My Safari “<https://

Safari Gold

<https://www.indiehackers.com/post/convince-me-to-use-analytics-on-my-project-504a4182b9>

* Pain:

"convince me to use analytics", am i "missing something BIG?" [worried, anxious, arrogant?]

"Maybe I'm being stupid"

i don't understand why i "need any analytics"

why are most saying analytics is a "no-brainer" or "have completely assumed that analytics is needed" without explaining why?

why do people think analytics is THE way to "sort [out] your fundamentals"?

why should i care "where people are coming from?" [w/analytics]

"explain why that matters" [either genuinely confused or antagonistic]

i don't understand how knowing where people come from [w/analytics] helps me to take action

i'm not clear about what actions i can take to improve my business even if analytics told me the source

"can you give me an example" of where you've seen an "increase/decrease based on using some kind of analytics" because i don't get it!

i don't understand how some data from analytics [HotJar] can help my product

even with that very long explanation, i don't understand how analytics [Google Analytics] helps "me understand my marketing efforts?"

in past projects, even when i did know the "source of my traffic" i was "never able to take action" and i'm not clear how it'll help me now

"how has the data become useful for you after many months?"

i'm confused by your jargon, "i've never heard of rolling your own analytics" [truth or being an antagonist?]

i'm "just building" a small "product and people are using it" why do i need to waste my time with the distraction [of analytics]

i'm negatively affected because i need to waste my time [w/analytics]

why do i need to measure "weekly active users"? do you? why?

i don't understand how "tracking intermediate steps [is] useful for user experience?"

[plugging in analytics makes one feel "data-driven" but] the
problem is they are only measuring novelty metrics

i don't understand why "analytics without strategy is not vanity metrics" [angry, confused]

analytics save you from "having to sit over each of their shoulders" [i like sitting over my users shoulders and i find it way more revealing than seeing stats]

"can it [analytics] provide an edge, an advantage?" [rhetorical question]



* Jargon:

analytics (google, gtm, facebook pixel, hotjar, plausible, amplitude, segmetrics, appmetrix, splitbee, squeaky, fullstory, mixpanel, heap, hockeystack, prisch, microsoft clarity) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
weekly active users (WAU) ||||||
hacker news (HN) |||||
cookie consent ||||
KPI (key performance indicators) ||||
saas |||
user experience (UX) |||
growth (strategy) |||
customer acquisition (channel) |||
vanity (novelty) metrics |||
marketing (channel) ||
minimum viable product (MVP) ||
channel strategy |
kool-aid (buying into the b.s.) |
VC (venture capitalist), investors |
indie hacker |
linkedin |
twitter |
conversion rate optimization ||
features engagement / adoption |
product-market fit (PMF) |
dogma (dogmatic) |
tracking intermediate steps |
privacy focused
early bird / lifetime deal
conversions
traffic source
SEO (search engine optimization)
gumroad
average order value (AOV)
customer lifetime value (LTV)
click through rate (CTR)
call to action (CTA)
conversion percentage
activations
retention / churn
measure objectives
Return on investment / ad spend (ROI / ROAS)
database
out-take level metric
impact level metric
data-driven
minimum viable brand
minimum viable product
funnel/journey/flywheel
zoom (screen sharing)
google alert
YC (y combinator)
website copy
driving bad traffic
quantitative
qualitative
GDPR



* Worldview

My new business is succeeding without using what everyone tells me I need.
So why would I follow YOUR conventional wisdom?
But, I'm sort-of unsure...am I missing something?
Well. I'm confident I'm not. Convince me
otherwise (smugly).

Oh gawd...
Why you need analytics is just so basic. Really basic. BASIC!
Must I be forced to chime in on this post and tell you why?
I spend a lot of my valuable time helping people on this forum, all day, every day.
I'm known.

Let me respond to that, indirectly, within another thread.
You know what is basic? Simply talking to your customers.

The metric to follow is cash. It's king.
That's the only thing to focus on when you're indie hacking.

It's refreshing to find you confirm my thinking. Cash really is the only metric to follow.
Luckily I found you, but I'm still not getting answers that align with what I'm wanting to hear.

If someone else also confirms my thinking, i'm going to express just how right i've been this entire time.

Well..I'm a very passive aggressive person. If you continue to demand from me the basics, i'll punish you by no longer giving you any of my help (instead of rewarding you with the answer you're looking for).

Lines are being drawn.
Sides are being taken.
This is polarized.
Picking a fight.
Gets attention.

Let me tell you all about analytics, business, and success - because I enjoy doing it.
Here are some buzzwords woven into generic strategy for you.
You're welcome.

It's absurd, if you don't have analytics you're running blind and WILL make mistakes that your competitors will take advantage of.

Ah ha! A thread about analytics 😏 a perfect opportunity to inject a link about my analytics product and list some of its features!



* Buys / Recommendations

There is a difference in needs for a VC backed funded startup and an indie hacker.
The former requires analytics, the latter may not.

You want to know if you're improving (traffic volume &amp; sources, homepage conversions, etc..) and analytics provide that.

There are a lot of good analytic platforms out there (ref: listed in jargon) pick one that works the best for your use-case to have the data collected now, so that you may use it in the future.

Analytics
is just  tool to understand your users.
It's less effective than 1-on-1 w/customers, but still a tool that helps.
Analytics fills the gap when you can't talk to your customers 1-on-1.

Once you grow more and more, keeping a direct line of communication with your users will be harder to maintain, so using analytics helps with that.

Analytics helped to understand where the user stops in our SaaS.
What they clicked on (or didn't click on).
Tells me the number of mobile users and I could dedicate the appropriate amount of time to addressing any mobile issues based on mobile usage.

When you're ready to scale, you'll wish you had installed analytics.

If privacy, cookie consent, etc... are a concern, just roll your own! [analytics]

You need to be aware of you WAU, and your KPI. Revenue is a multiple of WAU. So measure WAU with analytics.

"I am a very pro-data person but over the past couple of years, I have developed a very anti-analytics point of view."
In most cases, analytics only measure vanity metrics.
I do advise sorting out the fundamental stuff (insert: buzzword, buzzword, buzzword) and generating a strategy.
Analytics is a tool for evaluation and control.



* Why is this online?

1. Either it's a trolling exercise to build the OPs exposure / follower count acroos platforms.
2. Or the OP truly does not understand why they should use analytics.
3. Or it's a combination of both.



* Why does it have so many replies?

1. Analytics is "big industry" and its usefulness is being challenged.
2. Many folks here are part of the Analytics "industry" and chiming in to validate that.
3. Cognitive dissonance from decades of "how it's supposed to be done."
4. Someone drew a line championing THE unpopular opinion: <https://basecamp.com/gettingreal/02.5-have-an-enemy>

Safari Gold

<https://www.indiehackers.com/post/convince-me-to-use-analytics-on-my-project-504a4182b9>

* Pain:

"convince me to use analytics", am i "missing something BIG?" [worried, anxious, arrogant?]

"Maybe I'm being stupid"

i don't understand why i "need any analytics"

why are most saying analytics is a "no-brainer" or "have completely assumed that analytics is needed" without explaining why?

why do people think analytics is THE way to "sort [out] your fundamentals"?

why should i care "where people are coming from?" [w/analytics]

"explain why that matters" [either genuinely confused or antagonistic]

i don't understand how knowing where people come from [w/analytics] helps me to take action

i'm not clear about what actions i can take to improve my business even if analytics told me the source

"can you give me an example" of where you've seen an "increase/decrease based on using some kind of analytics" because i don't get it!

i don't understand how some data from analytics [HotJar] can help my product

even with that very long explanation, i don't understand how analytics [Google Analytics] helps "me understand my marketing efforts?"

in past projects, even when i did know the "source of my traffic" i was "never able to take action" and i'm not clear how it'll help me now

"how has the data become useful for you after many months?"

i'm confused by your jargon, "i've never heard of rolling your own analytics" [truth or being an antagonist?]

i'm "just building" a small "product and people are using it" why do i need to waste my time with the distraction [of analytics]

i'm negatively affected because i need to waste my time [w/analytics]

why do i need to measure "weekly active users"? do you? why?

i don't understand how "tracking intermediate steps [is] useful for user experience?"

[plugging in analytics makes one feel "data-driven" but] the
problem is they are only measuring novelty metrics

i don't understand why "analytics without strategy is not vanity metrics" [angry, confused]

analytics save you from "having to sit over each of their shoulders" [i like sitting over my users shoulders and i find it way more revealing than seeing stats]

"can it [analytics] provide an edge, an advantage?" [rhetorical question]



* Jargon:

analytics (google, gtm, facebook pixel, hotjar, plausible, amplitude, segmetrics, appmetrix, splitbee, squeaky, fullstory, mixpanel, heap, hockeystack, prisch, microsoft clarity) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
weekly active users (WAU) ||||||
hacker news (HN) |||||
cookie consent ||||
KPI (key performance indicators) ||||
saas |||
user experience (UX) |||
growth (strategy) |||
customer acquisition (channel) |||
vanity (novelty) metrics |||
marketing (channel) ||
minimum viable product (MVP) ||
channel strategy |
kool-aid (buying into the b.s.) |
VC (venture capitalist), investors |
indie hacker |
linkedin |
twitter |
conversion rate optimization ||
features engagement / adoption |
product-market fit (PMF) |
dogma (dogmatic) |
tracking intermediate steps |
privacy focused
early bird / lifetime deal
conversions
traffic source
SEO (search engine optimization)
gumroad
average order value (AOV)
customer lifetime value (LTV)
click through rate (CTR)
call to action (CTA)
conversion percentage
activations
retention / churn
measure objectives
Return on investment / ad spend (ROI / ROAS)
database
out-take level metric
impact level metric
data-driven
minimum viable brand
minimum viable product
funnel/journey/flywheel
zoom (screen sharing)
google alert
YC (y combinator)
website copy
driving bad traffic
quantitative
qualitative
GDPR



* Worldview

My new business is succeeding without using what everyone tells me I need.
So why would I follow YOUR conventional wisdom?
But, I'm sort-of unsure...am I missing something?
Well. I'm confident I'm not. Convince me
otherwise (smugly).

Oh gawd...
Why you need analytics is just so basic. Really basic. BASIC!
Must I be forced to chime in on this post and tell you why?
I spend a lot of my valuable time helping people on this forum, all day, every day.
I'm known.

Let me respond to that, indirectly, within another thread.
You know what is basic? Simply talking to your customers.

The metric to follow is cash. It's king.
That's the only thing to focus on when you're indie hacking.

It's refreshing to find you confirm my thinking. Cash really is the only metric to follow.
Luckily I found you, but I'm still not getting answers that align with what I'm wanting to hear.

If someone else also confirms my thinking, i'm going to express just how right i've been this entire time.

Well..I'm a very passive aggressive person. If you continue to demand from me the basics, i'll punish you by no longer giving you any of my help (instead of rewarding you with the answer you're looking for).

Lines are being drawn.
Sides are being taken.
This is polarized.
Picking a fight.
Gets attention.

Let me tell you all about analytics, business, and success - because I enjoy doing it.
Here are some buzzwords woven into generic strategy for you.
You're welcome.

It's absurd, if you don't have analytics you're running blind and WILL make mistakes that your competitors will take advantage of.

Ah ha! A thread about analytics 😏 a perfect opportunity to inject a link about my analytics product and list some of its features!



* Buys / Recommendations

There is a difference in needs for a VC backed funded startup and an indie hacker.
The former requires analytics, the latter may not.

You want to know if you're improving (traffic volume &amp; sources, homepage conversions, etc..) and analytics provide that.

There are a lot of good analytic platforms out there (ref: listed in jargon) pick one that works the best for your use-case to have the data collected now, so that you may use it in the future.

Analytics
is just  tool to understand your users.
It's less effective than 1-on-1 w/customers, but still a tool that helps.
Analytics fills the gap when you can't talk to your customers 1-on-1.

Once you grow more and more, keeping a direct line of communication with your users will be harder to maintain, so using analytics helps with that.

Analytics helped to understand where the user stops in our SaaS.
What they clicked on (or didn't click on).
Tells me the number of mobile users and I could dedicate the appropriate amount of time to addressing any mobile issues based on mobile usage.

When you're ready to scale, you'll wish you had installed analytics.

If privacy, cookie consent, etc... are a concern, just roll your own! [analytics]

You need to be aware of you WAU, and your KPI. Revenue is a multiple of WAU. So measure WAU with analytics.

"I am a very pro-data person but over the past couple of years, I have developed a very anti-analytics point of view."
In most cases, analytics only measure vanity metrics.
I do advise sorting out the fundamental stuff (insert: buzzword, buzzword, buzzword) and generating a strategy.
Analytics is a tool for evaluation and control.



* Why is this online?

1. Either it's a trolling exercise to build the OPs exposure / follower count acroos platforms.
2. Or the OP truly does not understand why they should use analytics.
3. Or it's a combination of both.



* Why does it have so many replies?

1. Analytics is "big industry" and its usefulness is being challenged.
2. Many folks here are part of the Analytics "industry" and chiming in to validate that.
3. Cognitive dissonance from decades of "how it's supposed to be done."
4. Someone drew a line championing THE unpopular opinion: <https://basecamp.com/gettingreal/02.5-have-an-enemy>