Episode 2: Let’s Talk About Data 101

Episode Summary

Data, data, data. I told you we were going to do the work together friends! On today’s episode, we go into the details about 101. I walk you through the specifics as to what to pay attention to in regards to: Google Analytics, how to track inquiries, how to track the sources and what did/didn’t book, assessing closing rates, and how to assess what is working within your marketing strategy. Should I do a part 2? What do you want to learn more about?

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julianleaver.com | @julianleaver

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Full Episode Transcript

Hello friends and welcome back to Mind Over Matrimony. We are going to talk today about data because that’s where we left off in the last episode—talking about this very interesting poll that Nancy Naring did for wedding professionals. It was all about how you use your data. Do you even have Google Analytics on your website? And a lot of people said they didn’t.

This is actually the talk that I’ve been giving around the country about data. I have an entire presentation about how to use your data and how to not be afraid of your data. The Nancing poll confirmed for me exactly what is happening: no one is actually looking at the data and they are really afraid of the data.

I started Julian Leaver Events in 2016. Because I am a crazy person and I love data, I really started bringing that information over. The way I started in the very beginning was inquiry tracking: What’s the name? What’s the date? What’s the source? Where did it come from? Did I send a proposal? What were the high and low amounts of the proposal? And ultimately did that inquiry book and at what level?

You can create your own inquiry tracker. You can also go back and look at data from years past. You need to have a data set to use any of this information. One year of data is not going to help you. Three years of data is going to help you.

I did that from 2016 to around 2020. I was looking at how inquiries were converting—how many conversions, how many proposals, how many people did you actually talk to. You can determine your closing rate. I say now data is my crystal ball, but it’s not your crystal ball if you’re not using it.

Then in 2020 when everything came crashing down, I had all kinds of time to look at data. That’s when I really started using Google Analytics. Honestly, it was probably connected from 2016 when the website was set up, but had I ever actually looked at that information? No. This is pot kettle, friends. We’re all learning.

The place we get overwhelmed in Google Analytics is because you open it and it’s this overwhelming amount of data. What I would say is just start with how many people are visiting your website. How many unique views do you have? Start there.

You need the views of the contact page and then how many people are inquiring. So you can look at that conversion: views of the website, views of the contact page, how many people are calling, how many people you’re sending a proposal to, how many are moving from proposal to contract, how many are actually booking.

It doesn’t have to be scary. Just go find those two data points on your Google Analytics. Take those two pieces of information, move them to your spreadsheet with your inquiry information. That’s how I use it on a monthly basis. We do a monthly business review that looks at all of that.

What I would say is super important is to block time on your calendar for this. We block time at Julian Leaver Events for data review and then time to implement it. We’re fortunate to work with an incredible marketing agency who helps us.

If you don’t have an agency, just block a little bit of time. An hour every other week to work on your business as opposed to in your business. It was very helpful to have an accountability partner. For me, it was this cake lady named Lauren Kitchens. She’s the funniest person and she just shoots it straight. I would say, “Hey, Lauren, I did this.” And she’s like, “Okay, I did it too.” And we’d bounce it back and forth.

What do you do with the information? Look at what people are actually looking at on your website. In Google Analytics on the right side, there’s a section that lists the top pages people are looking at. More often than not, those are portfolio pages. People are looking at specific parts of your work they’re attracted to.

That information changes every single month because people are looking at different things. Your client is always telling you exactly what they want through your online presence. They’re also doing it on your social. Go look at your top posts of last month. Do those correlate with what they’re looking at on your website?

If they do, your strategy is in place. If they aren’t matching, what do you need to change? The easiest fix is to match your Instagram to what’s being looked at on your website. If someone is looking at a wedding in Italy, maybe you just need to post more weddings of Italy.

It’s scary to break down your own ego and say, “Okay, I’m going to pivot. I’m going to look at this data and get a little agile.” But I think it’s actually kind of fun.

So recap: Track your inquiries. Start there. Don’t do Google Analytics yet if you’re not tracking inquiries. One project at a time. Then look at Google Analytics—unique views, contact page views. Use that to figure out how you’re actually converting. Basic easy steps. Focus on these tiny details and you’re going to be in an amazing place.