Behavioral Analytics

What is Behavioral Analytics?

Behavioral analytics is the process of collecting and analysing data from actions performed by users when they visit a digital product or service, such as an app or website. The method of tracking and analysing user behavior in order to better understand what the users want from the product or service you cater is called behavioral analytics. With the collected data, companies can understand how users interacted with the digital experience, and make decisions about how to improve digital products in the future. Data generated from behavioral analytics can be used to improve your product, satisfy customers, and boost key performance indicators.

Examples of User Behaviors Relevant to Behavioral Analytics

• Creating an online account
• Filling out a form
• Visiting webpages
• Purchasing a subscription

These behaviors — alternatively called events (for event-based analytics) — are tracked in order to expose user preferences, intentions, and habits. The better you understand your customers, the more value you'll be able to offer them.

Key Features

• Behavioral analytics tracks and analyses user behavior in order to better understand what they want from your product or service.
• Behavioral analytics generates data which can be used to improve your product, satisfy customers, and boost key performance indicators.

Third-Party Data vs. First-Party Data

Third-party data is accumulated by other companies and then sold to product or service companies. This kind of data shows details of prospects and customers except what they actually want — age, occupation, contact numbers, and addresses are examples of third-party demographic data.

Through a digital experience, behavioral analytics captures each individual's unique actions. This is known as first-party data. Through first-party behavioral data, you can develop a reliable understanding of how users truly perceive your product.

The Importance of Behavioral Analytics for Your Business

Behavioral analytics aims to empower you to make learned decisions that drive specific business outcomes for your company. Customer retention and engagement is extremely difficult if you have no idea about what's influencing your customers at every stage of the customer journey. Surveys, questionnaires, reviews, and feedback alone are not a viable long-term solution.

Data points like daily active users and bounce rates can help you determine where prospects come from and how long they stay — but not necessarily why they choose your product. Without knowing the intention and motivation of your customers, any changes you make to your product will be based on intuition.

Behavioral analytics provides raw data that can be used to form hypotheses and conduct A/B testing — comparing two versions of a webpage or app to determine which one performs better. This constant refinement leads to highly personalised experiences that deliver value through every interaction and feature.

How Does Behavioral Analytics Work?

After opting for a behavioral analytics solution, you can start extracting insights from your behavioral data. The analytics platform collects user behaviors from your product and integrates with tools like email messaging systems. You can then visualise the behavioral data through a dashboard or reporting system. After accumulating behavioral data, you will need to set specific business goals and objectives to achieve — without clear short-term and long-term business goals, it will be much harder to draw meaningful insights from your data.