Low engagement rates are also a possibility. Social media sites are constantly changing algorithms, which could affect engagement rates. It’s important to keep up with these changes. It’s also necessary to understand your customers and know when they’re the most active online. You will also need to find an appropriate balance in terms of content and frequency.
You want to offer your followers content that’s relevant and engaging, but it’s important to avoid doing this too frequently or not enough. Call to action links are also important. They encourage customers to take action, whether it’s to make an initial contact, ask a question, or choose a product or service.
Problem: Low Conversions
Perhaps you’re getting high impressions and good engagement numbers, yet you’re not getting the conversions you expected. The great thing about digital marketing analytics is that you can evaluate the information to see exactly where the problem is.
Are customers spending seconds on your page before exiting? This could indicate a technical problem. Your landing page link could be broken, or your page load speed time could be too slow. Pay attention to the specific page customers are abandoning. If it’s the checkout page, they may not trust your checkout process, or they might be turned off by high shipping costs.
It’s also possible that you’re not reaching the right customers. If your targets are wrong and your webpage content doesn’t match your social media or ad content, the same potential customers you’re bringing to your site are not your ideal market. You’re reaching people you likely won’t serve, and you’re missing out on engaging people you want to serve.
Setting up clear key performance indicators (KPI) and analytical goals can help you create a digital marketing campaign that works. There are many tools out there today that help you measure and understand your results. When combining these tools with a great product, a professionally designed website, and useful and relevant content, you can find success in the digital marketing world.
CopyPress writer
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