What behavioral analytics software tells you about real users

Highlights

You’ll learn about why you need a behavioral analytics tool:

• Track user behavior like clicks, scrolls and drop-offs in real time
• Identify friction points that cause cart abandonment or exits
• Personalize experiences based on real actions, not assumptions
• Predict future behavior to reduce churn and increase conversions
• Make data-driven decisions that improve UX and increase ROI

Think of going into a store and the salesperson knows what you know, what you have looked at previously and what you will most likely purchase. That’s the power of behavioral analytics software. The tools make recommendations, personalize suggestions and share personal experiences.

Behavioral analytics tools show you what activities your customers engage in on your website or app and tell you how they engage with your products. For example, when customers put items in a shopping cart and leave, behavioral analytics can send a customized email to complete the checkout. Or if a reader likes a particular type of article, a news application may sort targeted stories to the top of the feed.

However, before discussing the most popular behavioral analytics software, it’s important to discover what they are, what tools exist, the most important features to pay attention to and how the Contentstack behavioral analytics functionalities are unique.

What is behavioral analytics software?

Behavioral analytics software is software that assists you in understanding how customers interact with your websites/apps/ or digital products. It not only looks at simple metrics such as page views or clicks but also deeper into how users behave, such as what they click, what their stay time is, where they drop off or what actions they take before purchasing or leaving.

Think of it like watching how customers move through a physical store. Do they go straight to the sale rack? Do they linger at the new arrivals section? Behavioral analytics does the same, but online. It tracks their digital “footsteps” to uncover patterns, preferences and pain points.

Using behavioral software, you know:

• Why are people abandoning their carts?
• Which features do customers love or ignore?
• What makes customers return or leave?

With the insights obtained, you can create smarter decisions.

Types of behavioral analytics tools

Behavioral analytics tools come in various forms depending on the customer behavior you want to track and how you plan to use that data. Here are some types of analytics tools to consider:

Traditional analytics tools

Traditional analytics tools help you understand what customers do on your website. They:

• Track page views, conversion funnels and bounce rates
• Keep track of events and sessions
• Identify drop-off and traffic sources

Example tools: Google Analytics, Segment and Matomo

A/B testing tools

Using A/B testing tools, you experiment with different versions of a feature, a message and a webpage to see which version of the webpage or app performs best based on real customer behavior. These tools:

• Run controlled experiments
• Measure which version drives signups, conversions or clicks
• Optimize user experiences with data-backed changes

Use these tools for fine-tuning content, CTAs, landing pages or pricing models.

Example tools: Optimizely, VWO and Firebase

Session replay tools

Session replay tools watch user actions as they jump from one webpage to another, including mouse movements, clicks and page scrolls. These analytics tools:

• Record individual customer sessions
• Identify bugs and rage clicks
• Support UX and troubleshooting

Companies use session replay tools to uncover hidden usability issues that numbers alone cannot help.

Example tools: Contentsquare, Mouseflow and Smartlook

Heatmap tools

Heatmaps give a visual representation of customers clicking, tapping, hovering and scrolling on a page. These overviews make behavior patterns clear. Companies use a heatmap tool to:

• Identify hot and cold areas on a webpage
• Show how far customers scroll
• Reveal which content or button attracts attention

It’s useful for optimizing page layouts, content placement and CTAs.

Example tools: Hotjar and Crazy Egg

Feedback and voice of customer (VOC) tools

Feedback and VOC tools let customers speak for themselves. They give feedback through surveys, polls, ratings or open-text comments. With those tools, you can:

• Collect qualitative insights alongside behavior data
• Measure satisfaction (NPS, CSAT)
• Identify pain points, desires and opportunities

Feedback and VOC tools combine “what users do” with “why they do it” to gain a deeper understanding.

Example tools: Qualtrics and Medallia

Key features of behavioral analytics software

Integration with CDP, CMS and marketing tools

Behavioral analytics tools do not operate in silos. Choose a platform compatible with your real-time customer data platform, content management system (CMS) and marketing automation software. It provides a full view of your customers and enables you to activate their insights across other touchpoints. Third-party integration will ensure you analyze user behavior data and act across every channel.

Real-time customer tracking

Look for tools that track customers’ behavior in real-time. Monitoring clicks and scrolls that lead to a purchase decision or drop-offs helps you personalize your messages. Using this information, you can send instant push messages, personalize an offer or identify high-intent customers. 

Event-based data collection

Analytics tools do not track pageviews but monitor custom events such as form submissions, video plays, button clicks and feature usage. It provides a more flexible view of user interaction with your products, beyond just surface-level metrics.

Customer journey mapping and segmentation

The behavioral analytics software sees the entire customer journey, starting with when one lands on your website and converts (or lacks thereof). It segments customers by behavioral patterns, demographics, device type and referral source or engagement levels.

Real-time analytics and predictive insights

Choosing a tool that provides real-time and predictive analytics helps you see what customers have done and what they will do. A majority of behavioral analytics solutions include real-time dashboards and machine-learning-driven predictive features. 

The value of real-time analytics is that if a customer demonstrates churning behaviors, such as three days without a sign-in or missing important onboarding milestones, you can reach out to them. Predictive scoring enables your sales department to focus on high-intent leads and assists marketers in changing their retention campaigns.

Cohort analysis

A behavioral tracking software groups customers by a shared trait like signup month, acquisition channel or the first feature they used and tracks how their behavior evolves. It gives you long-term insights. You can see whether updates to your product, onboarding process or pricing impact customer engagement or retention. It compares how customer cohorts respond to marketing or product changes. 

For instance, an online learning service discovers that customers who signed up during a summer promo take more courses than during the holiday season. As shown in the cohort analysis, summer customers were offered a guided onboarding challenge. After the improved engagement, the team reintroduced it to all new signups.

How marketers use behavioral analytics tools to improve user engagement

Track customer action to uncover pain points

Behavioral analytics provides a view of how customers navigate a site or app, what areas they attended to, what areas they hesitated on and where they exit. For instance, if visitors are leaving a form during signups or are bouncing immediately, it indicates something’s off. 

See what stops customers from taking action

Your visitors don’t convert not because they’re uninterested, but because they get stuck. It might be a slow-loading page, a CTA that’s hard to find or too many steps in a process. Fixing these issues leads to higher engagement, satisfaction and conversions.

Analyze engagement trends for informed decision-making

Behavioral data highlights which content, products or features resonate with customers over time. Marketers can use trend reports to double down on what works or where customers are dropping off.

Segment customers for personalized experiences

Marketers can use the real-time behavioral data to build dynamic groups of customers, like first-time visitors, returning users or inactive customers, and deliver personalized customer experiences. Personalization in real-time (not focused only on demographics) drives relevance, increases time on website and ensures a higher conversion rate.

Use data to optimize conversion rates and reduce churn

Behavioral analytics identifies the step at which you lose the greatest number of customers. Marketers can test different versions (A/B testing) and make changes to the conversion flows based on the results of A/B testing. If trial visitors lose their way prior to activation, behavioral information can instruct a more appealing onboarding procedure.

Understand what users pay attention to and what they ignore

Heatmaps are used to see what customers pay attention to and what remains unseen. Tracking clicks helps you understand what captures customer attention and what goes unnoticed. This ensures you position your content and CTAs where they can make the most difference. Optimizations like placing a CTA at a specific position result in higher engagement and conversion.

Why Contentstack’s behavioral analytics capabilities stand out

Real-time data collection through EDGE

Contentstack EDGE collects data and delivers it instantly to where the customer is. This ensures omnichannel personalization and behavioral tracking without latency or bottlenecks. Whether a customer clicks a product, watches a video or hovers over a CTA, you can capture their behavior and act upon it in real time.

Advanced analytics for real-time insights

Contentstack can integrate with analytics tools such as Google Analytics, marketing automation platforms, CDPs and personalization engines. Through these tools, you can use actionable insights in your digital experience stack. Instant dashboards, event monitoring and behavioral trend reports will allow you to see what content your customers respond to and when they drop off. Through EDGE, you can use live data to alter content, design or desired user journeys.

Unified customer profiles

Contentstack’s composable architecture provides consolidated behavioral, demographic and contextual customer data. Each action or conversion is sewn into a 360-degree view of the customer. Your product teams and marketers have one reliable source of knowledge about the behavior, interests and path of each user, increasing customer lifetime value. 

Dynamic customer segmentation

Contentstack enables dynamic segmentation of audiences that can track customer behaviors in real-time and offer personalization. You can group customers based on their repeat visits, abandonment of carts or content consumption and deliver instant personalized experiences. 

Omnichannel trend synchronization

Whether your audience is browsing on mobile, desktop, IoT or even in-store kiosks, Contentstack ensures that all behavioral trends are in sync across every touchpoint. Its API-first architecture and EDGE help you update the experiences across all channels. Customers expect smooth and homogeneous experiences and Contentstack delivers by aligning behavioral data across all channels.

Trend analysis and predictive signals

Based on machine learning and behavioral trend data, Contentstack offers predictive insights such as customers who are bound to churn, convert or become loyal advocates. You can identify the initial signs of interest or lack thereof and do something before it’s too late. Prediction makes behavioral analytics proactive, so you are ahead of the customer's needs.

Case study: How Pirelli transformed global content delivery with Contentstack’s headless CMS?

Pirelli chose Contentstack’s headless CMS to reduce costs, increase scalability and speed up publishing, completing a complex migration of 218 websites in just 10 months. Using modular blocks, BFF architecture and automation, they increased publishing speed by 75% and editing efficiency by 55%. The new setup eliminated costly vendor dependencies and enabled global content delivery across 150 regions. With a flexible, headless CMS, Pirelli now manages multilingual content faster and is exploring AI, SEO automation and integrations for future growth. Contentstack has empowered Pirelli to scale smarter, faster and with full content control.

After using Contentstack, Aldo Faifer, B2C & Digital Marketing Manager at Pirelli, said:

“Pirelli is looking ahead to leveraging Contentstack’s wide catalog of integrations, including Google Analytics for business intelligence, Jira for productivity and DAM and PIM integration for content consistency and efficiency. Using Contentstack, Pirelli also plans to leverage AI for automatic translations, SEO and content creation and to discover new opportunities with Contentstack Personalize.”

Read the complete case study here.

FAQs

What is behavioral analytics software?

Behavioral analytics software is a tool that tracks and analyzes how customer behaves online and tracks their clicks, scrolls and drop-offs to improve their experience.

What’s an example of behavioral analytics?

Session replay tools that let you watch how a customer interacts with your website are an example of behavioral analytics. 

What are the key features of good behavior analytics tools?

Integration with CDPs, CMS and marketing automation tools, event-based data, tracking customers in real-time, predictive modeling and real-time segmentation are some key features of these tools.

How does behavior analytics software help marketers?

User behavior analytics tools show you where customers struggle, succeed or abandon so you can fix, test and personalize faster.

Learn more

The behavior analytics platform is not designed to be a one-size-fits-all. The tools have different uses and give different outcomes. Depending on your goals, you can opt for a tool that provides practical information that gives a more complete view of your customer behavior. These tools can track scrolls and clicks, make churn predictions and create relevant, intuitive and compelling customer experiences. Integrating your analytics software with Contentstack provides insights that go even further. With its real-time delivery, dynamic segmentation and dynamic integrations, you can take actions in real-time across every channel. 

Not only does Contentstack support globalization and experimentation, but its behavioral capabilities provide you with the clarity and control of being a step ahead of your users. Talk to us to know more.