Goldilocks and content marketers have a lot in common.

They both search high and low for that “just right” fit for their intended goals.

Through trial and error, they try out different approaches.

Gathering up their data, they eventually get enough to make an informed conclusion. This is the perfect solution.

For Goldilocks, the quest is for a comfortable home. For marketers, the quest is for messages that reach the target audience and meet company goals (like brand awareness or increased sales).

It takes time to find that right fit. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s trial and error informed with data. Using the right approach to find these data is just as important as using the right approach to analyze the data. The right tools using the right approach can make your life significantly easier.

That’s where Kissmetrics steps up to the plate.

The goal of Kissmetrics is to better understand consumer behavior on your website or online product, which helps you find, maintain and strengthen client relationships.

Kissmetrics Review: Get to Know Your Audience with Data Collection and Analysis

 

Part One: Data Segmentation

Kissmetrics is a tool that gathers, analyzes and presents data for you. Of course, all the data in the world is useless if you don’t know how to interpret it.

Information overload only serves to overwhelm busy marketers and make it difficult to pinpoint the most useful findings.

Data segmentation helps you organize the information in a way that makes it more approachable and easier to analyze.

Segment by activity

Within Kissmetrics, marketers can divide up their data based on a given activity. These categories include the number of people who added your product(s) to the shopping cart, the average number of visits your consumers make to your website before signing up for your newsletter, and so on.

These data help you examine your sales funnel, looking at every stage of the customer journey. You can divide groups based on what they did or didn’t do (such as people who visited the site but didn’t make a purchase).

Once you segment your audience into different groups, you can organize their contact information to easily send targeted follow-ups. For example, make a group of everyone who made their first purchase with your company. Send them a surprise huge coupon discount for their next purchase to help foster the relationship and increase the chance of them becoming a repeat customer.

Within these segmented groups, you can monitor these behaviors over time to better understand them and better target your marketing efforts to them.

Segment by audience characteristic

Another useful way to divide up your data is by audience characteristic. What city do they live in? How did they find you (direct Google search, social media link, etc)?

You can also organize by audience characteristic for different activity segments (such as looking at monthly active users in a given geographical area).

Once you make your segment, you can easily access their contact information to send targeted follow-ups. Maybe you’re hosting an event in a certain area or will be at a certain trade show. Send an email to those in the area with a heads up (and possibly a coupon).

Breaking up your audience by characteristic helps you get a better sense of your target audience profile and the influencing factors that make or break their purchasing decisions.

Part Two: Creating Marketing Materials

Okay—now you’ve got a wealth of information in your marketing arsenal.

Information is only useful if you actually do something with it.

Of course, you can analyze this information to gain a better grasp on what makes your target audience tick. But you also want to put that knowledge into tangible action.

Within Kissmetrics, you can create campaigns informed with the data it gathered for you. Campaigns allow you to automatically send emails targeted to individuals based on their behaviors.

For example, you could create a campaign so that anytime someone makes a purchase, they get a custom email suggesting related products. Maybe you sell beauty products. A consumer purchases some shampoo, so you recommend the corresponding conditioner.

These emails can be created within Kissmetrics’ tool which—breathe a sigh of relief—doesn’t require any coding knowledge. Make customizable, branded emails without spending hours fiddling with the backend formulas.

Once you decide what types of emails to send and what you want them to look like, you can set them to go out automatically. No more checklists trying to remember when to follow up with leads or customers. Create it once and then step back.

After sending out your campaigns, it will track results for you for further analysis. Then, you can take a look at your customized reports to see how things are going.

Part Three: Logistical Information on Kissmetrics

Kissmetrics is a pretty straightforward marketing tool.

Link it up to your website, let it gather the data you need, organize it in the way that’s most helpful to you, set up automated marketing emails and you’re good to go.

Like any new system, it may take a bit of time to familiarize yourself with the product, but the core of the tool is simple.

If you choose to buy Kissmetrics, you get the option of purchasing training sessions to set it up or hiring a Kissmetrics employee to configure it for you.

Given the complex nature of the product, you’re probably better off handing over the reins to an employee rather than spend hours trying to set it up yourself (or listening to your frustrated IT personnel struggle with it).

Another option that’s more sustainable is to pay for their onboarding services, to have them train your team members for the long term.

Kissmetrics Pricing

Here’s where Kissmetrics starts to look less appealing: The pricing.

The system will run you a minimum of $500 a month for their basic package.

Most companies can get all they need from this basic option, but larger corporations may need the services that come with the $850 a month option.

There’s also an enterprise option with a price point yet to be determined (this requires calling to discuss your situation with a Kissmetrics representative). The options come with monthly limits and will ding you with fees if you exceed these given limits.

If you’re hesitant about Kissmetrics, you can opt for a 14-day free trial. This is a pretty short trial window, especially considering this tool is all about data gathering. You need time to actually gather the data. Then you need more time to actually analyze the data. Then you need time to reflect on the data gathering and analyzing to decide whether the tool is right for you.

Ideally, this trial would give you a month at bare minimum. But it doesn’t hurt to take it out for a brief spin to get a better sense of whether or not it works for your company’s needs.

Kissmetrics Is Best For…

Kissmetrics isn’t meant for all businesses. The price alone knocks out many small companies and non-profit organizations. They just can’t justify dumping that much money out of their limited budgets on one marketing tool.

If your company is larger with more revenue, however, Kissmetrics may be a great option. Companies that are currently generating high sales from their website (or hoping to generate high sales from their website) should consider Kissmetrics. Better understanding your core audience demographic can significantly improve sales.

Marketers who are struggling with their sales funnel can also be in a good position to consider Kissmetrics. They can obtain the data on customer segments and use this information to send targeted marketing materials.

Kissmetrics can help them better understand their customer journey and better nudge customers along the way.