As consumer buying habits and product/service research continue to move online, the need to develop and maintain a strong digital strategy is a must. How? That’s where digital analytics come in.
Digital analytics provides the ability to measure exactly where and how users interact with your online properties. You can’t have a strong strategy without knowing what your target audiences are doing online.
Think your organization is ready to take digital analytics seriously? Or, maybe you’re interested in expanding your own marketing skill set? If so, here are three tricks to get started.
1. Start with Google Marketing Platform
Google Marketing Platform (GMP) provides an integrated set of advertising and analytics products that gives you the ability to manage customer journeys, set goals and KPIs, create online ads and campaigns, and collaborate with team members from different departments. Additionally, it is a cost-effective platform where most of the products offer a free version for individuals and small businesses; for larger enterprises, there is an option to upgrade to a 360 subscription-based plan. (InfoTrust is a certified Google Marketing Platform Sales Partner, helping major companies use Analytics 360, Optimize 360, etc.)
GMP offers the following products: Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Data Studio, Campaign Manager, Display & Video 360, Search Ads 360, Optimize 360, and BigQuery.
For more details about all the products in GMP, check out this article and on-demand webinar.
2. Get to know Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager
Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager (GTM) are two products in the GMP that become extremely powerful for marketers when integrated. GTM is a tag management system used to manage and deploy marketing tags without having to modify code. Google Analytics is like a reporting vessel that captures all of that website data in easy-to-read reports.
Google Tag Manager
GTM is used to implement third-party tags (or pixels), which create tracking events, conversions from social media platforms, attributes and metrics , and other custom HTML scripts tailored to your business. It allows you to manage all of your website tags without editing code on the site, and gives the ability to easily test and validate specific actions users take on your website.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics analyzes how users interact on websites/apps and also can be used to measure online activities. It can track where users are landing on your website, how long they’re on it, and each individual step of the customer journey (i.e. completion, drop-offs, revenue).
You can then break users into different audience segments by location, mobile/app, demographics, new versus returning users, and more. There is a free version and a 360 (enterprise-level) version available. For more information on the differences between Google Analytics (Free) and Analytics 360, check out this on-demand webinar.
3. Resources to Get You Started (and Keep You Up to Date)
Now that you have the basics, here are some additional resources.
Online Courses
- Skillshop: Skillshop offers free online training for the Google workplace. You can grow your skills in multiple products such as Google Analytics, Campaign Manager, Google Ads, and more. You will need to set up a Google account to get started.
- Analytics Academy: Analytics Academy primarily focuses on how to grow your business using Google Analytics. It provides an overview on how to set up Google Analytics, build meaningful reports, and how to integrate Google Analytics with other products such as Google Tag Manager and Data Studio.
- Google Tag Manager Fundamentals: In this course, you can learn how to effectively set up tags in Google Tag Manager and integrate them directly with Google Analytics.
- Codeacademy: You don’t have to be a coding wiz to analyze web performance. However, having a basic understanding in website languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript allows you to test and validate different website elements.
Blogs and Guides
- Google Support: Google Support offers great step-by-step tips and common troubleshooting guides when implementing Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager on your website.
- Simo Ahava: Simo Ahava is a well-known Google Developer Expert for Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager. He provides articles, step-by-step guides, video tutorials on topics ranging from Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, SEO, web development, and working with the Google Cloud Platform.
- InfoTrust Resources Center: As a certified Google Marketing Platform Sales Partner and Google Cloud Partner, InfoTrust’s team of analytics consultants and engineers is on the cutting edge of marketing analytics. In the resource center, find helpful articles on Google Analytics, tag management best practices, and much more.
Want to Dive Deeper?
Explore the InfoTrust resource center to stay up to date on the latest analytics content, webinars, and live events.
