Use Google Analytics to affect your bottom line
Why Last Click Attribution is a small part of a much bigger picture
Google Analytics has offered Multi-Funnel channel reports since the fall of 2011. For those of you not familiar with the report, it allows you to better understand how each channel assists in the visitor’s journey, eventually resulting in the conversion of your goal.
Since then, Google has been collecting information from users running Google Analytics on each and every channel that affects the final outcome. In a recent blog post they announced the launch of a new tool that demonstrates the aggregate of over 12,000 Google Analytics profiles that have tracked over 130 Million conversions. The tool then breaks down this huge amount of data into industry and geography, resulting in some pretty amazing insights.
First is the undeniable proof that customer online behaviour is much more complex than most marketers account for.
Communicated around the customer journey, the data plots what channels affect visitors for each of the phases they go through.
In the example below (Edu & Gov in US) we can see that Social Media and Display advertising play a significant role in garnering the initial attention needed to capture a visitors attention in the awareness phase of their decision.
Edu & Gov in United States
This information is a stark contrast when compared to the channels in the journey for visitors in Canada. Below is the same industry but for Canadian visitors.
Edu & Gov in Canada
In Canada, Paid Search is the channel that is used more often as the first interaction the visitor has in their journey. It also shows that social is more effective in Canada for both generating awareness and moving the visitor to making a decision.
So what does this mean?
It means that each of your digital marketing initiatives need to understand where they fit in the visitor journey. With the presence of this data, deploying specific tactics (facebook ads, paid search, email blasts etc…) in isolation of each other, with out taking this paradigm into consideration will result in a waste of your marketing dollars.
What do you do about it?
Start with your goals. These reports are only available in Google Analytics for the goals you define. This underlines the importance Google puts on outcomes. Define the most important outcome for your visitors and ensure they can be tracked as goals. Once the data is collected, you will see how each channel you use plays a role in the outcomes that are important to your organization.
One other suggestion is to start slow. Pick one goal, make sure it is well thought out, implemented correctly, and is a clear indication that the visitor wants what you have. Communicate the findings to your team and get them excited about the concept.
Good luck, and keep measuring :)
