What if… you could capture data that provided greater insight than Analytics?

Your site visitors, what do you know about them?

You know the percentage that purchase from you, or enquire about you.

You know how many visit your site using a mobile phone.

You know how often they visit you.

You know what time they visit you.

You know what day they visit you.

You know what they look at and their every movement.

You know what pages within your website they prefer.

You know a lot….

That’s Analytics data and that’s just for starters. You can uncover even more wonderful pieces of information. You can see where they hover their mouse, which buttons they click, you can test how they respond to certain messages compared with others.

You have access to an awful lot about your audience. A large majority of businesses, maybe yourselves included, know a lot, but rarely act upon the information Analytics provides you.

But, what do you really know about your audience?

You know how your audience behaves. You know what they do and how they do it. What Analytics data doesn’t tell you is why they do it. You don’t know what causes people to suddenly decide to buy, or enquire, or share your information with their colleagues.

Sometimes we get stuck within the world of data that we simply forget to look at the fact that the data represents real people. Individuals with individual wants, needs and desires.

Questions… questions… questions…

I’m a data bod. I can uncover insights for my clients, through Analytics, that change the way they run their online business.

I used to own a retail company. The true insights about what made my customers tick came through interaction, listening to what was taking place on the shop floor. Customers told you their story:

• they walked through the door
• they explained why they were there
• they asked questions
• they tested certain products
• they asked more questions
• they sought advice
• they listened
• they talked through their decision making process
• they purchased

Online, I can provide you data regarding the first and last bullet points. Offline, I can provide you the complete picture, retelling the complete experience

Complete the experience

What are you doing to drive conversation as well as conversion? Conversation that lets you into the inner workings of your customer’s mind. Sure, you can only speak to a dozen or so customers per day, online you have data on 1000s of individuals. What would you prefer? Insight from the source, or data to justify theory?

Too many digital marketers are becoming over reliant on analytics data. With analytics you can answer the questions about how people engage with your website. You can’t answer the why. Customers can…

Complete the experience and begin to gather insight from outside of your department. Find out the questions that are being asked through your customer service channels. Find out the reservations that your sales team face when they’re out in the field, or calling their prospects.

Then compile questions. Need a content marketing strategy? Utilise your website to provide the answers.

Written By:

Ian Rhodes

Twitter

First employee of an ecommerce startup back in 1998. I've been using building and growing ecommerce brands ever since (including my own). Get weekly growth lessons from my own work delivered to your inbox below.