Beware of the Shiny Objects: Put Marketing Strategy, Management & Analytics First

If you have a young child, I would bet that you've seen Moana more than eleven times. Or maybe you've seen it without a tiny human because hey, it's a quality Disney movie with a pretty good message — unlike Frozen (but I digress). I bring Moana up because one of its villains is a giant crab named Tamatoa, who is obsessed with shiny objects. And I don't want you to be like Tamatoa.

Shiny objects are always appealing as potential quick wins. Maybe you watched or heard about Jet.com's hugely successful launch in 2015, Dollar Shave Club's “Our Blades Are F***ing Great” campaign, or read that Snapchat is (was) the fastest growing social media platform (in 2016). But as a decision maker as a small to medium sized business, you should turn to your marketing strategy and analytics first before spending energy to mimic these thoughtful campaigns to drive perceived quick hits.

Marketing Strategy First, Shiny Second

Simply put, before a company leaps into a shiny tactic, it should develop its underlying strategy.

By way of example, below is the outcome from a traffic-driving campaign and how it looks within Facebook, Google Adwords and Google Analytics.

Using “Organic Search” as our baseline, we see two red flags in Google Analytics:

High Bounce Rates: Only 1 out of 10 people in this campaign are reading past the first page. Compare this to 6 out of 10 for “Organic Search.”

Low Goal Conversion Rates: The rate is around 0.20% for this campaign, compared to nearly 7% for “Organic Search.”

This campaign, while driving traffic to the website, is actually driving poor quality traffic that is not converting into sales or any other goals. Herein lies the value in taking a step back and focusing on a sound, quality strategy that outlines:

• Key Personas: Who are our ideal buyers? What is our core audience?
• The Best Way(s) to Communicate with Them: What voice do we use, and what content can we create based on buyer intent?
• Measurable Goals: What are the outcomes we want to achieve, and how will we measure them?

Marketing Analytical Elements

Watch Your Website Content in Google Analytics

The website above has 19% of traffic coming from “Organic Search,” which should make up 40 – 50% of overall traffic. If you see something similar, your current website is not working the way it should.

Marketing Optimized Google Analytics Setup

Based on the table, this website only has 3 users from email in this time span, which is vastly different from what their Email Service Provider platform suggests. Therefore, we know the ESP isn't communicating properly with Google Analytics. This means the analytics setup needs to be revisited before pushing forward.

Marketing Strategy & Analytics Before Temptation

Small to medium sized businesses are always looking for new ways to increase revenue, but unfortunately, there's no surefire, universal approach. Instead, it comes down to developing a unique strategy, selecting your tactics, testing and analyzing accordingly.

In other words, don't be Tamatoa.