Ryan Levander is the Founder of Rednavel Consulting, a Denver-based firm specializing in analytics, conversion rate optimization, and experimentation for SaaS and e-commerce businesses. With over seven years of experience in measurement and four years in CRO, Ryan has led Rednavel in delivering data-driven strategies that enhance user experiences and drive revenue growth. Beyond consulting, Ryan is a recognized educator, contributing to platforms like Traffic Think Tank and MeasurementMarketing.io, and frequently speaks at industry events, sharing insights on analytics and optimization.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [1:57] Ryan Levander shares how he got started in the digital marketing industry
- [6:24] How an offer from his employer motivated Ryan to start Rednavel Consulting
- [9:23] The critical gap between paid media optimization and post-click website experiences
- [13:06] Importance of measuring the entire user journey, not just bottom-of-funnel conversions
- [16:12] Common mistakes Ryan finds in clients’ analytics setups
- [22:16] How Ryan sells analytics and CRO by tying them directly to business outcomes and customer understanding
- [25:53] Ryan’s approach to choosing Google Analytics 4 and other tools like Microsoft Clarity for deeper insights
- [41:25] How identifying an 8-second form load saved a client thousands in wasted ad spend
In this episode…
Most marketers focus their attention on traffic sources and ad platforms — but what happens after the click? Too often, teams rely on incomplete data or overlook the user journey entirely, leaving opportunities untapped and budgets wasted. How can brands build a marketing strategy that measures what really matters and turns insights into action?
According to Ryan Levander, a data-driven marketing strategist and experimentation expert, it starts by measuring the entire customer journey, not just the last click or final conversion. He highlights that many businesses miss valuable insights by only tracking bottom-of-funnel outcomes, failing to understand earlier touchpoints that influence decisions. By setting up smarter analytics and prioritizing measurement from the outset, companies can better align their strategy with customer behavior, improve optimization efforts, and make more confident marketing decisions. Ryan also emphasizes the importance of asking the right business questions before jumping into reports or tools, ensuring data serves strategy, not the other way around.
In this episode of Built to Convert, host Tyler Lane sits down with Ryan Levander, Founder of Rednavel Consulting, to discuss how to build a measurement-first marketing strategy. They explore why most brands overlook pre-conversion insights, how to map user flows for better testing, and why strong analytics foundations drive smarter experimentation. Ryan also gives advice on bridging the gap between paid media and on-site experiences.
Resources mentioned in this episode
- Tyler Lane on LinkedIn
- Session Interactive
- Ryan Levander on LinkedIn
- Rednavel Consulting
- Chris Mercer on LinkedIn
- MeasurementMarketing.io
- Microsoft Clarity
- Looker Studio
- Google Analytics 4
- Google Tag Manager
- BigQuery
- Triple Whale
- Wicked Reports
- Unbounce
- Perplexity AI
- Lucidchart
- Miro
- Airtable
Quotable Moments
- “Measure is how you listen and marketing is how you respond.”
- “Most measurements are set up like page view tag everywhere and that’s their version of listening.”
- “At the end of the day, great CRO is about being a relentless advocate of the customer.”
- “You can’t just assume they’re going to convert on that first session, especially with Facebook.”
- “If you want to really control that experience and control the data, then you’ll send them to your site.”
Action Steps
- Map out your core user flows: Visualizing how users navigate your site uncovers bottlenecks and drop-off points critical for improving conversions.
- Set up detailed event tracking: Tracking key interactions beyond pageviews provides deeper insights into user behavior and intent throughout the customer journey.
- Prioritize qualitative research alongside analytics: Combining user interviews and session recordings with data helps uncover the why behind user actions, leading to more impactful optimizations.
- Build a centralized data dictionary: Documenting your key metrics and tracking setup ensures alignment across teams and prevents misinterpretation of analytics.
- Focus on measurement before testing: Establishing accurate and actionable data upfront enables smarter experimentation and avoids wasting time optimizing the wrong things.
Sponsor for this episode…
This episode is brought to you by Session Interactive — a digital marketing consultancy that helps businesses turn complex data into clear strategy.
From SEO and analytics to paid media and content, Session zeroes in on what truly drives growth: smarter decisions and better user experiences. Known for their collaborative approach and measurable results, they partner with forward-thinking companies across industries to solve digital challenges — and turn them into opportunities.
Learn more at sessioninteractive.com.
