How do you use Mixpanel? Get expert advice from our team.
Data is more than just numbers; it's a story waiting to be told. With the right platform, anyone can become a storyteller. That's the core idea behind our new ebook, How Mixpanel Uses Mixpanel. We lift the curtain to show you how our teams leverage the platform's power to extract meaningful insights and drive success.
Mixpanel might be known as a product and digital analytics platform, but its applications go far beyond that. For this ebook, we interviewed 16 Mixpanel team members across a variety of departments (product, marketing, design, demand generation, engineering, data, and customer success) about how they leverage Mixpanel to make better, data-driven decisions every single day.
Each team has unique goals and responsibilities, and they use Mixpanel in ways that reflect those needs. This ebook highlights the versatility of the platform and how it can be tailored to fit any team's specific objectives.
The 5 key questions we asked Mixpanel experts
We asked each Mixpanel expert these five key questions…
1. What specific questions do you solve using Mixpanel?
Discover the kinds of challenges each team tackles with the help of data analysis. By understanding the challenges each team addresses, you gain insight into the diverse applications of Mixpanel. For example:
- Marketing: How are they optimizing campaigns, identifying the best channels, and understanding user segmentation for targeted messaging?
- Product: How are they analyzing feature adoption, identifying friction points in the user journey, and measuring the impact of A/B tests?
- Customer Success: How are they tracking user engagement to identify at-risk accounts, measuring customer health scores, or understanding the drivers of churn?
2. What Mixpanel feature have you used in a creative way?
Get inspired by innovative applications and out-of-the-box thinking. For example, using Mixpanel to track specific user actions, like loading the pricing page, and then identifying users who might be interested in purchasing and provide them with timely support or offers. Plus, using Flows to visualize user journeys in unexpected ways, like identifying loops or unexpected dropoff points. Furthermore, learn a few things not to overlook—sometimes the smallest thing makes a world of difference.
3. What data or insights have changed the way your team makes decisions?
See how our teams use data-driven insights to drive tangible changes and have led to real-world impact and improved processes. In particular, how data has driven tangible changes, such as:
- Product development: Using attribution on the Mixpanel website and product to understand where new business and upsell opportunities originate and how that helped with prioritization and roadmap planning
- Marketing strategy: Tracking organic search data via Google Search Console using a specific event type and using the data to get stakeholder buy-in
- Customer success: Proactive intervention strategies, improved onboarding processes, and personalized support based on user behavior patterns
4. If you could describe your favorite Mixpanel dashboard, what story would it tell?
Having access to real-time data is one thing, but pairing it with visuals is even more powerful. Our teams love to compare metrics over time but also save time looking at multiple reports simultaneously in one view (not every digital analytics solution offers this benefit). Knowing that, their dashboard stories vary quite a bit, but here’s a preview how our teams use beautiful data visualizations:
- Customer Success: Cisualizing new feature adoption alongside engagement and satisfaction
- Product teams: Optimizing the user’s journey and being able to define ‘value moments’ for them—where users experienced the value of Mixpanel
- Marketing: Proving ROI by visualizing campaign spend against traffic, leads, and customer acquisition
5. What advice do you have for new Mixpanel users?
All customers have been new to Mixpanel at one point, and that goes for everyone on our teams, too! As you’ll see in the ebook, each team has their own best practices for learning the platform and extracting insights. Inside, team members reveal why it’s important (among others) to:
- Start with a clear objective and define the questions you want to answer before diving into data.
- Invest time in proper implementation, reference the Lexicon, and ensure accurate tracking and meaningful event naming are established from the get-go.
- Once you’re onboard, don't be afraid to experiment, watch how others use the platform, and learn by doing.
- Utilize Mixpanel's support resources including detailed documentation, tutorials, and support when you need to because our primary goal is to make customers successful!
Sneak peek at Mixpanel recommendations inside
Each team member provides a goldmine of practical advice and valuable insights. Here's a teaser at some of the expert tips you'll find inside:
"Watch how more experienced users navigate the platform. You can learn a ton by just watching. Also, use AI in our Docs as it’s one of the most under-utilized features and can save you a lot of time."
- Isha Mehra, Senior Product Manager
"For brainstorms and critique sessions, I like to pull in an anchoring report from Mixpanel into a FigJam file. It may not be super unconventional but having real data helps to anchor our perspectives and brings some 'real-ness' into the discussion."
- Kaitlyn Siu, Staff Product Designer
“For new Mixpanel users, check out Borrowed Properties because they’re really powerful! Learn how to use them and start bringing in more contextual pivots to relate the marketing work with product or sales performance.”
- Allie Kelly, Marketing Operations Manager III
"Put yourself in your customers' shoes! It’s much easier to understand and communicate the power of Mixpanel when you’ve used the platform to answer questions for yourself first."
- Gio Bryden, Senior Manager, Solutions Engineering
"Take advantage of the Lexicon and invest time to document your tracking plan. This helps align teams and new members on your data model."
- Myron Fung, Support Engineer II
"Don’t be overwhelmed with the product. Understanding the Mixpanel data model is key to knowing what functions or features you should use in building reports or boards."
- Kurby Chua, Principal Customer Success Architect
Get more of our team’s expert tips when you download How Mixpanel Uses Mixpanel today. Go beyond surface-level metrics to uncover hidden insights and make data-driven decisions with confidence.