Behavioral analytics

Behavioral analytics focuses on analyzing users’ actions across digital platforms, such as websites or apps. It helps organizations understand user interactions, preferences, and patterns, ultimately enabling them to make informed decisions that enhance user experience and drive business outcomes. Businesses can analyze the context of user behavior, creating richer narratives.

Common use cases of behavioral analytics include:

  • Web or app analytics: Tracking how users navigate a website or app, including which pages they visit, how long they stay, and what actions they take (e.g., clicks, purchases).
  • Customer journey mapping: Analyzing the entire customer experience, from initial interest to final purchase, to identify pain points or drop-off points in the process.
  • Personalization: Using behavioral data to tailor content, recommendations, and offers to specific user preferences or behaviors.
  • Fraud detection: Identifying abnormal or suspicious behaviors that may indicate fraudulent activity, such as unusual login patterns or unauthorized transactions.
  • Marketing optimization: Understanding which marketing campaigns or channels drive the most engagement or conversions and refining strategies accordingly.

Behavioral analytics often involves using advanced tools and techniques such as machine learning, data mining, and predictive analytics to extract actionable insights from the data.

Tools enabling behavioral analytics include Piwik PRO Analytics Suite, Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Heap, and Amplitude. 

Further reading:


  • first party data

    First-party analytics without consent: Your Digital Omnibus compliance guide

    The Digital Omnibus is the European Commission’s simplification initiative to modernize the EU’s digital rulebook and reduce consent fatigue. The framework would enable first-party analytics without consent when specific criteria are met, ending years of uncertainty about the use of legitimate interest for web statistics.

  • University website personalization: First-party data strategies for student recruitment and retention

    University websites receive millions of visits annually from diverse audiences – prospective students, admitted students weighing their options, current undergraduates, graduate students, parents, alumni, and faculty. Yet most institutions serve identical content to all these visitors, missing critical opportunities to engage each audience with relevant information.