If you’re selling products or services online, it’s absolutely crucial that you make the most out of the traffic you’re receiving and close as many sales as possible. In order to achieve the highest conversion rates and maximize your website’s potential, you need to learn how you can extract valuable data from your customers, the kind of data suitable for further analysis, and here’s what to look out for:
1. Website activity
By looking at your server logs or analytics, you can often determine at which point a potential customer has decided to click away from the website, and even check the exact time spent on a particular page. Of course, you want them to stay long enough to complete the desired action (in most of the cases, this equates to filling up a sign-in form or completing a purchase). You can also do advanced analysis by checking which elements the visitors tend to interact with the most and make the adjustments accordingly.
2. Surveys
One of the best ways to extract customer data might also be the simplest one: by asking them directly! However, you need to be careful that you don’t bore them with endless questions, otherwise they won’t be willing to complete the survey. It’s best to offer some kind of an incentive, like entering them into a prize drawing or something similar. Sometimes, giving them additional discount coupons works wonders. If you’re collecting sensitive personal data, you’re also going to need a secure data storage solution like Jumio Netverify in order to remain compliant with the regulations.
3. Customer demographics
Even if you don’t currently extract this type of data from your customers, that’s completely fine. As you might be aware, there are several online providers allowing you to take an in-depth look at customer demographics without needing to present your own data (with Quantcast being a good example of this). Now here’s a neat trick that works even if your own site isn’t receiving much traffic: enter the URL of one of your competitors, and analyze the customer demographics to your heart’s content.
4. Referral source
Checking the referral source will reveal where your traffic is coming from. Are you receiving the majority of your visitors through social media, search engines, or another place altogether? Knowing this will allow you to custom-tailor the landing pages to their preferences and optimize the user experience.
5. Social media
Upon ordering a service, a customer usually leaves behind a name and an address. You can use this to check that person’s Facebook profile. Most users have it set to public, so accessing it shouldn’t be an issue. The reason behind doing this is to check what other interests and hobbies that person has. This is a goldmine of information, the majority of which you can use to offer additional products or services while making sure they remain relevant to what your customers want.
Conclusion
Business growth demands constant adaptation to the ongoing trends and the behavior of your customers. The customer data you extract can point you in the right direction spare you the dreaded guesswork. Have you already implemented these strategies into your business plan?
