If you’re trying to figure out why your product isn’t selling—or why it is, but you’re not sure how to double down—you need real data, not just gut feelings. This guide is for founders, marketers, or product folks who want to use analytics to cut through noise and actually make better go-to-market decisions.
I’ll show you exactly how to use Hothawk analytics to find the insights that actually matter, skip the time-wasters, and avoid getting lost in pretty dashboards. If you want to optimize your GTM strategy without spinning your wheels, read on.
Step 1: Set up Hothawk with your real-world goals in mind
Before you do anything in Hothawk, write down the real questions you want to answer. Not “How many visitors did we get?” but things like:
- Which channels actually bring us paying customers?
- What’s tripping people up in our signup flow?
- Are our new features making a dent in retention?
Pro tip: Don’t just install every tracking pixel and hope you’ll make sense of it later. That’s how you end up with endless reports and no clarity. Start with 2-3 questions. You can expand later.
To set up Hothawk: - Connect your website, product, and any ad or email channels you actually use. Skip integrations you don’t need. - Define conversion events that matter (e.g., signup, first purchase, upgrade). Be specific.
What to ignore:
Don’t waste time tracking “likes” or “shares” unless you have a very good reason. Focus on actions tied to revenue or real engagement.
Step 2: Map your customer journey—don’t just stare at dashboards
Most folks open an analytics tool and immediately look at top-line numbers. That’s fine for a pulse check, but if you want to optimize your go to market strategy, you need to see how people actually move through your funnel.
In Hothawk: - Build a customer journey map: from first touch (ad, search, referral) to signup, activation, and beyond. - Use Hothawk’s funnel analysis to see where people drop out.
What to look for: - Big drop-offs between steps (say, from “Started signup” to “Completed signup”). That’s where you should focus. - Channels that look good on clicks but don’t convert.
Watch out for:
Vanity metrics. Just because a channel brings lots of traffic doesn’t mean it’s the right traffic. Hothawk can show you which sources actually convert, not just who visits.
Step 3: Dig into cohort analysis to understand retention
If you’re only looking at new user numbers, you’re missing half the story. Retention tells you if people actually value what you’re offering—or if they’re bailing after day one.
How to use Hothawk for this: - Use cohort analysis to see how different user groups behave over time. For example, “users who signed up from LinkedIn ads in May vs. organic signups in June.” - Track key actions that indicate value (not just logins, but things like “created first project” or “invited a teammate”).
What works: - Comparing cohorts by acquisition channel is gold. You might find that one channel brings in stickier, higher-value users, even if it’s smaller. - Look for “aha moments” where retention jumps. That’s a clue for onboarding improvements.
What doesn’t:
Chasing every drop in retention without context. Some drop-off is normal. Focus on big swings or patterns.
Step 4: Use attribution—but don’t obsess over perfection
Attribution is messy. You’ll never get a perfect answer to “what caused this signup?” But you can get close enough to make smarter bets.
With Hothawk: - Set up multi-touch attribution if you can. This lets you see the real (sometimes surprising) paths users take before converting. - Compare first-touch and last-touch attribution to spot where your channels are actually influencing decisions.
What to ignore: - Don’t get bogged down trying to assign exact credit to every tweet or ad. Look for patterns at the channel or campaign level. - Don’t panic if the data isn’t perfect. Directional insight is better than analysis paralysis.
Pro tip:
If you see a channel that looks weak on last-click but strong on first-touch, it’s probably good for awareness but not for closing. Adjust your spend and messaging accordingly.
Step 5: Test changes, then check the right metrics
Once you spot a weak spot (say, a drop-off in your onboarding flow), make a change—but don’t declare victory until you see the numbers.
How to do it in Hothawk: - Set up an experiment or basic A/B test (if your plan supports it). - Track completion of the real goal—not just clicks or time on page, but actual signups, purchases, or key actions. - Wait for a meaningful sample size before making decisions. Jumping the gun on a handful of users will just send you in circles.
What works: - Small, focused tests (change one thing at a time). - Tracking downstream effects, not just immediate clicks.
What doesn’t: - Constantly tweaking without giving changes time to show real results. - Declaring success because engagement “looks higher” but revenue is flat.
Step 6: Build simple, actionable reports
The best analytics setup is one you actually look at. If you’re drowning in charts, you won’t act on any of it.
Using Hothawk’s reporting: - Set up one weekly report with the 3-4 numbers that actually matter to your GTM strategy (e.g., new paying users, conversion rate by channel, retention at 30 days). - Share with the team, but don’t make everyone an analytics junkie. Summarize what matters.
Ignore this: - Endless dashboards packed with every metric under the sun. Nobody reads them. - Fancy visualizations that don’t tell you what to do next.
Pro tip:
If your report can’t fit on a single screen or slide, it’s too complicated.
Step 7: Keep iterating and keep it real
Analytics isn’t magic. Hothawk (or any tool) won’t fix your go to market strategy overnight. The value comes from a cycle:
- Look at the right numbers.
- Make a concrete change.
- Check if it worked.
- Repeat.
Don’t expect silver bullets or instant answers. And ignore the pressure to track everything all at once. Most winning strategies are built on a handful of key insights, not a mountain of reports.
Keep it simple, keep moving
Cut the noise. Use Hothawk to answer real questions, not to admire pretty graphs. Start with one or two problems, track what matters, and focus on making small, testable improvements.
The best GTM strategies aren’t the flashiest—they’re the ones that actually work in real life, for your customers. So skip the hype, trust the data (but not too much), and keep iterating. You’ll get there.