Today, data is in abundance. This becomes evident simply by logging into Google Analytics. There are new data collection methods, analytics that is more relevant and better indicators. With more data comes more possibilities but finding time to explore them to improve performance is a struggle. It’s increasingly difficult to find time to experiment and learn new ways of using analytical data to increase conversion; even though, in the end, you know you’ll be saving time later down the line, potentially improve the ROAS, increase CTR etc. Hearing from other industry experts can help be a source of inspiration (and even motivation) to save you the time you’d potentially waste in experimenting and help you get stuck in.
Many of Channable’s clients creatively use analytics data to shape their channel marketing with Channable’s Google Analytics integration. Their clientele includes brands such as SAMSUNG and Cotswold, but also travel companies like Norwegian and recruitment companies like Randstad.
Here’s what they’ve been doing with the surplus of data to improve their performance, which hopefully can help you towards eradicating “data-overload” bottlenecks.
Identifying which are the best and bad selling items
Why?
Having an idea of which items are the bestsellers makes it easier to create campaigns specifically involving such items. Sale seasons are a particularly good time to showcase bestsellers and ramp up the bid budget.
How?
By sending an additional custom label field to a channel, you can instantly have an overview of which products are bestsellers and which products are bad sellers. Which metrics you choose to identify what constitutes as a best or bad seller is up to you. Of course, relying on conversion is a rookie beginners mistake. Channable’s clients often use a combination of the number of transactions and number of sessions or conversion rate and number of sessions. That way any products with i.e. more than 10 transactions but less than 50 sessions are assigned a best seller status.
The indication of what the CPC is costing you (and whether it’s worth it!)
Why?
Whilst there are tools out there that can be used to track CPC and the information can be imported into Channable, some clients prefer doing it themselves. One reason for this is that the tool may be supplied by a competitor brand. Doing it yourself isn’t much extra effort, after all, you’ll have a general idea of what CPC you’ll have i.e. for a certain subcategory if you’re advertising fashion items.
How?
It begins with adding a new field in the feed/product catalogue/file that assigns a CPC to the subcategory it falls under e.g. 20p to any item with a subcategory ‘Dress’. Next multiply the CPC value by the number of sessions, which would give an indication of how much ad spend there is for each individual product.
Tip
Some of Channable’s clients take this a step further to calculate ROI and ROAS. Some add custom labels indicating whether the product is a high, medium or low ad spender. A select few, apply the above CPC indication rules for brands that offer commissions. Therefore, providing them with the ability to calculate the commission they’ll get for each brand.
Use analytics from other channels as a rough guide
Why?
The channels that a company uses will change or grow at least every year. Beginning with a new affiliate network or comparison site raises a handful of questions and difficulties but is an important step for growth and evolving. To help with experimenting with a new channel, some of Channable’s clients use analytics from one channel to guide how to position themselves on a new channel. This lessens the stress of what approach to take with a new channel and allows some time to gather analytics data for the new channel.
How?
It was simply a matter of merging the analytics of e.g. Google Shopping into the master feed and creating new feeds for Criteo or Facebook. Including key metrics and even the above-mentioned bestseller custom label, helps with controlling the CPC, positioning and general information sent to the new channel.
Tip
Using one channels’ analytics for another does not have to be limited to when you launch a new channel. Many clients use Google Shopping as their main comparison site and then use its analytics for any marketing channel to improve Google Shopping sales.
Whilst analytics can be a dry yet necessary topic for all us marketers, drawing inspiration from others creativity can go a long way. Share your best practices in the comments below or get in touch with Channable to hear more intricate details of how analytics can take channel marketing to the next level