If you’re new to online marketing, you might be wondering how much it costs to get things right the first time. There’s a lot of data to crunch, and you’ll need a decent amount of money to hire the right people. Maybe you’ll need to rent some offices space too. Having a physical storefront isn’t a bad idea either.
While there’s certainly a lot of upfront investment, it’s important to keep in mind that the benefits of effective online marketing can far outweigh the costs. In fact, it’s so worthwhile that you might want to consider investing in a semi-customized solution that can help you save time and money in the long run.
In order to get the most out of your online marketing budget, you’ll need to make sure that you’re investing in the right tools. Whether you decide to go the managed or DIY route, your ultimate goal should be to find the best suited software, hardware, and platforms to grow your business. In this article, we’ll discuss how you can best use some of the more popular web and digital marketing platforms to get the most out of your ROI (Return on Investment).
Why Google Analytics For Web Marketers
One of the more popular and most efficient platforms for web marketers and bloggers is Google Analytics. In case you’re not familiar, Google Analytics provides you with a ton of useful data, including;
- Visits to your site
- New visitors
- Users who have been on your site
- Traffic sources
- Top performing content
- A/B Testing results
- Demographics and more
- You can even upload your own custom variables
With this kind of data, you can literally “re-live” your entire website’s journey. From the day it was launched, to the steps you took, to convert a prospect into a paying customer. All of this is data, and it’s at your fingertips. You can even set up automated “email notifications” to keep track of important dates like when someone opts in to your list or makes a purchase. Google Analytics can do all of this, and more, for you, so you can focus on growing your business.
The Importance Of Tracking Relevant LTV (Lifetime Value)
One of the things that make Google Analytics so special and relevant to our discussion here is the ability to track “Lifetime Value”. With LTV, you can measure the total dollar value of a customer and their tendency to visit your site over time. For example, if you discover that someone who has purchased a laptop from you previously also purchased accessories or other products from your store. It’s pretty safe to assume that this person is fairly likely to buy more from you in the future. This is why LTV is so important for digital marketers. You can literally see how much a customer is worth, in terms of purchases from your company, in total. The more you know about your customers, the better positioned you’ll be to make more effective and informed business decisions. That’s value in a nutshell.
Make Sure You’re Using The Right Metrics
Although Google Analytics can be a goldmine of information, you must make sure that you’re using the right metrics to drive growth. One of the critical things to do before you dive into analyzing any data is to define, in advance, the metrics that you’ll use to determine success. For example, if your company’s main goal is to drive traffic to your site, you might decide to track;
- The number of unique visitors
- The number of visits
- The percent of visitors who are converting into paying customers
- The average order value
- The average order value per customer
- The average order value compared to the entire industry
- The average deal size
- The average product deal size compared to the entire industry
- The average purchase probability
- The average time on site
- The number of pages per visit
- The bounce rate (the percentage of visitors who leave your site without making a purchase)
- The number of products viewed compared to the entire industry average
- The conversion rate (the percentage of visitors who click a button, call a number, or complete a form, compared to the overall number of visitors)
- The new customer acquisition cost (the amount you spend to get a new customer compared to the overall industry average)
Now, you don’t need to track every single one of these metrics, but it’s important to keep in mind that not all metrics are created equal. Some metrics are more relevant and valuable than others. For example, you wouldn’t waste your time tracking;