For loyal, satisfied customers, stop thinking of site visitors in terms of clickthroughs and page views. Here's what to focus on instead.
As the industry has evolved over the years, web analytics tools have become remarkably sophisticated, offering savvy marketers vital insights and a detailed look at what's working, what's not and what needs improvement. Yet, there are still many marketers who look to clickthroughs and pageviews alone to figure out if their site is effective.
Unfortunately, analytics reports do not typically include line items for two of the most important qualitative measurements -- customer engagement and satisfaction on your site -- so deeper analysis of the data is required. Businesses that truly understand their customers, and optimize their satisfaction and engagement with their site, are the ones that fully reap the benefits of web analytics and earn lifelong customer loyalty.
So stop, look and listen.
Stop running around in circles trying to keep up with everything. Take a deep breath and clearly identify the goals for your website and its various sections. Look at what people are doing and not doing on your site -- this is where the web analytics tools come in. Listen to the voice of your customers as they willingly tell you what works and what does not.
What better way to measure customer satisfaction than to ask? Tracking behavior and engagement on your site is getting easier with web analytics, but the very best way to figure out what your customers think has always been to strike up a dialogue. This can be done in a variety of ways, from traditional customer satisfaction surveys to a "How did you hear about us?" form on your site. Happy, loyal customers will often be pleased to participate.
Keep in mind that feedback from unhappy customers may be the most useful, though, as it can call out simple-to-fix problems that are now turning potential visitors and customers away. Find out what these problems are via personal emails or phone calls to past customers who have stopped coming to your site, or set up an email auto-response asking why customers want to unsubscribe from your newsletter.
When you have gotten all the feedback you can from your customers, turn to your analytics reports to fill in all the gaps. But don't measure your website in a silo: Incorporate data from other channels to get the big picture overview of customer engagement.
Pulling in data from other online programs -- the email contact center, blog comments, discussion group opinions -- can give you more insight into why and how someone visited your site, where he came from and what he is interested in learning. Perfect your messaging by listening to your customers; then ensure that it is aligned across all channels to promote a consistent, trustworthy brand and reinforce your primary messages.
When it comes to customer engagement ON your site, it is important to think like a consumer instead of a brand. Implementing Web 2.0 features can encourage visitors to stick around for a while and engage more deeply with your brand and offerings. At the same time, they can provide an extra layer of interaction and feedback that you can use to measure customer satisfaction.
Consider adding a corporate blog with a comment feature, videos with rating scales or consumer-generated reviews. On top of providing valuable insight into the hearts and minds of your customers, these features will help to showcase your innovative, cutting-edge appeal.
Fortunately, there are other measurements of customer engagement that are clear and obvious. Frequency of purchase, referrals and forwards to friends, signing up for newsletters and hosting your widget on their social networking pages are all ways that your customers tell you that they are happy and satisfied. On the other hand, writing a negative review of your product or making fun of you on their blogs are consumer activities even more important to monitor.
Knowing what to measure and how to measure it is only half the battle. It is imperative to take your knowledge to the next level to optimize customer satisfaction and engagement on your site. Use behavioral targeting data to personalize your site for different target groups and boost engagement. Send transactional emails to keep customers coming back to your site again and again. Pay attention to comments on your blog and consumer reviews, and make a point to personally respond back to show your appreciation for their feedback. And if customers are unsubscribing because of broken images or links, be sure to fix the problems.
If you stop thinking of consumers in terms of clickthroughs and pageviews and take the time to focus on your visitors' individual relationships with your brand and your site, you will be rewarded with life-long, satisfied customers. Engage with your customers, converse with your customers, listen to your customers -- and reap the rewards.
Jim Sterne is chairman of the Web Analytics Association (WAA), producer of the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit and president of Target Marketing. Read full bio.