Google Looker Studio: How to Visualize Your Funnel and Avoid Reporting Pitfalls

In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, data visualization tools are essential for transforming complex data into actionable insights. One such tool that often goes underutilized is Funnel Visualization in Google Looker Studio. While many marketers and users tend to overlook its significance, incorporating funnel visualizations into your reports can greatly enhance your understanding of user behavior and improve decision-making processes. In this post, we’ll explore the benefits of funnel visualization, best practices for using it effectively, its limitations and share with you our fair share of experience with one of clients who we help with their funnel reporting when.

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Benefits of Funnel Visualization

Here’s a brief yet concise overview of how funnel visualization can benefit you.

1. Funnel visualization helps you pinpoint exactly where users are dropping off in the conversion process, allowing you to address specific pain points.
2. By understanding the stages where users abandon the process, you can make targeted improvements to enhance the user experience and increase conversions.
3. Visualizing the user journey helps in creating more effective marketing strategies by understanding how users interact with your site or app.
4. Lastly, with clear visual data, teams can make informed decisions  and take actions to improve overall marketing efficiency.

How we helped our client understand their funnel stages better using funnel reporting techniques

Background

One of our clients, Spine and Sports Medicine offers a comprehensive range of physical therapy services, including occupational therapy, chiropractic care, and even in-home care, all delivered by top clinicians with a focus on getting you back to doing the things you love. They generate leads by offering appointment bookings, guiding users through selecting a location, choosing desired services, inputting contact details, and submitting their request. This sequence represents their funnel stage, which we assist in tracking.

Our processes

We began by following our standard procedures, gathering all pertinent information and pinpointing key events for tracking. Using GTM, we established a tracking setup and implemented a data layer to capture crucial data points, providing clients with a comprehensive view of their funnel stages. Once everything was in order, we conducted thorough testing to confirm that data was being accurately sent to GA4. After collecting sufficient data over a few days or a week, we proceeded to set up the dashboard and start visualizing the insights gleaned from our tracking efforts.

The problem

As we compile data for our funnel report, we've noticed a significant detail: not all patients attempting to book appointments follow the expected sequence. Surprisingly, some, potentially regular patients, bypass step 1 (selecting a location) and proceed directly to step 2. This may be through bookmarking and typing directly the URL. This behavior results in the funnel shape resembling more of a bottle than a traditional funnel. 

What we did

We need to make sure that our client understands this, so what we did was to add some details into the funnel report to show how many patients/users are actually skipping step 1. In this, they have a clearer view of their funnel stages and how their patients make an appointment.

Are there any solutions/workarounds?

We have a few ideas in mind - we know for a fact that this is more of a user behavior so what we’re thinking is to force patients to go through the sequence, in that case we need to involve the client’s  web development team. However, this approach may negatively impact user experience, so for now, we've decided to table it and focus on using our current approach. Fortunately, this method does not affect the client negatively.

Why not use Closed Funnel VS Open Funnel  

Google's recent announcement introduced the concept of Open funnel visualization reports, offering a promising solution for recording user data regardless of where they enter the funnel stages. This feature appears to address our needs, but the reality is that it's not applicable to our current client Visualization report. While it's a valuable addition to Google Analytics 4 (GA4), it's important to note that it's limited to exploration reports only. Unfortunately, this functionality cannot be integrated into Looker Studio reports for our Visualization purposes.

It's crucial to understand that Closed Funnel methods, which only capture user information when they start from step 1, are also unsuitable for our needs. If users enter the sequence at any point beyond step 1, their data will either not be captured or will be disregarded. 

What we’d like to share with you

We recognize the significance of funnel visualization for users, which is why we've compiled examples of dashboards that can serve as a foundation or be adapted for your funnel visualization reports. Some of these dashboards have been created by users and shared in the Looker Studio Community Visualization. We've curated our own collection of dashboards to provide you with insights on setting up your next visualization report. We're actively working on these dashboards and aim to have them included in the community visualization plugin in the near future.

Before we wrap this up, we’d also like to share with you this important information to help you even further.

Best Practices for Effective Funnel Visualization

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1. Before setting up your funnel, clearly define what conversion goal you are tracking, whether it's a purchase, form submission, or any other key action.
2. Break down the conversion process into simple, distinct stages. Avoid overcomplicating the funnel with too many steps.
3. Ensure consistent tracking of user interactions across all stages. Inaccurate data can lead to misleading insights.
4. Frequently monitor your funnel to identify new trends or changes in user behavior. Regular updates help in maintaining the relevance of your strategies.
5. Segment your data to understand how different user groups behave through the funnel. This can help in tailoring specific strategies for various segments.

Limitations of Funnel Visualization

1. The effectiveness of funnel visualization depends on the accuracy of the data collected. Incomplete or inaccurate data can lead to incorrect conclusions.
2. For businesses with complex user journeys that don’t follow a linear path, funnel visualizations may oversimplify user behavior.
3. Setting up and maintaining effective funnel visualizations may require a certain level of technical expertise and familiarity with Google Looker Studio.
4. While Google Looker Studio offers flexibility, there may be limitations in customizing funnels to fit very specific or unique business needs.

Final Word

Funnel Visualization is a powerful feature in Google Looker Studio that allows you to track the stages users go through before completing a specific action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. By visualizing these stages, you can identify where users drop off and optimize your processes to improve conversion rates. Despite its potential, many marketers overlook this tool, missing out on valuable insights that can drive their strategies forward.

Thank you for reading!

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