Not everyone is a data geek like me, I get that. But data informs strategy, and a strategy creates success. So I insist that my clients focus on the most critical data (Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs) to succeed. As the saying goes, “You are what you measure.”
The four KPIs I focus on most to evaluate the success of marketing campaigns are Website Traffic, Conversion Rates, Leads, and Cost per Lead.
These four metrics, taken together, help measure the success of marketing efforts and provide a compass to follow for future marketing strategies.
Website Traffic
It all starts with website traffic. How much traffic do you have now? Is it the right kind of traffic? How do you get more users to your site? And how do you get more NEW users to your site?
Your website traffic can be further broken down into the number of visitors, unique visitors, and pageviews. Analyzing your website’s traffic on a consistent basis helps assess and guide your marketing effectiveness by showing you who is coming to your website and if they are within your desired audience.
These metrics will also guide your content development by focusing on the user’s behavior, what they’ve indicated they’re interested in, and if you’re effectively marketing the products/services you want them to pay attention to.
The goal here is to increase website traffic from your target audience to get more conversions and brand exposure.
Conversion Rates
Deciding what you want to call a conversion first is important. It might be downloading a white paper, viewing a video, filling in a form, etc.
Next, it’s important to understand where you are now. Have you had good success with conversions? If so, how? If not, consider why not?
A high conversion rate shows that you’ve successfully created a valuable asset for your prospects. Conversation rates that are low show you have more work to do – OR you need more traffic to the website to get more people looking at the offer. The bottom line is: conversions, however, you define them, are key.
Once you’ve defined what conversions you want, take a look at the drivers to reach your goal. Drivers are the marketing actions you take to engage with prospects to accomplish your defined conversion goal. These conversion rate drivers will guide your readers toward the action you want them to take.
But in order to know which driver(s) will get you to your conversion rate goal, the first step is to create a marketing strategy; your strategy takes into consideration industry best practices and testing. Trying new tactics is the only way you’ll learn what marketing tactic is best.
Leads
Not all leads are created equal. While it might seem like a good idea to get as many leads as possible, “quality” leads are the goal. You want to attract potential clients who will want what you’re offering (and drive your revenues).
But how do you know who qualifies as a quality lead?
Look first at who engages with your company or your content the most. This includes those who sign up to receive emails, make purchases, etc. What trends do you see in their characteristics? Do they share any similarities in demographics, interests, and preferences? Knowing your prospects better will inform what actions you need to take to convert them into leads (and clients).
Once you see patterns in who is engaging (and is probably your best lead), how do you increase the number of leads? Get more website traffic of your ideal client type, and you’ll get to more conversions and leads.
Cost per Lead
As you generate leads, it’s important to watch and manage your Cost per Lead (CPL); this is the total cost associated with generating a new lead. Understanding your CPL also help evaluate the efficiency of your marketing campaigns. The main focus, when it comes to CPL, is to keep the marketing budget at a minimum while maintaining lead quality. Some cost considerations are:
- Cost Efficiency – strategies to generate high-quality leads at a lower cost and improve overall ROI
- Performance Comparisons – of different marketing campaigns or channels
- ROI – the profitability of all your marketing campaigns
Maintaining a low CPL with high quality leads means you’re maximizing your marketing budget.
Follow Your KPI Compass to Success
These are my four favorite marketing KPIs, but these may vary depending on your industry, business goals, and marketing strategies.
Align your objectives with your initiatives, identify actionable insights through data, and you will see the improvements to your marketing strategy drive success. Still unsure what your KPIs should be? Let’s talk.
