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Optimizing the Online Product Launch (for Creative Business Owners)

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Increase the effectiveness of your online product launch by taking a systematized, scientific approach to understanding and optimizing your business’ web presence and online marketing efforts.

Set Your Goals & KPIs

Consider your specific goals (e.g. revenue, leads, sales from a specific channel) and choose one or two specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each primary goal. Choose straightforward KPIs that can be accurately tracked by your Analytics system, and plan to check in on these KPIs regularly as you progress with digital marketing efforts.

Here’s a simple example of some well defined digital goals & KPIs:

GOAL

KPIs

NORM

Increase Sales from Mobile

Conversion Rate,

Revenue / User

2%

$5.75

Improve Website Engagement

Avg. Session Duration

2:30

Reduce Load Time on Shop

Time to Interactive

7.3 sec

GOAL

KPIs

NORM

Increase Sales from Mobile

Conversion Rate,

Revenue / User

2%

$5.75

Improve Website Engagement

Avg. Session Duration

2:30

Reduce Load Time on Shop

Time to Interactive

7.3 sec

Upgrade Your Analytics Systems

Digital Analytics systems must evolve to suit your business’ growing needs, so “set it and forget it” is not a good approach here. Your product launch is the perfect time to dust off your Analytics tools and take a closer look at what you are, or are not, tracking. Check especially on your KPI data sources.

While it may be tempting to skirt by with the default Analytics tool for your CMS (e.g. WordPress, SquareSpace, Shopify) you will be best served long-term by implementing Google Analytics, as well.

Google Analytics is a free, industry-standard Analytics system that is easy to install and manage, and provides a wealth of advanced features for future online business growth and digital sophistication. Follow our Google Analytics installation tutorial to be sure you are making the most of this valuable tool. 

In the pursuit of long-term consistency and efficiency, consider creating a Cross-Channel Dashboard to visualize key KPIs in one concise, accessible, recurring report. Your team will save hours picking data from disparate sources, while increasing report reliability and long-term accuracy.

Google Search Console provides insights into the search queries driving your organic traffic, and valuable tools for monitoring search impressions and clicks, your appearance in rich snippets, and the health of your site tags and structured data. 

High-revenue ecommerce brands may benefit from the advanced capabilities of a Heatmap tracking tool (e.g. Hotjar, Mouseflow, Lucky Orange, Smartlook).

Optimize Your Sales Channels

With your product launch quickly approaching, you’ll soon be directing hard-earned traffic (real live people) to your website. Like an in-person shopping experience, customers will form opinions about your business and brand from the moment they “step foot in the door,”  so it’s important to put your best foot forward. 

Leverage Your Marketing Channels

You’ve no doubt dedicated countless hours in the pursuit of building your online marketing channels: social media, email lists, organic traffic, backlinks, partnerships and more. Use your product launch as an opportunity to leverage and optimize all of your marketing channels, and to gauge their effectiveness as sales drivers. 

Every business has their own voice, and their own approach to marketing efforts; your images, promotional copy, and marketing style are uniquely yours, and must remain true to your brand. Whatever your brand voice, there are myriad digital strategies and tactics that will serve to improve the effectiveness of your efforts.

Track Your Digital Efforts

Keep a watchful eye on your Analytics systems, and your primary KPIs. Schedule time each month for a deep-dive strategy session, but check your KPIs at least weekly. Increase future efficiency and access to data by feeding all relevant data (from disparate sources, like Analytics, Social, and Ad Networks) to into one tailored, prioritized view. This can be accomplished via saved reports in Google Analytics, or using Google Data Studio for more robust, cross-channel Dashboards. For a boost in Google Data Studio ease and functionality, try using Supermetrics to populate data from abundant disparate sources.

Make Data-Driven Decisions

Your digital data have a lot to tell you. Consider the success of your KPIs, and analyze these key metrics across traffic sources, demographics, engagement, devices, and other factors. 

Ask yourself questions such as…

Make a conscious effort to use the insights you glean in this activity to guide your business decision-making and inform future strategy and resource allocation. Use your best historic digital efforts as a template for future success. You know what works, so replicate it, and expand upon it.

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