“How I can measure the influence of PPC on organic search in Google Analytics?”
I think it is an excellent question and I am sure every marketer would like to know the answer to this question and much more like ‘how I can determine the influence of organic search on PPC, email, social media, direct traffic, etc.
The answers to such questions can help you a lot in justifying the ad spend to the senior management/client.
I am going to answer the eight most important attribution questions for any marketer through Google Analytics Conversion Segments:
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What are Google Analytics Conversion Segments?
The Conversion segments are just like the Google Analytics custom segments but are meant especially for multi-channel funnel reports.
They are used to segment conversion paths.
You can access conversion segments by navigating to any multi-channel funnel report in your GA reporting view:
Through conversion segments, you can isolate and analyze specific subsets of conversion paths.
Different Types of Conversion Segments in Google Analytics
There are two types of conversions segments:
Default conversion segments
User-defined conversions segments
Measuring the impact of PPC on organic search traffic
Every marketer wants to know which marketing channel has a bigger impact on their organization: SEO or PPC.
The following conversion segment will tell you how PPC is helping the conversions completed/closed by SEO.
Step-1: Navigate to the ‘Top Conversions Path’ Report (under Conversions > ‘Multi-Channel Funnel’ Report‘) in Google Analytics.
Step-2: Click on the ‘Conversion Segments‘ button:
Step-3: Click on the link ‘Create New Conversion Segment‘ as shown below:
Step-4: Name the new conversion segment as ‘Effect of PPC on organic search Traffic’ and then define the segment as shown in the screenshot below:
Here I am telling Google Analytics to include all those conversion paths which contain ‘Paid Search’ as interaction anywhere in the ‘MCF Channel Grouping‘ and ‘organic search’ as the last interaction.
Step-5: Once you have defined the segment then click on the ‘Save Segment’ button. This action will not only create a new conversion segment but also apply the conversion segment to the ‘top conversions path’ report:
Note: Make sure that you sort the ‘conversion value’ column in decreasing order before you interpret this report.
From the report above, we can conclude that Paid Search assisted 1,344 conversions in the first row, 304 conversions in the second row, 308 conversions in the third row and so on.
In total, Paid search assisted in 4,589 conversions worth $272k
Without the assistance of ‘Paid Search’, these conversions would not have occurred in the first place.
You can similarly define and apply conversion segments to determine the influence of other marketing channels.
Measuring the impact of organic search on PPC traffic
Now it is the turn of SEOs to show their strength.
This conversion segment will tell you how SEO is helping the PPC campaigns’ conversions.
Create and apply the conversion segment named ‘Effect of Organic Search on PPC Traffic’:
Measuring the impact of organic search on direct traffic
Direct traffic is an SEO killer. So this segment is very important.
This conversion segment will tell you how organic traffic is helping direct traffic’s conversions.
Create and apply the conversion segment named ‘Effect of Organic search on Direct Traffic’:
Note how the direct traffic is stealing your SEO efforts. You need to show this report to your client/boss.
Get my best selling books on Attribution Modelling
Learn to implement attribution modelling in your organisation
Understand the customer purchase journey across devices
Determine the most effective marketing channels for investment
Click book covers to find out more
Measuring the impact of display ads campaigns on organic search traffic
Poor display ads, no one likes them.
There are in fact the poorest of all marketing channels as they rarely complete conversions or close sales.
So it is really important to know what role display ads are playing in the overall conversion process and whether it is worth investing in them.
Create a new conversion segment: ‘Effect of Display on organic search Traffic’ and then define the segment as shown in the screenshot below:
Measuring the impact of social media on organic search
Social media is an underdog in the world of inbound marketing.
Sure it brings a lot of sharing and branding. But is it really impacting the bottomline?
The following conversion segment can tell you how social media is helping the organic search campaigns’ conversions.
Create and apply the conversion segment named ‘Effect of Social Media on Organic Search’:
Measuring the impact of PPC on direct traffic
Direct traffic is also a PPC killer.
PPC guys will love this conversion segment. Through this segment, you can determine how PPC is impacting the conversions through direct traffic.
Create and apply the conversion segment named ‘Effect of PPC on Direct Traffic’:
Measuring the impact of social media on direct traffic
Direct traffic is really really bad. It also eats up a lot of social media efforts.
The following segment can tell you how social media is impacting conversions through direct traffic.
Create and apply the conversion segment named ‘Effect of Social Media on Direct Traffic’:
Measuring the impact of email on direct traffic
Create and apply the conversion segment named ‘Effect of Email on Direct Traffic’:
Similarly, you can create and measure the influence of any combination of marketing channels (like the impact of Facebook on organic search, the impact of email on PPC, etc) according to your business needs.
"How to use Digital Analytics to generate floods of new Sales and Customers without spending years figuring everything out on your own."
Here’s what we’re going to cover in this training…
#1 Why digital analytics is the key to online business success.
#2 The number 1 reason why most marketers are not able to scale their advertising and maximize sales.
#3 Why Google and Facebook ads don’t work for most businesses & how to make them work.
#4 Why you won’t get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing Google Analytics.
#5 The number 1 reason why conversion optimization is not working for your business.
#6 How to advertise on any marketing platform for FREE with an unlimited budget.
#7 How to learn and master digital analytics and conversion optimization in record time.
My best selling books on Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization
Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization
This expert guide will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of maths and statistics in order to accurately interpret data and take actions, which can quickly improve the bottom-line of your online business.
Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics
This book focuses solely on the ‘analytics’ that power your email marketing optimization program and will help you dramatically reduce your cost per acquisition and increase marketing ROI by tracking the performance of the various KPIs and metrics used for email marketing.
Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and BeyondSECOND EDITION OUT NOW!
Attribution modelling is the process of determining the most effective marketing channels for investment. This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling. It will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to allocate marketing budget and understand buying behaviour.
Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook
This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling in Google Ads (Google AdWords) and Facebook. It will teach you, how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to understand the customer purchasing journey and determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.
About the Author
Himanshu Sharma
Founder, OptimizeSmart.com
Over 15 years of experience in digital analytics and marketing
Author of four best-selling books on digital analytics and conversion optimization
Nominated for Digital Analytics Association Awards for Excellence
Runs one of the most popular blogs in the world on digital analytics
Consultant to countless small and big businesses over the decade
Learn and Master Google Analytics 4 (GA4) - 126 pages ebook
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