Who says you either have to be good with numbers or be creative? When it comes to marketing and advertising, you need a little of both.
By nature, I am very creative, curious, and obsessed with numbers, specifically analytics and data. Perhaps, the longer I’ve been at this and the more I’ve grown into my career, the more obsessed I’ve become.
You don’t have to be obsessed with numbers or good at math. But, at the very least, you need to know how to read analytics and evaluate how your marketing is performing. It’s pretty simple when we break it down:
Know the definition of the metric being used
Most platforms or software use the same terminology, depending on what analytics you’re looking at. For example, social media platforms will usually call them Insights and use terms such as Reach, Engagement, Interactions, Likes, Follows, etc.
Website analytics such as Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics will use terms such as Sessions, Pages/Session, Organic Searches, Entrance Page, Exit Page, Average Session Duration, etc.
Analytics sound and look intimidating, but once you familiarize yourself with the terms and definitions, they get a lot easier.
Side note: I STILL have to look up the definition between Reach and Impressions every time. I just can’t seem to get them right.
Look at the numbers
Depending on what it is, you either want them to be high or low. Some examples:
social media –
Highs: Reach, Engagement, Follows, Click-through Rate, Impressions, Shares, Likes, Comments
Lows: Unfollows, Negative Feedback
website –
Highs: Sessions, Session Duration, Pages/Session, Organic Searches, Users, New Users, Conversion Rate
Lows: Bounce Rate
Now, it could be argued that you want your pages/session to be low. But that would be an assumption. That means we are assuming you came to the site, found what you were looking for then left. Have you ever heard of the problem with assuming?
I love numbers because I don’t have to assume much. The proof of whether something is working is right in front of my face. Once you learn how to read analytics, it becomes easier to build and pivot your strategies.
all the love & espresso,
kierst