Boost your customer acquisition & retention thanks to cohort analysis

1www.universem.be

Boost your customer acquisition & retention

thanks to cohort analysis-

August 25th 2016#GAUCbe - @Universem - @hubcy

2www.universem.be

Co-founder of UniversemIndependent, expert and digital focus

3GAUC Brussels 2016Picture: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cadencrawford/8344048410/

Stop focusing on acquisition metrics only!

It costs five times as much to attract a new

customer, than to keep an existing one

4GAUC Brussels 2016Picture: https://www.flickr.com/photos/68532869@N08/17471462035/

The end of the single device consumer

48% of people are using at least 3 devices to

connect on the web in Belgium

The Connected Consumer Survey 2016, Google, Belgium data

5www.universem.be

Retention is key in a mobile world

Source: New data shows losing 80% of mobile users is normal, and why the best apps do better, Andrew Chen

Only 23% of users use an app 3 days after install

www.universem.be 6

How can we take these trends into account in our analysis?

Cohort

Analysis?

A cohort is a group of users who share a common

characteristic within a defined timespan

9GAUC Brussels 2016

What? In Practice

Example of Google Analytics

First session

Evolution over time

One cohort

10GAUC Brussels 2016

What? In Practice

Typical cases where cohort analysis are insightful

1. Telecom/SaaS businesses to analyse churn rates and define Lifetime value

2. Understand which channels drives the best customers over time

3. Response to marketing actions

4. Changes on the website or the way customers are served


Practical ways to use cohort analysis

Comparing acquisition sources behaviour

• Large ecommerce

website

• Evolution on the

revenue per user is

much more positive

for organic traffic


Practical ways to use cohort analysis

Comparing cohorts over time

• Mobile app

onboarding was

improved on June 18th

• Very positive impact

as retention increases

significantly

• What? In Practice

Easily add to your dashboardAdvanced segmentation available

All parameters available to configure yourcohort analysis (Size, Metric, Date range)

The graph for all users.

Data table per cohort


Cohort analysis in Google Analytics

Good to start but limitations are there for advanced usage

1. Maximum 12 periods of analysis

2. Only some dimensions/metrics are available for analysis

3. Based on cookies less relevant for a long period

4. Not easy with recurring revenues models (ex: SaaS businesses)

5. Analysis based only on first session. Not on subscription, first order …

Advanced

cohort

analysis


Beyond Google Analytics: 2 main options

From user data to insights in Google Analytics

Dedicated tools Visualisation & exploration tools

Focus for today: Excel


Leading Private Sales Bike shop

Sales only for members

Great offers on top brands

For a limited time only

19www.universem.be

Private sales business model

Visitor Member Customer


Veloflash case

Revenues generated over time per cohort

Note: all data for information only


Veloflash case: first conclusions

Revenues generated over time per cohort


• Peak of turnover the

month after subscription

• Members generate sales

months after months for

a long period

• High correlation

between new members

and revenues

Great visualization …

But how do you do it practically?


Creating cohort analysis

Step 1: configuration of Google Analytics


• Enable User-ID and setup

the technical

configuration to be sure

to track any visit of your

identified users



Step 1: configuration of Google Analytics


• Configure a custom

dimension with the

subscription date to be

sure that you have the

“original” session of your

users

• Format: YYYYMMDD

• Other custom dimensions



Step 2: Export data from Google Analytics


• Create a custom report

with key dimensions

• Month of the year

dimension

• Key metrics that you

want to analyze




Note: sensitive data have been hidden

• Custom

report table

• Be sure to

avoid

sampling in

your data




• Push on Export

and your have your

data available




Step 3: Build your model in Excel

Sum of all revenues

in May 2015 where

subscription date

starts by “201501”




Step 4: play with your data!

Start from business questions and analyse

evolutions over time thanks to cohort

analysis:

• What are the most effective acquisition

channels?

• How is user retention evolving over time?

• Is the Lifetime value of my customers higher if

they access my service from multiple devices?

• …


Veloflash case

Are my campaigns effective?

• When are we cash-flow positive?

• How much can we pay for a new member?

Marketing budget



Veloflash case

Are my campaigns effective?

Hypothesis: gross margin of 25%

3-4 months pay-back period

6-7 months pay-back period

Detailed analysis of the ROI led to more

aggressive & still profitable acquisition campaigns Note: all data for information only


Veloflash case

How is my conversion rate evolving over time?


Change in onboarding process Big promotion on Veloflash

Conclusions


Cohort analysis: take-aways

1. Customer’s behaviours require other analysis

2. Incentivize people to log in

3. Cohort analysis can be powerful

4. Start from business questions

35

Universem - Wallonia

Parc Créalys

Rue Camille Hubert, 13

5032 Gembloux (Belgium)

Tel: +32 (0)81 713 430

[email protected]

Universem - Brussels

Auderghem

Herrmanndebrouxlaan, 40

1160 Brussels

Tel: +32 (0)2 318 23 90

[email protected]

Hubert de Cartier

Partner & Project Director

+32 (0) 486 635 687

[email protected]

Any Questions?Let’s talk!

#GAUCbe - @Universem - @hubcy

Data & Analytics

Boost your customer acquisition & retention thanks to cohort analysis