KPIs (key performance indicators) are a great way to gauge the success of your digital marketing campaigns. It allows you to track and adjust what is working, which will allow you to allocate budgets that maximize your return on investment (ROI). The internet allows you to measure everything, down to the smallest detail, with big data. It is crucial to select the right digital marketing KPIs to help you make the best decisions regarding your digital marketing campaigns.
You could track keywords you rank for on Google’s first page. But, these “vanity metrics”, while useful, do not give you any insight into how customers interact with your website or how well your content performs.
You should be measuring KPIs that help you achieve your goals. If you’re a startup, perhaps building awareness is your number one priority. To measure the effectiveness of your content campaigns, it is better to measure reach than conversions.
Choosing the Right KPIs
A customer journey in the digital age can be broken down into four stages.
1. Take into account: Here the customer is looking at the available options on the market. Engaging content is essential for customers at the exploration stage.
Key metrics you can measure:
- Reach You can track the number of click-throughs and impressions depending on the location of your content hub and the promotion you’re doing to promote it. This will allow you to determine the level of awareness for your content.
- Time on Site and Bounce Rate: A good indicator of the quality of your content can be bounce rate. Same goes for the time on site. The industry average can be compared to the former to determine if your content needs to be modified or changed.
- Unique visitors: You also have the option to measure how many unique visitors your blog or website is receiving. This will give you an idea of how to improve your SEO and social media marketing strategies for increasing awareness.
2. Evaluation: Now the customer is narrowing down available options on the market. This stage will see the customer express more interest in your offer. This could come in the form a signup for the newsletter or reaching out through the Contact Us page.
Key metrics you can measure:
- Engagement: You should measure some type of engagement metric at this stage. The content funnel that you use will determine the engagement metric. These are some of the most common conversion metrics in digital marketing:
- Sign up for the newsletter
- Contact us for questions
- Register for a trial
- Comment on your blog post
- Social media is a great way to ask questions
- Cost per Click: This measure gives you an idea of the performance of your digital campaign. It is important to compare it with the industry average. If it is too high you should adjust your messaging.
3. Purchase: When the customer purchases your product or service. Your product or service is purchased by the customer. You should measure metrics to determine the return on investment at this stage.
Key metrics you can measure:
- Average Order Value: Use this tool to track the average order value for transactions and determine if your marketing campaigns are successful.
- Cost per Acquisition: Compare the industry average with your cost per acquisition. To improve your digital presence, you should reduce your cost per acquisition.
4. Post-purchase Engagement: The customer can either become a fan, do word-of mouth marketing for your company, or decide to stop engaging with you again. Both types of responses can be measured using metrics.
Key metrics you can measure:
- Returning visitors: Determine the percentage of repeat customers. This is particularly useful if your goal is to increase customer lifetime value. It should be higher than industry standards. You need to get past customers involved more.
- Social shares: See how many people share your content online. This is an indicator of how effective your content has been.
It’s never a straight path
The typical customer journey in the online world is not a straight line. A potential customer will instead move through multiple stages and contact you through various channels. Depending on the goals of each channel, your KPIs will vary.
If you’re a travel agency that primarily deals with corporate clients, conversions may happen offline. You might also use social media to reach people and get them to your website. They can use the contact form to sign up for email specials or fill out the contact form. You could measure reach metrics on social media channels while measuring engagement metrics for your website such as signups and bounce rate.
Keep KPIs Time Bound
Once you have narrowed down the KPIs that are most aligned with your business goals, it’s important to keep the analysis within a time limit. Also, make sure to pick KPIs that can be quantified and realistically set your expectations. To get a better understanding of your website’s performance, compare it with industry standards.