If you want to find out what online marketing strategies are leading to the most mailing list subscribers on your website, then you MUST set up Google Analytics goals. If building your email marketing list is a priority, then Google Analytics can tell you exactly what things are working when it comes to growing your mailing list. In this post, we’re going to show you the easy way to set up Google Analytics goals to track mailing list signups and what data you will receive.
How to set up Goals in Google Analytics
Fortunately, setting up a Google Analytics goal to track email list sign-ups is easy. All you need is a page on your website that you direct new subscribers to after they submit an opt-in form on your website. Usually, this is a simple Thank You for Subscribing page, or a page that lets the subscriber know that they need to confirm their email address.
Once you have that URL handy, go to your website’s profile in Google Analytics and click on Admin in the menu bar. Next, choose the Account > Property and View you want to track sign ups in.
Next, you will click the Create a New Goal button and name your goal Mailing List (or similar). Select the Destination type and click Continue.
Next, enter your destination URL. If it is http://domain.com/thank-you, then just enter /thank-you in the Equals to field.
When you click Save you’ll be set up and ready to go! Just give Google Analytics a few days (and a few sign-ups) to start checking your data.
Determining Which Online Marketing Strategies Drive Subscribers
Once you’ve gotten some sign-ups, you should be able to start determining where your visitors are coming from when they subscribe. To see if a particular online marketing strategy is resulting in subscribers, you will look under the Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels section.
For example, to find out which social networks are driving the most subscribers, look under Acquisition > Social > Conversions. In the Conversion dropdown, make sure that your Mailing List goal is selected – this will separate the data from other goals you may have set up.
To see what traffic sources as a whole send visitors who convert into subscribers, look under Acquisition > All Traffic > Referrals. At the top under Explorer, click on Goal Set 1 (or the goal set your Mailing List goal was set up in).
To see what content leads to the most conversions, look under Conversions > Goals > Reverse Funnel Path. Then select your Mailing List goal under the Goal Option dropdown at the top to separate it from your other goal data.
This will show up to three levels of steps your visitors take before they sign up to your mailing list. If you focus on driving subscribers from your blog, you will get to find out what blog topics lead to the most subscribers. Or, if you have multiple squeeze pages a.k.a. landing pages and giveaways, you will find out which ones gets the most conversions.
Bonus Resource
In this guide, we’ve gathered 20 ideas how you can start optimizing your campaigns.
Step up Your Game Using Google Analytics UTM Parameters
Now that you know how to track your email sign ups using Google Analytics, why not go one step further? Learn how to measure your campaigns’ performance using Google UTM parameters by reading this article – Optimize Your Email Marketing With Google Analytics.
Do you use Google Analytics goals to track mailing list subscribers? What traffic sources lead to the most sign ups?
(For more details on GetResponse and Google Analytics integration, click here.)
And if you want to build your email list like a pro, here are 43 Email List Building Ideas to choose from.