As the excitement of the new year settles down, the industry is preparing for what’s expected to be one of the busiest seasons on record. Many event professionals anticipate being fully booked out in 2022 as we collectively try to catch up on the postponed events from the pandemic.
But, what if you’re not as busy as you expected? It might feel frustrating to see industry colleagues stretched thin by a non-stop stream of clients when you still have capacity in your business.
Rest assured that it’s nothing personal! Instead, slow business in a busy period is a sign your marketing funnel is leaking. Fortunately, your website analytics can shed light on significant gaps and reveal the areas of your strategy that need tightening up.
The three vital metrics you need to track—acquisition, demographics, and behavior—will highlight where the leak is so you can address it before it’s too late and make the most of the rest of the year.
On the other hand, if your schedule is already filling up, these reports can still be helpful when viewed from another perspective. Read to the end to learn how to review analytics when time—and energy—is at full bandwidth.
Let’s explore each of these reports in detail.
Acquisition report
First and foremost, you need to ask yourself the most fundamental question of them all: Am I getting enough traffic? If traffic to your website is low, it’s likely because your marketing efforts aren’t sticking with your audience. It may be related to an inconsistent online presence, disjointed branding, or confusing messaging.
Whatever it may be, reviewing your analytics will reveal the rate at which people visit your website and the sources that lead them there. The Acquisition dashboard will reveal valuable data about how people are finding your website, as well as the tactics in your marketing mix that are most effective.
Say you are a member of a paid directory, you are running Facebook ads, and you are pushing a robust Pinterest campaign—all at the same time. The Acquisition by Channel report reveals which of these efforts produces the most traffic (and the least), providing you with insight to adjust your marketing approach. Perhaps you find the money you’ve invested in a directory membership is better allocated to Pinterest ads (or vice versa). Knowing is the first step to optimizing your strategy and seeing meaningful results.
If you are not seeing the traffic you’d like, use the Acquisition report to focus your resources on the tactics that work best and let go of underperforming techniques. You may find that freeing up your plate of ineffective marketing efforts allows you to try new ideas that serve your audience better, like email drip campaigns or brand partnerships.
Demographic and interests report
High traffic with low conversions is a good sign that the people landing on your website are not your ideal clients. Unqualified leads are those that fall outside of your target audience, whether it’s a different geographical location, age group, or gender identity. But how can you know whether your website visitors are a fit?
Enter: Your demographic and interests report.
Demographic data shows you where your visitors live, how old they are, how they identify, and even their general interests. Consider whether the actual information in the report aligns with whom you want to serve. If, for example, you target middle-aged CEOs in New York City for corporate events, it does little good to attract newly engaged couples in their 20s from San Francisco.
This data may also reveal sources of bad traffic, like bots coming from other countries to crawl your site. Use this report to confirm the quality of your traffic and make adjustments as needed. Perhaps you need to consider new outlets for advertising, use more local tags on social media, or update Google My Business to attract the right leads.
Behavior report
You’ve got the traffic…and it seemingly aligns with your demographics...so why aren’t you getting the conversions? If the first two reports don’t ping any red flags, it’s likely that the marketing leak is on your website. It’s possible that prospective customers find it difficult to navigate or that it’s missing pertinent information needed to take action.
The behavior report shows you exactly how your visitors spend their time on your website. What pages are they looking at? Where do they spend the most time? Most importantly, where are they dropping off the most?
Use this report to determine whether your website visitors actually want to do business with you and how to increase your rate of conversions. For example, if you’re losing them on the Services page, you might consider including more transparent pricing. If the contact page is an issue, it may be a matter of needing a bolder call to action that challenges them to follow through.
Together, these three reports will help you identify leaks in your marketing funnel if you find that you’re not quite as busy as you’d hoped.
However, they are just as valuable if you’re wall-to-wall with deadlines, appointments, and other responsibilities. While you may be busy this season, what happens when you’re no longer relying on a backlog of client work? Tracking these metrics will keep your marketing healthy so you’re still in a good place when the industry settles down.
The key difference for busy entrepreneurs will be to run these reports with year-over-year comparisons. Going forward, the goal should be to maintain or grow your traffic rates. YOY reports provide you with an at-a-glance look at where your business currently stands.
Since you don’t have time to deep dive, this allows you to soften your gaze and identify general trends rather than digging into every little number. For example, if you notice a downward trend in traffic, but you confirm it’s qualified and interested in taking the next step, all you have to focus on is increasing traffic.
Regardless of how your season looks, remember that basic traffic data is only one piece of the puzzle. You must consider the people behind each visit to ensure the majority are potential leads that would realistically book your services. Once you can confidently confirm the quality of your traffic, you’ll watch your conversion rate grow and your inbox fill up with inquiries.
