Cohort Analysis

Cohort analysis is, in brief, a marketing strategy tailored for a specific group, directed towards a defined customer base that the brand has identified.

What Does Cohort Mean?

The marketing process is segmented by appealing to broad audiences. The market is segmented, and the segmented market is personalized based on customer-specific methods. The cohort process defines this narrowing. In this context, cohort marketing is one of the most valuable terms. Today, for a product or service to establish itself and stand out in the market, it needs to adapt to the marketing system. It must be accepted by consumers. This can be achieved by taking a more micro-level approach to the market, rather than considering the market as a whole. Market segmentation, inherent in marketing, is related to this. We can already talk about the existence of processes that professionally use market segmentation today.

The term ‘cohort’ has its origins in the Roman Empire, where it represented only one of the infantry cohorts. It is known that ten cohorts formed a legion when combined. In today’s definition, this term can be synonymous with companion, friend, comrade, colleague, or partner. In the field of marketing science, it refers to separation, segmentation, grouping, meaning a more in-depth breakdown, or fragmentation. Similarly, in some marketing sources, the term ‘cohort’ carries meanings such as colleague or friend. It often appears to describe groups that share the same definition.

In the digital marketing process, a brand may need to shape itself according to customer expectations. It may need to flex and expand its focal points. Although the term cohort marketing may sound foreign, it is used to describe a situation in the marketing process that is not at all unfamiliar. The marketing department knows that every market is different, with unique characteristics. The rules that apply in one market may be invalid in another market, or even in the same market, adjustments may need to be made over time. This is because we are facing the reality of adapting to the rapid changes in thoughts and opinions. With cohort analysis, you can closely monitor the strategies to highlight your product.

What Is Cohort Analysis?

Performing cohort analysis means understanding the audience defined according to the cohort strategy you will implement. Conducting cohort analysis for seasonality, customer lifecycle, and the long-term healthy productions of your business is a powerful tool.

Google Analytics 4 can be used for cohort analysis. You will notice some features in the beta version under the “Audience” tab in Google Analytics. One of these beta features is called Cohort Analysis. You can gain a good understanding of what cohort analysis is in Google Analytics. As mentioned above, a cohort is the identification of a group sharing the same characteristic.

The concept of cohort analysis separates users into groups based on specific criteria and examines how the behaviors of these groups change over time. Cohort analysis is to help you understand how your marketing efforts affect key performance indicators such as conversion rates, retention rates, return on investment, and more.

What Does Cohort Analysis Do?

One of the most significant benefits of cohort analysis is the accurate evaluation of advertising campaigns. Not all users who visit your site for the first time complete a conversion process. Some people may have visited your site to review your offers, assess your pros and cons, and may take time to compare with competitors before deciding to make a purchase, subscribe, or sign up.

This is particularly true for businesses with delayed conversions, long sales cycles, and expensive products. The longer the time between the first visit and the completion of the conversion, the higher the risk of incorrectly evaluating the effectiveness of your advertising channels. Cohort analysis helps solve this problem. For example, if you started a paid advertising campaign in November and examined the results a month later, you might see a return on investment below 100%. In this case, your first thought might be to stop the ad. However, accepting this result directly is not a good and accurate choice. Instead, you can wait a little longer as a trial.

By analyzing the group of users interested in this advertising campaign in November and comparing it with the group of users in the return on investment report in January, you may notice a significant growth. You can see that people have been thinking for more than a month but eventually made a purchase.

Why Cohort Analysis Is Important?

The most crucial aspect of cohort analysis is being able to identify where your most loyal customers come from. This way, you can define a specific customer group and analyze their habits. For instance, you can create a visitor group that first accessed your site in January and June, then segment them based on the attraction channel.

After segmenting, you can compare retention rates for each channel. Additionally, you have the chance to repeat the purchase rate on a monthly basis. You will notice that channels with higher rates are noteworthy and more valuable for investment. Analyzing group behavior will help you plan your marketing campaigns more effectively, enabling you to take the right steps for your brand.

How to Perform Cohort Analysis?

Performing cohort analysis in Google Analytics is quite simple. In Google Analytics, you will find the Cohort Analysis tab in the “Audience” section on the left side. You need to enter this tab, and you’ll see an analysis table. This table will display detailed analyses day by day, month by month, with a detailed graph. If you want to structure your report, you can use some selections at the top. Afterward, you can access various sections of the analysis. You can see the overall performance of your groups over time with a line graph or a cohort graph. Cohort graphs are easy-to-read graphs that even beginners can understand.

If you need to configure cohort analysis, you can first define how you want to group your users. Currently, only the “Acquisition Date” group is supported in the beta version. In the future, you may encounter different cohort definitions. You can use “Cohort Size” to adjust the time interval of your cohort. You can view the acquisition date daily, weekly, or monthly. The “Metric” section selects the measurement you want to draw. The “Date Range” defines how far back you want to start the analysis. The allowed date range depends on the group size you defined. You can look back up to 30 days, 12 weeks, or 3 months.

Where Is Cohort Analysis Used?

Conducting cohort analysis will help you find where your most loyal customers are coming from. With the analyses at your disposal, you can define your seasonal or long-term customer potential. Accordingly, you can determine your brand strategies.