User analytics is a methodology for evaluating data that reflects how customers adopt, engage and experience products and services. This data can also be integrated with user-level attributes and feedback for further segmentation.
Because retaining an existing customer is less expensive than having to find and convert a new one, user analytics can be used to find meaning in all of the data that your users are generating within your platform and highlight the key drivers behind what leads to attrition versus the features that keep set your product apart from the competition.
Why is user analytics important?
By itself, data that shows how long a user visited a page, which features they used or the frequency that they logged in each month only takes your understanding of user experience and user engagement so far — not to mention the time and resources it can take to consolidate and organize all of that data.
Instead, user analytics tools, which come built in to leading B2B SaaS product experience platforms, offer more advanced analytics such as heat mapping, A/B testing, data visualization and plenty of other behavioral metrics to show how users are engaging with your product.
Combined with responses from in-app feedback and Net Promoter Survey scores, for example, and your product operations teams can begin to develop a more comprehensive view of the types of customers that are deeply engaged with your product and the features that are driving that loyalty. This data can then be used to drive decisions and capture product insights that can be used to refine user experiences over time.
What features should I look for in a user analytics tool?
Choosing the right user analytics tool for your B2B SaaS business is an important decision, which could lead to a deeper understanding of your users and, ultimately, more lifetime revenue from each of them. However, with a lot of different options on the market offering a range of functionality, integration and power, it is important to know the key requirements you should have on your wish list:
- SaaS-Driven Features: Look for a solution that understands the need to intersect with marketing, sales and customer success teams, offering features that can handle user engagement through to A/B testing and customer journey mapping.
- Built-in Metrics: Find a tool tuned for B2B SaaS environments, preconfigured with the metrics and reports you need to accelerate your analysis.
- Robust Reporting & Visualization Tools: The right tool will make it easy to produce reports and views of data to more easily identify insights, track trends, and import and export data.
- Technical Integrations: To capture comprehensive data, your analytics tool must have the native ability to integrate with your company’s existing technology stack, including APIs and preconfigured integrations.
- Comprehensive Support: Look for robust onboarding, training and ongoing support to accelerate understanding and use of the tool’s functionality.
