How to Sell Web Analytics

While I was at the Google Analytics Certified Partner summit this year, someone came up to me and asked:

How do you sell web analytics?

This is a question I deal with quite often, both internally within the agency I work for and when trying to convey the value of web analytics to clients.

The short answer is that you shouldn’t be trying to sell web analytics.

Web analytics is a tool, a means to an ends.

It has no inherent value by itself. It’s only through the analysis of data and providing actionable insights that it creates value.

You should be selling the value that can be gained by a proper web analytics implementation and actionable analysis.

Marketing people talk about selling the benefits, not the features.

Web analytics is a feature.
Improving the bottom line is a benefit.

A simple analogy is HTML (the code used to create web pages).
Imagine if you tried to pitch HTML services to a business. They would probably be scratching their heads as to why they need your services.

Now imagine pitching web site creation services, providing real world examples on how businesses have improved their bottom live with their web site.
Now they’re listening.

When selling services that include web analytics, try starting with the end result and then work your way backwards. If you start with the prize, people will usually pay more attention.

Here’s an example:

1. I can help you make an additional $80,000 a year
2. It will cost you a one time investment of $25,000 investment and $1,000 a month
3. You’re currently doing 3,000 sales a year
4. I will get you 400 additional sales a year (average sale value is $200)
5. The additional sales will come from improving your overall conversion rate by 13.3%
6. Improving the overall conversion rate will coming from decreasing bounce rates, increasing “add to cart” rates and decreasing cart abandonment.
7. The above improvements will come from making changes on the web site
8. We’ll test a few options until we find something that works (split testing)
9. We’ll know what changes to test based on data that tells us what people are doing on your web site
10. In order to get the data that we need, we have to install web analytics on the site and then analyze the data

The problem is that many web analytics businesses start their pitch with step 10 and then work their way to step 1.

When people ask me what I do for a living, the answers have changed over the years, but now I usually answer along the lines of:

I help web sites do better at whatever they’re try to do.
Specifically, I learn the business objectives and then do some detective work, finding issues that can be improved and then I improve them.

As always, comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Ophir