10 ways to segment website visitors using Google Analytics

When I work on E-commerce projects to identify methods to increase conversion, I always start with a structured analysis of the current effectiveness of customer journeys for different segments, using Google Analytics to help identify potential improvements to site page templates to test.

Segments are powerful since they help you isolate and compare different traffic sources, so in the screengrab below we have selected organic traffic to just find out how these visitors behave, for example, which landing pages do they arrive on?

Note that to encourage usage of Advanced Segments, Google renamed them a couple of years ago to 'Segments' in order to make them less scary and encourage adoption amongst GA users who don't see themselves as advanced. A key part of this approach is to go beyond the…

Digital Marketing Optimization is transforming recession marketing strategies. These 5 tactics for managing customer experience will set you apart from your competitors

Surviving this recession is all about, you guessed it, your customers! As we have seen clearly in 2020, being able to anticipate and respond, fast, to changes in the market can mean the difference between make or break in a challenging environment. And, when it comes to managing customer experience, haven't we all seen some rapid changes? "Recessions inevitably lead to changes in consumer spending and demand for products and services." - Dr. Dave Chaffey As Dr. Dave Chaffey asserts in our recession-beating marketing tactics for growing your business guide, changes in consumer spending require marketers to 'prioritize marketing activities with the biggest potential'. After all, to survive this recession, marketers need to make strategic decisions to outpace their competitors and acquire and retain valuable customers. [si_guide_block id="151279" title="Download Free…

Digital transformation strategy to grow your business: Our recommended planning frameworks to implement your successful digital transformation

More marketers than ever are fueling growth through digital transformation. But with the stakes so high, we want to make sure you get your digital transformation strategy right, first time. That's we're here to guide you through it. Discover the success factors for creating a digital transformation strategy to grow your business, read-up on the implementation process for your digital transformation next steps, and explore our latest digital transformation research.

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Why create a digital transformation strategy?

Our research shows that today many businesses are realizing the imperative for digital transformation; to compete in digital marketing data and technology, a structured process of digital transformation is needed. The need for transformation is particularly strong in larger, international brands and organisations that…

Becoming a better marketer isn't rocket science if you have access to the right resources

The world of marketing is fast-paced and ever-changing. You can’t scroll through LinkedIn without finding out something new about the industry. It seems that every day a new theory, acronym or feature has emerged that you need to get up to speed on (mainly before your boss or colleagues ask you what it is). But how do you stay on top of all of these updates and new features, and how do you apply them? Smart Insights is definitely a great place to start.

Why should I pay for digital marketing training?

Perhaps you want to grow your digital marketing skills within your current position or work toward getting a promotion. Maybe your goals are focused on growing your business and achieving ROI on your digital marketing. Or, you manage a marketing team and you know that effective digital…

Words aren’t enough, you need to step out of the box when it comes to engaging the audience

Do amazing marketing campaigns always come from huddling around a whiteboard as a team or working in isolation, or even worse staring at a screen for hours upon end - Agree or not? Definitely Not! I mean if this is the scenario, then how would every major social network, including Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter, make themselves better day in day out. You have to work on the go to come up with a fantastic idea. [si_guide_block id="85104" title="Download our Free Resource – Top 10 common content marketing mistakes" description="Our free content marketing mistakes guide reveals the most common mistakes, but more importantly, what to do about them. "/] If we talk about marketing in the earlier days, SEO was all about getting higher rankings by using all text, with no focus on visuals. This…

Personalization offers great opportunities for retailers to improve relevance across the customer lifecycle

Successful e-commerce marketing today requires consideration of the full customer path-to-purchase shown below across the Smart Insights RACE lifecycle planning framework. The infographic shows the vast number of omnichannel touchpoints across paid, owned, and earned media, both online and offline. Ultimately, a successful e-commerce experience for both site visitor and online businesses depends on relevance. If you connect a visitor with the most relevant products and offers, they will see the value and are more likely to convert. [si_guide_block id="125181" title="Download our Free Resource – E-commerce personalization buyer’s guide" description="Implementing an effective retail personalization strategy can be one of the most cost-beneficial decisions you can make towards increasing your online revenue, improving your online conversion and building a loyal and happy customer base."/]

What is personalization?

There…

Every step of international marketing needs to be considered carefully because your customers overseas have very different requirements

Proving a big success nationally can make business owners hungry to expand further and while approaching the international market is something many businesses have the capacity for, it is important to look at factors that influence the success of trying to "go global" too soon. The strategies and practices that were a huge success at home may not suit customers in a different country or countries, and therefore it is vital that business owners are fully prepared and ready to tackle any differences head-on before launching on a global scale. [si_guide_block id="150284" title="Download our Business Resource – Balancing global and local campaign development" description="This guide's goal is to help senior marketers toe the line between maintaining a global brand voice and tailoring content to local markets."/] Moving into new international markets has many…

Webinars are great for generating quality leads, building trust with an audience, reaching more people, and converting more leads into customers

In an increasingly competitive market where consumers get hit with content from all sides, webinars allow you to offer them more value than other, more traditional forms of online content (blog posts, infographics, etc.). According to research from the Content Marketing Institute, 43% of B2B marketers use webinars platforms, and 55% use webinars as a key content distribution vehicle. Ascend2, meanwhile, has found that webinars are the second most effective type of gated content resource for lead capture purposes, trumped only by download offers, and Demand Gen Report has found that along with research reports and emails, webinars are the most effective tactics for lead nurture.

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Monitoring the right KPIs is the best way to avoid spending time and money on something that isn’t driving the expected profit

Is your SEO strategy effective enough? How can you ensure your efforts drive tangible results? What can you do to develop your website performance? Tracking the right performance metrics, you’ll be able to answer all these questions. KPIs work as a control system that lets you identify which tactics work and which don’t. What’s most important, monitoring the right KPIs is the best way to avoid spending time and money on something that isn’t driving the expected profit. [si_guide_block id="107298" title="Read our Business Membership resource – Big book of marketing KPI benchmarks" description="This handy guide will help you improve your return on marketing by applying thoughtful, targeted benchmarks and forecasting to your day-to-day marketing activities."/] In this article, I’ll highlight 10 critical indicators marketers should pay attention to.

1. Organic traffic

This KPI measures how…

Top tips for making a quick but effective content audit

One of the common themes I continually revisit in my work and writing is the proliferation and abundance of content. For brands looking to use content, and content marketing more specifically, to reach and engage prospects and customers, they have to think very carefully about the value and utility of their efforts and how this benefits their audience to generate action. There are many great resources and links to in-depth content audits, including Smart Insights’ 360 content marketing audit Quick Win. These are essential for anyone looking to conduct a detailed evaluation of a brand’s current content situation to make changes and recommendations. However, in this post, I’d like to highlight just five simple steps and techniques that I have personally found useful for making a quick assessment. This can often be useful for digital marketers looking to…