Do you play sports? Or did you play sports growing up? Or really any sort of activity where maybe you weren’t very good at first, or maybe you were good, but you wanted to get better. I played basketball growing up. I was never the best, but I would consider myself pretty good. As everyone does, I had my strengths and weaknesses. I was a much better defender because I was quick on my feet and anticipated the ball movements well. But I wasn’t always the best ball handler, and I was definitely not the girl putting up double digit baskets each game.
Why do you care about my high school basketball days? Because the point is, I got better. I worked my ass off every single day in practice. I practiced 6-7 days a week (even in the off season). I shot more free throws then you can count, I did so much agility and strength training and over time, I improved. How did I know I improved? Well, I made my baskets, I got more playing time, I ran faster miles, I lifted heavier weights, etc. I had specific metrics that were measurable that I could compare to what I had done a few weeks prior, to the season prior. If I hadn’t tracked, or had anything to compare it to, how would I have known what I was doing wrong, or not well, and what I was excelling at? How could I rate my improvement over time? The same way you analyze your progress in sports, school, work, life, etc. you have to do the same in your business.
So let me ask you this, are you analyzing your business? Social content, website analytics, email marketing metrics, customer feedback, etc? And secondly, do you know what these metrics mean?
Here are 5 ways to implement analysis into your business to help you hit your goals, consistently:
Review your social analytics regularly.
Most social platforms have this integrated into their backend now, making it so easy for you to review. If you don't have a business Instagram account, get one! The insights tab alone will help you understand the best times to post, what posts perform well, who your audience is, where your audience is located, etc. So much great data from reviewing your social content - this goes for looking at your likes/comments/engagement on your posts as well to see what people want to see more of. I use the poll and question features on my Instagram story a lot to gain additional insights from my audience.
Look at your Email Marketing Reports.
Every time you send out an email campaign review the report. Don’t just look at your open rate. See what links people clicked on the most and then tweak and resend the campaign a week later (maybe with a new subject line) or send a follow up to those who didn't open it. Understanding your email marketing analytics is SO helpful to tailoring future campaigns. The best lessons I’ve learned about email marketing have come from Jenna Kutcher and her podcast, Goal Digger. I dig her freebie/downloadable on email subject lines. It was probably one of the best freebies I’ve ever downloaded, but seriously.
Ask for Reviews.
Do you get reviews from your clients/customers regularly? Feedback is SO important to help you understand what you're doing right and what you could improve on. These are the people you TRUST too to give you honest feedback. You can also use these reviews/testimonials for your website, social content and more to reinforce or build that know, like and trust factor for your audience.
Install all things Google.
Whenever I start with a new client I make sure they have Google Analytics + Google Search Console set up. If you want to be able to track search keywords through Google to your website, you must have these set up. Google Analytics gives you SO much insight to your page traffic and demographics. You can specifically look through a user journey once on your website to determine where they fall off (exit rates), what led them to a purchase or to book a call with you, and what directed them to your website to begin with (social, direct link, specific search term, etc).
Analyze the “other” category.
Outside of just the online marketing piece, what else are you investing in your business and what’s the ROI? Are you spending money on platforms that are supposed to either speed up processes for you, make your life easier, or take work off your plate completely? Are they doing the things and getting the results you initially wanted them to do? You don’t have to use the sexiest platforms that everyone else is using. Find what works for you, what you need in your business now, and what no longer is serving you. Look at all your expenses - do you have a graphic designer, writer, social media manager, assistant, etc.? How are you measuring their return on your investment? Are these people, platforms, systems, things, etc. all benefiting your business?
What steps are you taking to make sure you’re analyzing your business? Are you improving over time? Are you making the right investments? How are you measuring your ROI? Is this something you do regularly? Think on these questions and determine when and how you’re going to review your business -- on a consistent basis -- to ensure you’re improving and growing.
Like what you just read? I hope this was helpful for you! If you want even more great content delivered right to your inbox, sign up for my email list here.
Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.
After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.
Katelyn is also a soon-to-be wife, stepmom, dog mama of two furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.
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