We see digital marketing as divorced from people. We talk about the stats, the visitor’s and the followers.
Well, I say the most important aspect of working in online marketing is seeing the people behind the analytics.
Bring people into your marketing in every way you can.
At the bottom of this post is an Action you can take to improve your website with your people.
Analytics tells you what people are doing, not why they are doing it.
What Are The People Doing?
Of course, you’ll want to know more about what people are doing. You wouldn’t be doing digital marketing properly if you didn’t.
The easiest way to find out is to use a collection of tools like HotJar
HotJar tracks the behaviour of your people and offers tools for feedback.
HotJar (Behaviour)
- Heatmaps
- Visitor Recordings
HotJar (Feedback)
- Feedback Polls
- Surveys
Heatmaps
These allow you, to some degree, to see where visitors are clicking or tapping on a website page. A part of this is the Scroll Map, how far people are going down a page, which is useful to know as you can place the most important information in the hottest areas.
Heatmaps can also show if elements that are not links are clicked on and a lot more.
I’d take the Click Heatmaps with a pinch of salt. They are a good starting point but not necessarily 100% accurate.
Recordings
Visitor Recordings are video sessions of people on your website. You can follow your people through your website and see where the frictions occur. Where do they drop out?
Feedback Polls
This is where we start having contact with people. A popup asks your people questions about the website. That’s real people answering questions about your website and THEIR experience.
HotJar does a lot more that the above. It’s a great tool (and we have no affiliation). Sign up to their newsletter. You’ll learn all manner of pertinent stuff about digital marketing and converting your people into customers.
Surveys
A more involved way of gathering info’ about your people. Even with only a few replies you will gather insights through their personal anecdotes of using your website. So, use an open text field not just checkboxes.
Panel Data
This is a jargon term for getting some people together to review your website and other online presences. It’s also the quickest and most insightful way of improving a website.
You can do this online. There are services that offer to use their panels but then they are not necessarily your people.
Feedback Loops
Build the responses from your polls, surveys, and data panels into a ‘dashboard’ so you can monitor the changes you’re going to make.
Ideal Panel Data
If you are serious and have the time and resources aim for a group of 10 – 12. Ideally this panel would represent the different segments of people that will be buying your products or services.
Sessions should be recorded and repeated at regular intervals.
Action for you
Option A
At the very least you can show people your website on different devices and ask them what they think.
Option B
If you have the inclination invite 2 – 3 people to go through your website. Ask them to do specific tasks. Buy something, signup or find information. You’ll be surprised at what you’ll uncover.
Option C
If you’re serious and have the necessary then aim for the 10 – 12 people. Film them and record.
About Conversion Detectives
We find the best quality traffic for your website and convert more of that traffic into sales or sales leads.
We use the full mix of digital marketing creating a blend specific to your business. From digital strategy to the tactics (how to go about that strategy) and the actions that make it happen.
We’re a full mix digital agency based in Hertfordshire.
Look us up for a chat: hello@conversiondetectives.com
About Post Author
