The Product Analytics Toolchain

Any product should start with a customer in mind. It is necessary to focus on the needs, challenges, and pain points of the customers to really move the needle for them (and for your company) in the long run. As a product manager, one is responsible for every detail of the product, from its inception to the release and launch. It is up to the product manager to ensure that the product is what the market needs.

In every company, the responsibilities of a product manager can vary, which makes it obvious that different responsibilities eventually lead to different skills and toolsets. However, the core is pretty similar — tools for analytics, A/B testing, design, prototyping, planning, etc.

In this article, I am sharing the toolset we use for product analytics in Mat3ra.

So, here it is:

• Segment. My main tool for collecting events on the platform and the website. It can be integrated with many third-party services. Segment is cool, because it helps us handle both front- and backend events — basically, you describe the event once and then push all the data from one service to another. Also, the fact that Segment is organically integrated with the frontend allows me to avoid inserting and then deleting the code of third-party services on the platform — you just switch the code component on or off in Segment, not on your platform.
• Mixpanel. This is a major tool for analytics. We use Mixpanel for collecting all events that are created by users on the platform, creating dashboards on user behavior, and displaying other metrics.
• Hotjar. We use this tool to create heat maps of webpages, for instance.
• SatisMeter. This one is to create and launch NPS surveys on the platform.
• Fullstory. Another tool for analyzing user behavior in real-time. It helps detect and report UI problems on the website and is great for looking at a product’s UI/UX holistically.
• Sentry. This one is more of an engineering tool. It helps identify any code issues that affect product performance.
• Intercom. This tool is not about analytics per se, but it helps us look at user feedback when new product releases are published, when monthly updates are released, etc.
• Pur.social. This one is for social media analytics. It allows one to look into social media performance data more closely.
• Google Analytics. We all know this tool. You can use GA for all types and kinds of analytics tasks, which is awesome.

As I mentioned, all the tools and services are integrated by using Segment. Here is how it looks:

We use paid plans, but if you are not ready to invest in the toolset right now, free plans will also do. And you can also try to get special discounts for startups, like:

• Twilio Segment Startup Program
• Mixpanel for Startups
• Intercom Early Stage Program

I hope this helps! If you use different tools and/or have thoughts about product analytics to bounce ideas about contact us at info@mat3ra.com - we would be glad to hear your perspective.

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