< back to index

E-Commerce Friday

August 17, 2012

Do you comparison shop?  What about with your data?

This morning I was wrapping up one project to move on to the next and came across an article on cross-channel web retail analytics.  Do you know what this means?  I thought I did.  Let’s both take another look.

A few years ago, cross-channel analytics referred to the aggregated analysis of data pulled from all of your marketing programs.  Now that web marketing has matured, we’re really just looking at the analysis of data from your web based marketing programs.

What’s the best way to do this?

We know that users may be converted into consumers from anywhere on the web.  We also know that in order to look at your affiliate marketing data you must keep track of conversion rates from hosting websites, social media platforms, search engines and more.  This also means you need to compare the data from each of these sources. By researching and comparing all of your data, you’ll understand your customer’s full experience online.  Then you’ll be closer to them.

Now your marketing tactics.

Rather than only researching your marketing tactics, think about where you want your ads, your links, your posts.  Who are you speaking to?  What does your audience want?  During my morning cruise on facebook I checked out the ads on the right hand side of the page.  There were ads for teeth straightening, teeth whitening, and a fantastic little ad for an online vintage dress merchant.    I’m 28.  I’m a lady.  I want vintage dresses.  I will be clicking on the latter.  This is a successful example of effective affiliate marketing.

(p.s. another great way to drive more traffic to your e-commerce shop is by putting your store on a Facebook page. Coca-cola does this really well.)

Now that you’ve got your ads in the right places, the conversions accumulating, and your sales rising you need to see how you got there.  Use your data from Facebook Insights, Google Analytics, and more, then compare.  Which is more popular?  Would your customers rather find you through a search engine or be your friend?

Without research and comparison, you’ll never know.