Behavioral Analytics 101: The Ultimate Guide To Behavior Analytics

If you’ve ever wondered how people behave online and why it matters, you’re in the right place.

In this guide, we’ll show you how you can learn from the way people interact with websites, apps, and more. 

No fancy jargon, just simple explanations to help you understand the fascinating world of online behavior.

Let’s get started.

What is behavioral analytics?

Behavioral analytics is the process of collecting and analyzing data related to how users or individuals interact with a digital platform, website, application, or product. It involves tracking and examining user actions and engagement patterns to gain insights into their preferences, tendencies, and actions. This type of analytics can provide valuable information about user journeys, conversion paths, and areas where improvements or optimizations are needed.

Why user behavior matters

User behavior should be important to you for several reasons. 

We believe it’s vital that you pay attention to it because of:

#1 Customer satisfaction

When you understand how your customers utilize your product or service, you can make things so much better. This means they’re happier because you’ve fixed things that might have annoyed them. And remember that happy customers = loyal customers.

#2 User retention

Think of getting behavioral patterns like holding onto a handful of water. You don’t want to lose any, right? Understanding how people use your stuff helps you keep them coming back for more. In this case, behavioral analytics is used to learn how to retain your users so that your business can thrive.

#3 Conversion optimization

Imagine you have a shop, and you want more people to buy things. Understanding how people walk through your shop, what they look at, and what they buy helps you set up your shop better. It’s like making the path to the candy aisle super clear.

#4 Product improvement

Your product is like a car. If you know which parts keep breaking or causing trouble, you can make those parts better. So, your users have a smoother ride. It’s almost like making your car run like a dream.

#5 Personalization

As soon as you understand how users interact with your digital platform, website, or application, you can tailor their experience to their specific preferences and needs. This level of personalization leads to increased engagement, higher user satisfaction and boosted loyalty, among many others.

#6 Targeted marketing

Understanding behavior lets you create far more effective and targeted marketing campaigns. With proper insights, get ready for an increased ROI.

#7 Competitive advantage

Leveraging user insights can give you a competitive edge by staying ahead of market trends and customer preferences. Now who doesn’t like that, right?

#8 Bug detection

Monitoring the actions of users can uncover and address software bugs or issues, improving overall system reliability. If something’s wrong, it helps you find and fix it. That way, your app or website runs smoothly, just like a well-oiled machine.

#9 Security

Picture it like a guardian watching over your digital castle. Thanks to keeping an eye on how people behave, you can spot intruders or suspicious activity.

#10 Resource allocation

Understanding user behavior helps you focus your efforts where they make the most difference, so you get the best results. By this we mean financial, human, material and intellectual resources.

Other aspects to consider:

• User-centric design: the actions of users inform user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design decisions, all so that you can create a user-centric approach.
• Predictive analytics: data on users can be used to make predictions about future trends
• Feedback loop: it also provides valuable feedback that allows for continuous improvement based on real-world usage.
• Cost reduction: when you make optimizations based on behavior, you can reduce unnecessary expenses, such as marketing spend on ineffective channels.
• Compliance: it helps maintain compliance with data protection regulations, as you can demonstrate that user data is handled responsibly.
• Community building: understanding how users behave fosters a sense of community and engagement, as you can tailor interactions to user preferences.
• Customer support: analyzing users’ actions can lead to improved customer support.
• Innovation: identifying emerging user needs and preferences can drive innovation and help your business stay relevant in a rapidly changing space.
• Long-term success: a focus on behavior fosters a culture of continuous improvement and contributes to the long-term success of your business.
• Data-driven decision-making: behavior data boosts data-driven decision-making and makes it possible to take informed steps based on real user data rather than guesswork.

Discover how behavior analytics works in 5 easy steps

Now that you know all the “whys”, you might be curious about the “hows” when it comes to getting started.

So here is how you can begin:

Step 1: data collection

Initiate the process by gathering data from a myriad of sources, including websites, mobile apps, IoT devices, or customer interactions. This dataset encompasses user actions, clicks, page views, interactions, and more.

Do leverage tracking tools such as LiveSession or Google Analytics to capture and analyze this data effectively. These tools enable you to analyze user behavior and query volume with precision.

Step 2: data processing

Subsequently, once the data is all nice and collected, it needs to be properly processed and organized. This pivotal phase involves cleansing and structuring the data to eliminate inconsistencies and prepare it for comprehensive analysis.

We recommend making use of common data processing techniques like:

• data normalization,
• de-duplication, and
• data enrichment to substract your contextual information.

Such strategic data processing opens the door to big data analytics and unlocks the potential to proactively identify malicious or insider threats.

Step 3: analysis and modeling

The third step is also a simple one. Now you need advanced data analysis techniques to discover hidden patterns and trends laying within your dataset. Prominent analysis methodologies include:

• Descriptive analysis - summarize and visualize data to find out the details about normal behavior and anomaly detection.
• Predictive analysis: create predictive models based on historical data, with the support of machine learning algorithms. This lets you forecast users’ behavior proactively.
• Segmentation: group users based on common behavior or characteristics using cohort analysis. This helps in the identification of insider threats and aids in understanding users’ behavior metric patterns.

Step 4: visualization and reporting

Craft engaging visualizations, dashboards, and reports to effectively convey your findings. Here, tools like Tableau, Power BI, or custom dashboards could be useful for this purpose.

Visual representations simplify comprehension and facilitate data-driven decision-making. This step is  essential in presenting the results of your data analytics and enables your team to analyze users’ behavior with ease.

Step 5: actionable insights and optimization

Finish the process off by translating your findings into actionable strategies and decisions. This phase encompasses various tactics. This could involve:

• implementing A/B testing to enhance website/app features or content based on user log data and cohort insights,
• enabling user experience personalization through artificial intelligence or machine learning models that use behavioral data,
• tailoring marketing strategies to target specific user segments based on large amounts of data,
• initiating product improvements informed by user feedback and behavior data, effectively mitigating the risk of a credential breach.

Do use ongoing monitoring and iterative optimization of strategies, facilitated by behavior analytics, to continuously enhance user experiences and achieve your business goals.

Your tool for use behavioral analytics: LiveSession

Even though the 5-step guide is one of the simplest ways to approach analytics of behavioral data, we understand it might be challenging to execute by complete beginners.

This is why we can offer you a much easier solution that will get you started: LiveSession.

LiveSession is an exceptional solution for understanding user behavior analytics.

Here’s why:

Comprehensive insights

LiveSession provides an all-in-one platform for product and behavior analytics. It empowers product teams to detect user behavior, optimize the user experience, spot and address bugs, and boost conversion rates. With session replays and event-based product analytics, you gain comprehensive knowledge on how users interact with your digital offerings.

Versatile applications

LiveSession caters to a variety of businesses, including SaaS and eCommerce. Whether you’re wondering how users engage with your application, identifying drop-off points, evaluating critical page elements, or assessing feature usage, LiveSession equips you with answers to these vital questions.

Control and compliance

LiveSession prioritizes user privacy and compliance. You have full control over what parts of your pages and applications are recorded. The platform adheres to GDPR and CCPA regulations. As such, you don’t need to worry if your data is handled responsibly and securely.

Integration flexibility

LiveSession seamlessly integrates with various tools, making it an adaptable addition to your company’s software stack. It works harmoniously with popular platforms like Google Analytics, WordPress, Shopify, Intercom, and many more.

Customer endorsements

LiveSession has garnered praise from numerous customers who rely on it for continuous improvement. Users appreciate its contribution to enhancing user experiences, resolving errors, and understanding behavior on websites and applications.

In short, LiveSession stands out as a versatile and privacy-conscious solution for gaining in-depth insights into behavior, improving digital experiences, and driving business success.

With LiveSession, you will:

• engage with anomalous behavior analytics,
• conduct behavioral analysis,
• understand data,
• and much more.

Try it today and use behavioral data to make your business thrive.

Wrap up

And that’s a wrap from our side.

Now you know everything about behavioral analytics. 

With our expert tips and best practices, nothing will surprise you.

So don’t wait any longer. Jump into the world of behavioral analytics, gain actionable insights, and watch your business thrive with the power of understanding user behavior. 

It’s time to make data work for you.

P.S. Don’t forget to give LiveSession a go if you’re looking for an excellent start into behavioral analytics.

Good luck.