Product Analytics: 4 key considerations for success

Every week of the year dozens of new digital products are launched into the market – products that need constant maintenance to provide value to users and generate revenue for businesses. This requires a shift in behaviour/understanding from traditional businesses to ensure success. Digital products are never static, they grow and they morph to better deliver against customer needs and business expectations. But to know what’s required beyond simple maintenance it’s essential to track and understand user behaviour.

This has led to a raft of new digital products launched into the market – products that need constant maintenance to provide value to users and generate revenue. This requires a shift in behaviour/understanding from traditional businesses to ensure success. In order to know what maintenance to carry out, it’s essential to track and understand user behaviour.

And while traditional businesses are typically well-versed in marketing analytics – using Google Analytics, for example – product analytics is a new skill that needs to be identified and learnt.

With this in mind, here are four key pointers that businesses launching digital products need to consider.

1.  Think product analytics, not marketing analytics

Often traditional businesses will lean on existing resources to launch new products, especially marketing teams, rather than investing in a new product management team. This is understandable as it’s marketing who knows how to speak to their existing or prospective customers and what it takes for them to visit the website, download an app and so on. The danger with this is in launching a product that lacks the necessary tools and processes to truly succeed.

Google Analytics is a great tool to understand how marketing activity is performing, but it doesn’t do a very good job of tracking how a product is being used. It’s a common trap, trying to use a marketing solution to monitor the performance of a product.

Product analytics goes beyond marketing performance activity to give you information on:

• How user behaviours differ between groups. For example, what do loyal customers do that single purchase customers don’t?
• Why is one person converting when another isn’t?
• What are the key drivers for retention?
• What effect did a new element of your platform have on engagement or conversion?

Google Analytics is great for understanding how people find you, but it won’t give you information on these product points. Having both a marketing analytics tool like Google Analytics and a product analytics solution is essential in order to drive maximum value from your digital product.

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