5 Significant Steps of Online Marketing Analytics

i. Starting With the Objectives and Key Performance Indicators

What can be measured can be managed. Online marketing analytics helps in understanding the factors to manage and measure. Investing in Internet marketing should be driving the tangible business results in the form of increased revenues, greater market shares, generating more sales from the new products, optimizing revenue mix, and more. These are referred to as "macro-level" objectives since they are the results. 

"Micro-level" metrics or the KPIs denote the servers directly impacting the macro objective achievements in the form of website traffic, qualified leads, form submissions, close rates, webinar attendance, and more. Thus, step one in the analytics process is clearly defining the high-level objectives along with their associated KPIs. The Internet marketers identify the objectives and KPIs at the time of the strategic planning phase.

ii. Gathering Data and Reporting

As soon as the objectives and performance indicators are defined clearly, the Internet marketers identify the data needed for performance assessment, and from where the data will be all secured. For instance, increasing the sales needs increasing the qualified lead, increased website traffics drive. Google Analytics, the free Google tool, is reliable to gather insights regarding website traffic that are possible to be obtained. If it is necessary to track the phone calls the online activities to generate, then the marketers use the call tracking tools at the cost of a nominal monthly fee.

As mentioned earlier, data is readily typically available. The key is bringing all the data right into one place and organizing it properly so analyzing it becomes easier. Automated reports and dashboards, crowded with data from different sources are helpful in organizing and making sense out of the data so the ones responsible for analysis need not be spent to the huge time performing any lower value tasks.

iii. Analysis

Right when data in appropriate reports and dashboards are made available, are analyzed from the "good and bad" perspectives. The good performing online activities and the ones not performing according to the plan, whether the matters are trending to the right directions - are properly analyzed. 

This insight is necessary to make informed decisions regarding the methods for improving the online marketing tactics results. Analysis even includes how the same industry competitors are performing so the Internet marketers can take the right steps so you can get ahead of them.

iv. Refining and Improving

On the basis of insights as gathered from analysis, making the necessary refinements to the online strategies and activities is a must. This is done for optimizing the experience for the prospects as well as the existing customers, with the ultimate goal of ensuring overall performance improvements.

The analysis highlights the opportunities for improvements in the specific areas in which further investment can be done. Tue resulting actions can further be analyzed.

Testing helps effectively for the refinements and improvements phase for determining whether the tactics will be producing the desired results. For instance, when the goal is increasing the open rates, then testing the subject lines will help in determining the ones which will result in the much-needed improvements. At the time of testing, a testing methodology is used so any incorrect assumptions are not made or faulty conclusions are met.

v. Repeating

The data collected over time and the way it is reported will be changing. In the early analytics process, Internet marketers focus on the baseline metrics like website traffic. Analysis eventually becomes the prime target and refined. For instance, measuring a specific landing page's performance. The important factor is the analytics is the ongoing activity. It can be done for one cycle and then stop. The performances are constantly gauged as against the target metrics, the different data types from different sources access, informed decisions made regarding what should be done for improving performance, implementing the appropriate changes, analyzing, and then repeating.