I spent a summer interning at Kohl’s HQ as a Data Analyst.

I was in the Men’s Activewear Buying Office.

My days were spent staring at deltas, organizing data tables, and building macros.

And my ENTIRE job was analyzing what worked and what didn’t.

When I moved to work at a Digital Agency, Excel continued to stalk me. A large chunk of my job was storytelling with data.

• How campaigns performed
• What I recommended moving forward
• Why things transpired the way they did

So, when a Rooted Resources member asked me to explain what the heck they should be looking for in their insights, giddiness does not even begin to describe the excitement I felt.

But this is a huge question, so I want to take it down to a simpler one that we can answer with insights:

Do you actually need to reach more people?

I can’t even count on my fingers and toes the number of times I’ve heard an entrepreneur say, I just need to go viral.

Listen up: going viral doesn’t necessarily mean more sales.

And the numbers will tell you whether you have a reach problem or a conversion problem.

Let’s use your sales page and average conversion rates (~3% – based on an average service industry rate).

*This is a rough estimate, as each business varies. Plus, the higher priced your items are, the lower this conversion rate will be.

EXAMPLE 1:

If you have 1k people going to your sales page per month and only 8 people are converting, that’s a .8% conversion rate.

Here’s what this tells me…

People are interested in what you’re saying in socials, on email, or on your podcast, but there’s a misalignment in your offer (or how you’re presenting it). This misalignment could be…

• Your sales page copy doesn’t match your messaging
• The offer is confusing or doesn’t match the person you talk to on socials
• The value isn’t clear, so people are left thinking “that’s too expensive”
• There are technical glitches on your website

If this is you, you need to focus on improving and optimizing your website (and get more data here so you know where to focus!).

EXAMPLE 2:

If you have 100 people visiting your sales page per month and 10 people are converting, that’s a 10% conversion rate. Here’s what this tells me…

People are willing to buy your offer, but not enough people are going to your sales page! Here’s why…

• You need to be seen by more people
• Your call-to-action from social media, email, etc. might not be clear
• You need to sell more often
• Your marketing needs to match your sales page messaging

If this is you, you need to focus on expanding your message (or selling more often!).

EXAMPLE 3:

If you have 200 people visiting your sales page per month and 6 are converting, that’s a 3% conversion rate (average-ish). That’s great, but what do you do if you want more actual sales?

If I were you, I’d focus on increasing conversion rates before I focus on reaching new people. Here are a few ways to do that:

• Add more social proof and testimonials
• Rewrite your sales page copy to get more specific
• Review the path-to-purchase and remove as much friction as possible
• Add FAQs to increase clarity
• Ensure your mobile experience is just as incredible as your desktop experience (you’d be amazed at how many sales are lost this way!)
• Add a lead magnet that allows you to follow up with those interested in your offer

Now, look, I know what you’re going to say.

This is too complicated for me. Or, I don’t have analytics set up.

I’ll give you some tough love here…

…want to know what’s more complicated than understanding your data?

Spending all of your time and energy on the wrong things.

Knowing where to spend your time saves you hours of it.

Set up Google Analytics if you haven’t already OR check to see if your website provider already has it built in (e.g. Wix and Squarespace).

Instagram has these insights built in, so there’s no excuse not to be checking these!

Oh, and if you ever buy Men’s Athletic Clothes at Kohl’s, I hope you think of me. 😉

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Did this dizzy your brain?

I get it! Not everyone is supposed to be a numbers person. That’s why Rooted Resources is perfect for those of you who just aren’t interested in becoming marketing experts (or paying someone else to do it).

The templates are built to help you succeed:

• The website copy templates help you build sales pages that are clear + convert
• The DIY 90 day marketing plan helps set your goals + action items so you’re not letting analysis paralysis stop you from selling
• The newsletter and Instagram templates are filled with prompts to help you have clear calls-to-action and messaging