Using analytics to improve your marketing efforts

If you’re doing marketing but not measuring it, you won’t know what’s working. This guide shows you how to start using analytics to track your activity, spot what’s effective, and make better decisions. It covers setting goals, where to find analytics, and measuring impact of your marketing tactics.

What are marketing analytics?

Marketing analytics are the processes and technologies that allow you to evaluate the success of your marketing initiatives. Most tools that you use for marketing will have some form of analytics. The best marketing strategies involve collecting data from various marketing channels, analysing it, and using the insights to improve your marketing efforts.

The essentials of using marketing analytics for your business

Using marketing analytics can be a daunting task, let’s break it down into a process that you can put into action today.

1. Define your business objectives

Start by defining clear objectives for your business. What do you hope to achieve in the next month, year or even 5 years? Being specific with what your top level objectives are will make your smaller objectives clearer.

If you want to increase sales through organic marketing, you probably need to grow your audience. If you want to cut ad spend, focus on improving your CPC. Be clear on your goal—do you want to increase sales, boost customer engagement, or improve brand awareness? Clear goals guide your data analysis and help you focus on the metrics that matter.

2. Define your strategy

Your strategy explains how you’ll achieve your objectives. It connects your goals to your marketing activity. Without a clear strategy, data collection won’t be meaningful.

Start by identifying what type of activity will best support your goals. For example:

• To grow your audience: focus on content marketing, SEO, and social media.
• To increase customer engagement: look at email, remarketing, or community-building tactics.
• To reduce ad spend: focus on improving campaign targeting, optimising landing pages, or building organic traffic.

Then, choose the right channels by asking:

• Where is your target audience active?
• What kind of content or messaging performs well there?
• What’s the cost (money or time) to get results on each channel?

Match your tactics to each channel. For example:

• On Instagram: visual content, reels, stories, regular posting, influencer partnerships.
• On email: segmented lists, automated campaigns, personalised content.
• On search: optimised landing pages, regular blog content, keyword strategy.

You don’t need to be everywhere. Prioritise one or two channels that fit your audience and capacity. Your strategy should focus your effort, not spread it thin. Read my strategy guide for an indepth look at building your marketing strategy.

3. Define your milestones (marketing objectives)

Now that you have a strategy in place, you can think of what milestones help to showcase if you are achieving your goals. Try not to be vague with your goals, as this can lead to scope-creep or frustration.

A good objective is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). Here is an example of a smart objective for a business that has had an instagram account for a year and has 300 followers, but wants to grow:

“Grow instagram followers from 300 to 500 in 3 months”

This goal has all of the characteristics of a “Smart objective”. For each change you make, set a specific goal so you know what success looks like.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) analytics

The goal of SEO is improving your visibility on search engines. Before making any changes, it’s a good idea to make note of your analytics so that you have something to compare with.

Keep in mind that SEO changes usually take time to show results, often several weeks. Avoid making drastic updates without first identifying what might be holding your site back. Common issues include slow load times, broken links, missing meta tags, and thin or duplicated content.

Make changes gradually and track their impact. This helps you understand what’s working and avoid unnecessary guesswork.

What analytics should you use to measure SEO impact?

• Organic traffic – how many people are visiting your site from search engines?

  Use your current traffic levels as a baseline.

• Click-through rate (CTR) – are people clicking your site in search results?

  If CTR is low, test different titles or meta descriptions. Track a few target keywords to see if changes make a difference.

• Keyword rankings – are your pages moving up in search results for relevant terms?

  Monitor rankings for a shortlist of keywords tied to your content updates.

• Core Web Vitals – are your pages fast and responsive?

  Slow or unstable pages can affect rankings. Use tools like Search Console or PageSpeed Insights to check performance.

Content marketing analytics

Content marketing helps you attract, engage and retain an audience by creating useful or interesting material they want to read or watch. It’s not about selling directly—it’s about earning attention and trust over time.

Without the right analytics, it’s hard to know if your content is actually working. You might not see an instant spike in sales and start to doubt its impact. But content marketing pays off in the long run by having an engaged and loyal audience.

Track how people interact with your content, whether they come back, and how it supports your wider goals like engagement, awareness or lead generation.

What analytics should you use to measure the impact of content marketing?

• Engagement – are people reacting, commenting or sharing?

  Higher engagement signals to the platform’s algorithm that your content is worth promoting, which can boost reach and visibility. It also shows that your audience is paying attention, giving you a chance to deepen loyalty and guide them toward action. Once engagement grows, use it strategically - test calls to action, introduce offers, or drive traffic to owned channels like your website or mailing list.

• Follower growth – are you gaining new followers?

  Follower growth is not the most important metric on its own, but it shows whether your content is making people want to stay. If you see a spike to your follower count, you should explore your analytics to see if you can attribute it to a specific tactic.

Brand strategy analytics

At first it may seem hard to measure the impact of your brand, but there are analytics you can use. Your brand strategy shapes how people see your business, and how they interact with it. It goes beyond logos and visuals - it’s about tone of voice, values, and the experience people have with you.

The strongest brands build recognition and loyalty over time through consistency or thoughtful changes in direction. Use marketing data to track how people interact with your brand, what they remember, and whether they’re coming back or referring others.

What analytics should you use to measure the impact of content marketing?

• Consistent engagement – are the same people interacting regularly?

  If they are, that’s a sign of loyalty. If not, your content may not be giving people a reason to stick around.

• Brand search volume – are people searching for your brand?

  Use tools like Google Search Console to see what terms people are using. If they’re searching your brand name, that’s a strong signal.

• Pages per session – are people exploring your site?

  A low number here suggests your content might not be keeping people interested. Improve structure and add internal links.

• Email open and click rates – which emails are people opening and clicking?

  These tell you what topics your audience actually cares about. Use this insight to guide future content.

• Referrals – are customers recommending you to others?

  If they are, your brand is leaving a lasting impression. If not, you may need to improve the experience or ask more directly.

4. Select the correct tools

There are numerous tools available for marketing analytics, each with its strengths and weaknesses. Some popular choices include Google Analytics for website data, HubSpot for inbound marketing analytics, and social media analytics tools like Hootsuite.

While a lot of these are free, some of the more expensive tools save you time by pulling in data from multiple sources. Select tools that suit your business needs and budget.

Digital marketing analytics techniques

With the basics in position, it’s time to delve into specific digital marketing analytics techniques that can improve your marketing efforts.

A/B Testing

A/B testing, or split testing, is a method of comparing two versions of a webpage or advert to see which performs better.

By testing variables such as headlines, images, and calls-to-action, you can determine which elements resonate best with your audience.

Customer Segmentation

Segmenting your customer base allows you to tailor your marketing efforts to specific groups. By analysing data such as demographics, purchase history, and online behaviour, you can create targeted campaigns that speak directly to the needs and preferences of each segment.

Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics uses historical data to forecast future trends and behaviours. By applying algorithms to your data, you can predict customer behaviour, identify potential leads, and optimise your marketing strategies accordingly.

Implementing Data-Driven Marketing Strategies

Once you’ve acquired the necessary skills and tools, it’s time to implement data-driven marketing strategies. Here’s how:

Integrate Data Across Channels

Ensure that your data is integrated across all marketing channels, including your website, social media, email campaigns, and more. This integration allows you to have a complete view of your marketing efforts and make informed decisions based on comprehensive data.

Make Data-Driven Decisions

Use the insights gained from your marketing analytics to make decisions based on data. Whether it’s adjusting your marketing budget, tweaking your ad creatives, or targeting a new customer segment, rely on data to guide your strategies.

Continuously Monitor and Adjust

Marketing is an ever-evolving field, and what works today may not work tomorrow. Continuously monitor your marketing analytics and be prepared to adjust your strategies as necessary. This flexibility will ensure that your marketing efforts remain effective and aligned with your business goals.

Conclusion

Marketing without data is guesswork. If you want to improve what you’re doing, you need to measure it. Use the steps in this guide to set clear goals, focus your strategy, and track the right metrics. Start small, keep it consistent, and use what you learn to make better decisions.