How Craft Breweries Can Turn Web Analytics into Business Insight

When it comes to web analytics, craft breweries are in the same position as many small- to medium-size companies. Websites are built primarily to tell stories and engage the fan base. Gathering useful data for business decision-making is typically an afterthought, especially since brewers can't sell their product online. Free tools like Google Analytics tell you a lot about general site traffic, but getting real decision-making insight is another matter.

But the data is important, and could tell you a lot.

• What brews are drawing the most interest?

• How does web traffic line up with distributor sales data?

• Is the interest from distributors or consumers?

• Where are they located?

• Is our marketing working?

• What could we do better with our site to make more informed decisions, drive more traffic, and ultimately more revenue?

These questions are all answerable. And brewers don't need to spend a fortune on software to get there. The tools we recommend for most brewers looking to upgrade their analytics — like Opentracker — are inexpensive but essential to building a foundation. They can:

• Track individual site visits by location, device, and IP address

• Segment incoming traffic by keyword and behavior by product

• Identify (some) specific companies by their IP address automatically, or by manual tagging, so you can separate trade and consumer visit

• Export all visitor data for additional analysis

Google Analytics can’t do most of this. And, since there is no off-the-shelf software that tells you what it all means, or makes it easy to take action on the data, a bit of custom analysis is required. That's why we started Deducive: To help medium-sized companies make the most of their data, in highly-focused consulting engagements.

Want to learn more about how we can help your company? Drop us a note at hello@deducive.com. Cheers!