Whether your client has a full Digital Marketing package or just one service, with Google Analytics, you have the ability to tell the full story of your marketing efforts. Thanks to features like default channel and the ability to segment and filter data, you can pinpoint your campaigns and find actionable insights from users brought in.
Google Analytics Features You May Not Know to Use
Google Analytics is a one-stop shop for digital marketing reporting. From how users get onto the site to what they do once they are there, marketers are able to gather important metrics all in one place. No matter which Default Channel your traffic falls under, Google Analytics offers an opportunity to dive into the data to determine wins, as well as identify areas of opportunity.
The Basics of Google Analytics Reporting
Google Analytics provides reporting settings that gives you the tools to analyze users, sessions and so much more! Traffic Acquisition acts as your bread and butter, allowing you to see Default Channels, Sessions, Users, Engaged Sessions, and more. While looking at this data, you can also compare date ranges, giving you the foundation of reporting and analyses. You can segment data with additional comparisons such as source/medium, landing page, or campaign. This allows you to compare data within a set Default Channel. Additionally, it’s important to familiarize yourself with common terms in Analytics such as landing page, page path, source/medium, and campaign, which will all help you master the Google Analytics filters available to you!
Using Google Analytics Filters and Comparisons
What happens if we take the numbers a step further? Not only do we tell our clients how increases and decreases are affecting traffic, but where we can see value – you get a full report that tells a story instead of just spitting out numbers. One of the first things you should be doing when looking in Google Analytics is applying filters and comparisons to further segment out your data.
Adding a filter in Traffic Acquisition is as simple as the click of the button and a basic understanding of the options available to you (see above). But you can apply these filters to events and audiences to get a full understanding of user behavior. Instead of just saying “we see increases in Organic Search on inventory pages”, what if we include further insights like “we also see X amount of CTA interactions and form fills”, giving us a better understanding of traffic value. It’s as easy as navigating to the event you want to look into and letting Google Analytics know the information you need!
How to Build Explore Reports to Segment Data
Explore reports give us a place to piece together all of those fun filters we looked at earlier! Have a client who is extremely interested in events, engagement, and exits on a particular page? Good news! That can be an exploration report.
To build your explore report you will need to access your Google Analytics account. On the left hand side of the dashboard, there is an option for “Explore.” Click into that and select blank. Now you have a blank canvas to create a report that fits your needs.
Creating an Analyses Using Your Data
You have all of this incredible data – now what? Filtered data and exploration reports offer an opportunity to build an Analysis that showcases wins from your Default Channel. Providing numbers that showcase user behavior gives us a better understanding of the value of the traffic we are bringing in. Allowing us to showcase that not only are our optimization efforts bringing in increased traffic, but this traffic is leading to users interacting with inventory.
Whether you are using these insights from one marketing effort or combining it for multiple default channels, Google Analytics allows you to pull all of the information together.
Do More with Data When you Maximize Google Analytics Capabilities
Knowing how to use the additional features in Google Analytics allows you to build reports and gather data that best aligns with your goals. Interested in learning more? The PCG team is always here to help you dive into Google Analytics!
