3 ways data can help you understand the buyer’s journey

Oct 8, 2021 by
3 ways data can help you understand the buyer’s journey

Data is the most powerful tool in our SEO arsenal when it comes to understanding our customers. But at what point does this analysis stop being helpful and start feeling invasive?

There are thousands of think-pieces on this topic but, generally speaking, we’d like to think that as long as the data we’re analysing is being used to make the customer experience better then it’s fair game.

Because the better we know our customers the better-equipped we are to give them what they want. And there is nothing that tells us more about our customers than their data. In recent years, the ability to access and analyse this precious data has become commonplace but it’s not the data itself that’s really important. It’s how you use it.

It’s been said that you’re 23 times more likely to acquire new customers as a data-driven organisation but what data should you be looking at if you really want to understand and better serve your customers? Below, we’ll be taking you through the data you should be pointing your Google Analytics account towards and helping you to understand what it says about how your customers get from click to purchase.

1. Traffic source

This is the information that lets you know how your visitors came to your site. Use the “Overview” section in Google Analytics and you’ll see exactly where your traffic is coming from. This reveals where the consumer journey starts and will give you a solid view of where you should be spending your marketing budget. You can even go deeper by using segmentation to get an even more precise view of what’s drawing people in and what’s making them click away.

2. Conversion rates

How many visitors to your site were persuaded to take the next step and end their customer journey on a high note? Conversion rates will let you know the percentage of visitors that clicked the “buy it now” button and can help you pinpoint the factors that lead to that conversion. But taken out of context, they will tell you very little. You need to compare conversion rates with previous campaigns and market standards in general to get a real flavour of your customer’s journey.

3. Time spent on page

The best way to realistically gauge how well your conversions are working is to log conversion rates against the average time customers spent on the page. If they’ve spent a long time on the page without pulling the trigger then you might need to make that trigger more enticing. Look for data that relates to not only where people are spending time on your site but where they come from and where they go afterwards. Also, logging the time spend against your conversion rates is always going to leave you with valuable insight.

Social animals

Of course, social media is also an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to understanding your customers. There is the direct feedback you’ll get from messages and comments and the ability to actually engage in conversation with your customers.

However, it’s important to understand that social media is always going to be a balancing act between the positive and the negative. As far as influencing the customer journey is concerned, always play a delicate hand. Because people can and will see through obvious tactics and it will harm your brand.