In digital marketing, analytics is king. Cross-platform analytics analyzes data from various platforms to gain insight into customer behavior and trends. With the correct data and insights, marketers can more effectively target their audience and drive better campaign performance.
But today, consumers use multiple platforms or devices. For example, a user may visit your website on their laptop and switch to their mobile phone to make a purchase. As a marketer, you must be able to track the users’ behavior and gather data and feedback from multiple devices. This data will help you accurately measure performance across platforms and create campaigns that drive better results.
That said, this article provides a brief guide to cross-platform analytics for marketers.
Switching To Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics is a powerful tool for tracking campaign performance and measuring the success of marketing efforts. However, Google has announced that the standard Universal Analytics (UA) used would stop processing new hits. Therefore, marketers must shift to Google Analytics 4 for cross-platform analysis.
With Google Analytics 4, marketers can now get a cross-platform view of their analytics data. Here’s a brief guide breaking down GA4 for Ecomm and why marketers need to use it:
- Based On Real-Time Data: Unlike Universal Analytics (UA), which tracks based on category and label, GA4 uses events to track user behavior. Such events include transactions, page reviews, and any other interactions.
- Easy To Combine Web And App Data: With GA4, marketers can combine data from web and app activities to better understand the customer journey.
- Better Bounce Rate Analysis: Before, GA4 had removed the bounce rate report. However, the report is now back and better. Unlike in UA, where the bounce rate was measured as a percentage of sessions where the users only viewed one page, GA4 measures it as a percentage of sessions not engaged.
- Machine Learning Improvements: GA4 also offers improved machine learning capabilities to understand user behavior better. This helps marketers in automating analysis and create more effective campaigns.
With GA4, marketers have a better view of the user journey and behavior across platforms. This allows for more effective targeting and marketing efforts.
Know What Data To Collect
Collecting the correct data is vital to any successful cross-platform analytics strategy. When a user switches between channels or devices, you need to know what you’re tracking and at what point you should collect.
Here’s three essential metrics that marketers should consider when collecting their cross-platform analytics data:
1. Engagement Events
Knowing how users engage with your content is critical to understanding their behavior. You can measure how many page visits, clicks, and video playbacks a customer will have on a particular device before switching and at what point they switched or exited the site.
For example, a user may watch a video on the phone, switch to a computer, and watch the same video again. This data will tell you that you might need to optimize your video for mobile devices.
2. Customer Journey Paths
Understanding the customer journey helps marketers target customers at different conversion funnel stages. Tracking the customer’s journey across different devices can help marketers better target and create campaigns that will drive more conversions.
3. Bounce Rates
This metric tells you how many people left your website without visiting any other page or engaging in any other action. The bounce rate can differ from device to device, depending on your website’s responsiveness. So it’s vital to track it and see where you need to change.
How To Collect User Behavior Data
Collecting user behavior data during cross-platform analytics is essential to understanding how customers interact with your business. When it comes to collecting user behavior data, here are a few several options marketers can use:
- Heat Maps: Heat maps provide marketers with an overview of user behavior. They show where visitors click, scroll, and engage on the page. This helps marketers understand what elements work best for their audience and which ones need to be changed or removed.
- Behavior Flow: Behavior flow helps marketers understand user behaviors, such as frustration from the first interaction to conversion and between different devices. Understanding how people feel interacting with your content help marketers better target them and influence their decisions to drive more conversions.
- Funnels: Funnels help marketers understand how many users move through the different stages of a conversion process. Tracking funnels can provide valuable insights into customer behavior and allow you to make adjustments to drive more conversions.
Conclusion
Cross-platform analytics is essential for marketers. It allows them to better understand user behavior across devices and make more informed decisions about their marketing strategies. With the right tools, marketers can track key metrics like engagement events, bounce rate, and customer journey paths. That way, they can effectively target customers and create campaigns that will drive more conversions.
