Analyze This: Your Best Bet for Marketing Analytics
The constant stream of comparisons and differences between brick-and-mortar retail establishments and online stores may become trite over time, as more and more commercial activity unfolds in cyberspace. There are definite overlaps that call for the same basic principles, but as the internet becomes more sophisticated, and more buyers navigate there to make purchases, the differences are starker than ever.
Marketing analytics is a function made simpler for those who operate online, by sole virtue of the complex, computerized system you already have in place. Tracking sales, customers, inventory, and just about everything else is somewhat automatic. In most cases it’s not necessary to actually ask a customer how they stumbled onto your store. Identifying strategies and efforts that are paying off is also much easier when your shortcut to analysis is effectively done for you.
But that doesn’t mean it requires no efforts. Putting in place an accurate, useful, and – more important – tailored process for tracking these markers demands a plan; it necessitates putting a sensible marketing analysis strategy in place.
That’s where third-party platforms come in. Thankfully these needs have been anticipated by developers who specialize in the virtual world of commerce. As you choose an analytics tool that is best for your needs, consider this: there is a giant among mere mortals.
GOOGLE ANALYTICS is the best-known and most-used platform, based mostly on the reputation of its marquee name. Google’s multi-pronged menu of offerings is inching more and more into commerce, and this option is a good bet for beginners.
PROS: Fledgling ecommerce vendors enjoy free usage of its basic component that introduces them to the concept of analytics, enjoying access to main functions such as web conversion rates, source of traffic origination, content performance analysts, and performance of advertising. It’s also handy for on-the-go business owners who may access it from mobile devices.
CONS: More expanded options may be better suited to more high-volume users, and they pay for a premium version. It’s not cheap (upwards of $150,000 USD per year). Google Analytics is known to be vulnerable to cookie manipulation, as the data is processed remotely and is out of control of the user. Using this app requires constant updating to accommodate the company’s new perks. And finally, website visits must execute a JavaScript file; those that don’t do that are not counted.
There are other fish in the analytics sea, and it would be wise to cast your line. Among competitors to Google analytics are the following paid offerings:
MATOMO overlaps with Google in many functions, allowing users to track all conversions and measure goal achievements. Matomo accommodates monitoring of multiple sites simultaneously, in case you operate more than one store. It also reports a real-time flow of site visitors, and delivers automatic email reports for those times when you forget to check in.
KISSMETRICS focuses on ecommerce by providing features tailored for increasing online conversions. It opens the door to closer monitoring of the path your customers and would-have-been customers take before they make a purchase or abandon their carts. It offers personalized access to customer profiles, which is useful for customizing your marketing strategies.
CRAZY EGG is not your typical analytics tool, but it might be the one for you. Novel features include heat-mapping tools to visually track user behavior on your pages, including scrolls and clicks. This extends basic analytics data to examine the actual behaviors of users as they peruse your site.
All these platforms offer free trial periods, which are always valuable for determining your personal fit. Play around with each and choose one that will make your marketing analysis translate to the gold standard of more sales.
For more information and guidance on which tools work best for individual needs, Express Analytics compiled a pretty good list. Study it well, and then prepare to go full-throttle toward completing your well-rounded ecommerce business.