Google Analytics Usage Among Marketers

Google Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity Metrics

a report by:

2 Google Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity Metrics

An Introduction to Google Analytics............................................................... Why Google Analytics?.................................................................................... /V^�.VVNSL�(UHS`[PJZ�/LSWZ�@V\�*VU]LY[�4VYL�;YHɉ��J�...............................What Marketers Track in Google Analytics ................................................... Are Marketers Looking at More Than Just Numbers? .................................Are You Just Tracking ‘Vanity Metrics’? ........................................................Actionable Metrics vs. Vanity Metrics ...........................................................Using Custom Campaign Links ......................................................................,]HS\H[PUN�;YHɉ��J�*OHUULSZ�............................................................................Leveraging Behavioral Reports ......................................................................How Online Forms and Google Analytics Work Together .............................Optimizing Your Landing Page to Increase Return On Investment..............What is the Best Promotional Strategy for a Landing Page? ......................Conclusion .......................................................................................................External Research ...........................................................................................

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

Table of Contents


An Introduction toGoogle Analytics

Google Analytics is the most widely used tool for web analytics. Unfortunately, too many marketers aren’t leveraging Google Analytics to help them analyze their eff orts and increase conversions.

For example, one study found that nearly 50% of marketers think that data is their most underutilized asset. Fewer than 10% of them believe they are using their data in a systematic way.

Many marketers use Google Analytics to show data such as page views and bounce rate, and they call it a day. Stopping there is like using a car to listen to the radio. Google Analytics can show you so much more than page views!

Your data might be your marketing department’s sleeping giant. Wake it up and learn more about your customers, their habits, and how you can better reach them.

Keywords yourcustomers use

What users do on your site

Website patterns

Which users convert into customers

The effectiveness of marketing campaigns

Your most interesting pages

Where users exit your site

What can you learn from Google Analytics?


Why Google Analytics? Google Analytics is one of many online tools that can provide data. For many small and medium-sized enterprises, free or low-cost options are a good place to start. For larger corporations, Google Analytics will serve as a great infrastructure for larger analytics platforms. Check out this chart for a comparison of popular web analytics tools.

GoogleAnalytics

IBM Digital Analytics

Adobe Analytics KISSmetrics Mixpanel Woopra

Cost Free Upon request Upon request $179-$599 per month

Free to $2,000 per month

Free to $1,199 per month

Uniqueangle Free option

Identifi es and automates marketing

opportunities

Real-time visitor analysis

Tracks individual users

Mobileanalytics

Tracks individuals in real time

High-level or individual

tracking?Highlevel

Highlevel

Highlevel

Individual Highlevel

Individual

Testing tools?

( ( ( ( ( )

Real-time data? ( ( ( ( ( (

Cap on vists?

10 million per month

None None Yes (based on plan level)

Yes (based on plan level)

Yes (based on plan level)

Custom mobile

features?

( ( ( ( ( )

Custom social

features?

( ( ( ( ( )

Level of support

Online support forum

Telephone, email, online

support


support


support

Email and online support

Email and online support

Special features APIs available Customized

dashboardsEmbeddable

reportingIntegrations with other software

Events segmented into specifi c details

Detailed visitor profi les


When you use Google Analytics, you have the opportunity to measure customer behavior. Understanding your customers allows you to:

1. Improve contentWhen you learn more about your customer, you are better equipped to customize and tailor your content to their needs. Setting up Google Analytics allows you to answer the following questions:

ą What are your customers searching for? ą�Which pages engage the most people? ą How long do users spend on a page? ą Where do users exit your website?

2. Find out what’s converting (and what’s not)Let’s be honest: marketers have to guess sometimes. We don’t always know how our customers will respond to a campaign or even a submit button. Fortunately, you can collect data on how your customers respond to diff erent options and use that data to make informed decisions.

ą Run “experiments,” which are A/B or multivariate tests. ą Funnel users to diff erent pages to measure which one is more successful. ą The more experiments you run, the better you can predict customers’ behavior.

3. Collect actionable data Not all data is created equal. Don’t get us wrong: page views or social media likes are nice to have. It’s way more valuable to have data that you can act on. For example, which channels are driving purchases? Which conversions aff ect revenue?

Marketing is an art and a science. You need creative chops, along with the ability to measure and analyze. When you focus on actionable data, your team will be well-positioned to increase ROI on marketing eff orts. Until then, you’re just guessing.

How Google Analytics Helps You *VU]LY[�4VYL�;YHɉ��J


What Marketers Track in Google AnalyticsYou’ve decided to use Google Analytics to power your marketing eff orts. Now what? Be sure you’re using this tool in the best possible way. Let’s take a look at what marketers are doing right now with Google Analytics.

48%track clickthroughrate

39%track PPCmarketing

43%track inbound links

48%track social marketing

61%track total traffic from organic search

33%track ROI

52%track top website referrers

7 Google Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity Metrics77 Google Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity MetricsGoogle Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity MetricsGoogle Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity MetricsGoogle Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity MetricsGoogle Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity MetricsGoogle Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity MetricsGoogle Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity MetricsGoogle Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity MetricsGoogle Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity MetricsGoogle Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity MetricsGoogle Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity MetricsGoogle Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity MetricsGoogle Analytics Usage Among Marketers: Moving Past the Vanity Metrics

Are Marketers Looking at More Than Just Numbers? Now that you know how marketers currently use Google Analytics, you can see that there’s room for data-crunching growth! A recent survey of marketers revealed trends in their use of analytics platforms, which you can see below. Unfortunately, it’s clear that the majority of marketers are not eff ective users of Google Analytics.

40%add goals

35%add conversion values

24%create & test hypotheses

48%customize reports

17%measure use ofmobile apps

10%perform attribution modeling

27%use custom variables


Are You Just Tracking ‘Vanity Metrics’? Too many marketers rely solely on vanity metrics—data that is easy to collect but that doesn’t off er true value to your business. Only 44% of marketers use analytics to help them make decisions and only 11% have a clear optimization and testing strategy.

The other 40% of marketers rely on intuition. One of the reasons marketers have defaulted to vanity metrics is that they are easier to measure. Defi ning goals and measuring outcomes takes time.

You know if you’re tracking vanity metrics when someone questions the money or eff ort you’re spending on marketing. You might respond, “We have 10,000 Twitter followers and 800 e-book downloads!” And… so what?

Actionable metrics are the answer to that pesky “So what?” question. They show you (and your higher-ups) the value of your hard work.

Why Vanity Metrics are Easier

Numbers can’t tell the whole story. Analytics require, well, analysis. Once you get your data, your team has to draw conclusions from it. Why do people who search with this keyword lead to more conversions? Why are users exiting the page at that moment? Ultimately, your website and your customers are complex. The numbers only help you fi gure out the “why” of your analytics data.

It keeps changing. The web is a moving target. Once your team masters the latest version, some formula or software change fl ips your analytics world upside-down. Digital marketing requires a level of fl exibility that can be close to impossible. When marketers have a good handle on their analytics tools, they can pivot if these tools change.

There is not enough time for analysis.Experts recommend that data analysts split their time between data collection, reporting, and analysis. In fact, two-thirds of an analyst’s time should be spent on analysis. Many marketing departments don’t have designated analysts, which means that collection and reporting—which are the easiest steps to automate—end up getting the majority of the focus.

Ɔ 46% of companies use analytics informally and sporadically.


Page ViewsConversion Rate

Bounce Rate by Source

Average Order Value

Assisted Conversions

Bounce Rate

Transaction Rate

Channel Conversions

Actionable Metrics Vanity Metrics

If you want to use Google Analytics to its fullest potential, start measuring the right things. Collect the data that impacts conversions and revenue.

VS

Millions of page views almost never mean millions of sales. Focus your attention on how many of those casual browsers actually turn into customers.

When you evaluate your bounces by source, you can identify which channels are bringing in unqualifi ed leads. Change your messaging or put more eff ort toward better channels.

Ecommerce sites will gain an edge by analyzing their average order value. Look at your average order value over a specifi c period of time and you can determine how specifi c campaigns impact your revenue.

Conversions by channel are important but don’t show the whole picture. Assisted conversions help you see which channels contribute to repeated visits. This knowledge can inform which channels get more of your marketing spend.


Using Custom Campaign Links

One way to create actionable metrics for your team is through UTM tags. UTM (short for Urchin Tracking Module) codes help you see the individual, not general, sources of your traffi c.

Google Analytics lets you quickly build custom campaign URLs with these tags. Use this data to see which channels initiate, assist, and complete conversions. For example, you can use UTMs in your social campaigns to evaluate whether Facebook or Twitter led to more conversions.

Check out the graphic below for a quick breakdown of how these UTM links work:

The medium is the ‘strategy’ that you used to get people from another site to your page – banners, PPC, etc. In this case, we are simply referring users from Facebook to our website with a non-sponsored link.

Campaign medium: referral

What’s the name of yourhigh-level marketing campaign? Include it here, but be sure to use plus signs instead of spaces. It’s easier for Google to track.

Campaign name: demo+promo

https://www.formstack.com/demo?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral &utm_campaign=demo+promo

The Anatomy of a UTM Link

This is the URL that you will be driving traffic and tracking in Google Analytics.

URL: https://www.formstack.com/demo?

The source is the website your user is coming from. Pinpoint the websites that send your company the most web traffic.

Campaign source: facebook.com

You won’t cross the fi nish line with just a link. Get the most out of UTM by going toAcquisitions > Campaigns in Google Analytics. From there, you can compare traffi c and conversions across each metric.


Identifying the sources of your web traffi c can help you evaluate the eff ectiveness of your marketing eff orts. If 1,000 visitors come from Facebook but all of them bounce, your Facebook leads aren’t qualifi ed. On the other hand, if 100 visitors come from organic search and 90 of them convert, your organic search is working well.

Quantity isn’t everything. Review your acquisitions report to determine which channels are leading to the most engagement and conversion.

Unique channels include:

ą��Organic search: Traffi c generated from search engines ą��Paid search: Traffi c from advertisements (PPC, banner ads, etc.)ą��Direct traffi c: When users come directly to your website URL ą��Referral traffi c: Visitors who click on a link from another website that leads to yoursą��Social: People who click a link in social media and arrive at your siteą��Email: Visitors who click a link in an email newsletter

Set Conversion GoalsConversions are the metric that most people care about, but they don’t just track themselves. To track conversions in Google Analytics, you will need to set up a goal. In Google Analytics, a goal is a way to measure your business metrics.

Google Analytics also allows you to set monetary values to your goals. That way, you can calculate the actual value of your customers’ actions. Remember, conversions are not always purchases. Sometimes a page goal is signing up for an email list or downloading an e-book.

For example, let’s say that the lifetime value of your customer is $100. If 1% of users who download e-books become customers, the value of each e-book download is $1. Analyze the value of customer actions to gain insight into where to increase your marketing eff orts.

11

,]HS\H[PUN�;YHɉ��J�*OHUULSZ


� Organic 75.0k

� Direct

� Social

/Home50.4k

/Support

/Support /Home

/Pricing

/FreeTrial

/Blog

/FreeTrial

/Blog

/Features

/Pricing

/Features

/FreeTrial

/Pricing20.8k

/Features10.2k

/FreeTrial2.5k

/Blog

/Pricing

/Features

/Home

Medium Starting Pages 1st Interaction 2nd Interaction 3rd Interaction

Visitors use a search engine.

They navigate to our home page.

They check out our prices.

Bingo! They check out our free trial offer.

They learn more about

what we offer.

Leveraging Behavioral Reports

Most customers don’t convert on their fi rst click. User Flow reports give you a visual representation of how customers move through your site.

From the User Flow report in Google Analytics, you can quickly break down popular customer paths. Use information about sources, paths, and drop-off points to help you make important marketing decisions. Check out this example of a popular fl ow through our website.


How Online Forms and Google Analytics Work Together

Google Analytics helps you track aggregate behavior and data, but what if you want to connect with individual visitors?

Look no further than your humble online form.

Online forms play an important role in capturing visitor data. They act as a bridge between visitors and your company. Form submissions are conversions. When a customer submits an order form or an email newsletter signup form, you are making a sale or moving customers into your funnel.

Optimization of your online forms is an important part of improving your conversion rate. Some online form builders, like Formstack, include the ability to use Google Analytics within the app itself. Learn more about your customers (and your forms) by tracking views, abandonment, and more.

When you are A/B testing your website, always remember to test your forms. Changing form length, fi elds, or even button copy can have a signifi cant impact on your submission rates. Find out what kind of forms lead to conversions by testing diff erent versions.

Conversions

New Conversions

Paid Traffic

New Visitors

Name

E-mail

Your Message…

Submit


Prove what’s working well to drive conversions with Google Analytics A/B testing. See what kind of results you can get if you improve your conversion rate. Compare this pay-per-click campaign that drove 500 visitors to our site. (You can easily substitute an email, social media, or other type of campaign to calculate your own ROI.)

Optimizing Your Landing Page to Increase Return On Investment

A B

��)��*#(%�$%#+'��*�*#(%��!$��"��#&'�'#�+"��*#(%��

�'�$��Profit

�'�$��Calculate Conversion Rate

�'�$��Calculate Campaign Cost

��"��"��

"(!��%�#�� &�#&'�$�%�� #&'

�

"(!��%�#�� &�#")�%&�#"�%�'�"(!��%�#��#")�%&�#"&

�

"(!��%�#��#")�%&�#"&�)�%��&� �$%#+'

�

=

500

��

500

��

�

=

�

=

500

��

500

��

�

=

�

=

��

��

�

=

�

=

=

=

$%#+'��#&'

��

��

��

��

Want to boost your conversion rate? Try testing these elements:

ą Headlines

ą Calls to action

ą Online form length

ą Where form is positioned on the page

*multiplying by 100 gives you a percentage rather than a decimal

The reason why page B has a higher ROI is because it has a better conversion rate. When more customers convert, you can spend less on your marketing eff orts


Eighty-four percent of marketers believe that landing pages are very important to their website’s conversion path. After all, they provide essential data that helps marketers evaluate the success of their campaigns.

No promotional strategy is one-size-fi ts-all. As you continue to develop your marketing strategy, pay close attention to the channels that lead to conversions, not traffi c. For example, your customers might respond best to organic search rather than social media ads. In that case, target your eff orts toward SEO instead of paid ads.

Channel metrics (direct, organic search, referral, etc.) show you how visitors get to your site. Behavior metrics (bounce rate, pages per session, session duration, etc.) reveal what users do when they arrive. Evaluate which channels drive converting customers, not just total traffi c. Focus your promotional strategies on the channels that provide qualifi ed leads.

Measure Your LeadsNot all leads are created equal. By scoring your leads, you can be sure you’re not trading quantity for quality. You don’t need a complex system if you’re just starting out with analytics. Look at trends and generalizations in Google Analytics to evaluate the quality of your leads.

For example, say you have a landing page to get people to sign up for a webinar. You get 2,000 visitors from a Facebook ad and 1,000 from a Twitter ad. Facebook wins, right? Well, keep digging into the data. You fi nd Facebook traffi c has a 1% conversion rate while Twitter has a 10% conversion rate. Your Facebook ad resulted in 20 conversions, while Twitter resulted in 100. In the future, you might want to emphasize Twitter for your webinars.

Behavior metrics can help you score the strength of your leads, as well. Perhaps you want to see which leads view the most pages or spend the most time on your website. With Google Analytics, you can measure what your leads do on your website.

Which Metrics by Channel are Important? ą�Engagement (pages viewed, time on site)

ą�Path analysis (where users went) ą�Conversions ą�Assisted conversions

What is the Best Promotional Strategy for a Landing Page?


Google Analytics is a robust tool that can help you improve almost every aspect of your website. But it can also be pretty intimidating. We hope this report has given you some simple ways to move away from vanity metrics and toward actionable metrics.

Optimizing your website and marketing campaigns requires fl exibility and frequent adjustment. If customers don’t respond to a call to action, reword it. If no one clicks on your ad banner, redesign it. If a landing page doesn’t convert, change it.

To be successful in digital marketing, you only need to take three steps.

ą�1. Set Goals ą�2. Measure Outcomes ą�3. Try, Try Again* *repeat a million times

Google Analytics helps you use data in your marketing process so you waste less time on gut instincts. Build initiatives that produce measurable outcomes and ROI.

Conclusion

The Team Behind this ReportGoogle Analytics Usage Among Marketers was compiled and analyzed by Formstack, a robust online form building solution. With an intuitive drag and drop interface, the platform makes it easy for marketers to create branded, mobile-ready web forms without writing code. With features like social media plugins, custom themes, and analytics, marketers can see an immediate lift in their conversion rates.

To learn more about Formstack, visit www.formstack.com


External Research

1. CIO.com, Marketers See Value in Big Data Analytics, But Face Hurdleshttp://www.cio.com/article/2383427/data-management/marketers-see-value-in-big-data-analytics--but-face-hurdles.html

2. ClickZ, 3 Questions to Ask Your New Digital Analytics Team Memberhttp://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2281431/3-questions-to-ask-your-new-digital-analytics-team-member

3. Marketing Sherpa, E-Commerce Benchmark Studyhttp://cdn2.meclabs.com/pubs/MarketingSherpa-E-commerce-Benchmark-Study.pdf

4. MarketingSherpa, 2013 Marketing Analytics Benchmark Reporthttp://www.marketingsherpa.com/data/public/reports/benchmark-reports/EXCERPT-BMR-2013-Marketing-Analytics.pdf

5. MarketingSherpa, Marketing Research Chart: Channels Trackedby Marketershttp://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/metrics-tracked-by-marketers

6. MarketingSherpa, Marketing Research Chart: Determining Which Tests ShouldBe Prioritizedhttp://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/determining-web-optimization-priorities

7. MarketingSherpa, Marketing Research Chart: Only 26% of Marketers Track Branded vs. Non-Branded Keywordshttp://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/e-commerce-seo-keywords-tracking

8. Search Engine Land, Web Analytics Software Comparison Charthttp://searchengineland.com/web-analytics-software-comparison-identifying-the-right-web-analytics-tools-for-your-business-149373

Documents

Google Analytics Usage Among Marketers