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Marketing analytics might seem complicated, but they don’t have to be. By looking at the right numbers and tools, you can make smarter decisions, attract more customers, and grow your business. Here are some simple steps to get started.

Look at multiple metrics

Focusing on just one metric, like conversion rates or cost per lead, can give you an incomplete picture. For example, a low cost per lead might mean lots of enquiries, but not many that turn into sales. Look at multiple metrics to balance quality and quantity.
A useful metric is client lifetime value (CLV)—how much each customer spends with you over time. By tracking where your best customers come from, you can spend more on the marketing channels that bring long-term value and cut back on the ones that don’t.

Improve your website with data

Analytics can help you figure out what’s working (and what’s not) on your website. Here are some tips:
•    If you get a lot of visitors from Google searches (known as organic search) but they aren’t buying, your website content might need adjusting to attract the right people.
•    A high time-on-page might be great for blogs or guides, but on forms or menus, it could mean users are confused. Take success with this metric on a page-by-page basis.
•    If a page has a high bounce rate (where visitors leave without exploring further), check if it matches their expectations from an ad or link. Adding relevant internal links can encourage them to stay on your site longer.

Free tools to help you

You don’t need a big budget to get started with web analytics. Here are some free tools:
•    Google Analytics: Learn how people use your website.
•    Google Search Console: See what people search for to find your site.
•    Microsoft Clarity: Watch how users navigate your website and spot any problems.

Make sense of social media

You might have been told not to put URLs in social posts, but that’s not accurate advice. Algorithms care more about whether the link is relevant to your post. For example, if your post talks about types of cheese and links to a cheese guide, it won’t hurt your reach.
Use the free in-platform analytics tools within the various social media platforms. Note that each platform measures engagement differently, so it’s hard to compare them directly. Instead, look at what works best on each one over time. And don’t be discouraged if overall engagement is lower than it used to be – it’s a global trend that people are liking and commenting less than they used to!

Boost your email marketing

Email is a powerful tool because people actively choose to engage with it. Here’s how to make it work for you:
•    Aim for an open rate of 35% or higher – this is generally considered an excellent figure of marketing emails.
•    Experiment with subject lines, send times, and how often you email to push that open rate up.
•    Look carefully at your unsubscribe data. You might be using too many sales messages—focus on giving readers valuable content to keep them engaged.

Track offline campaigns

Even offline activities, like print ads or events, can be tracked. Use coupon codes, QR codes, or unique landing pages to measure how effective they are.

Try, test, and improve

Marketing is all about testing what works and tweaking what doesn’t. If one type of post or ad gets a lot of attention, try doing more of the same. Analytics help you learn and adapt, so you can get better results over time.

By using these tips, you can make marketing analytics a powerful tool for growing your business. 

Next steps

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