Figure out what is working and what isn’t working with these metrics
As a marketer, you know that it’s important to efficiently manage diverse tasks for your clients. But how can you make sure your campaigns are hitting the mark and driving results?
When it comes to digital marketing, there are a lot of “best practices” and “what’s happening” now.
We need a way to make good choices about what to try and what to put on the back burner—a way to keep your finger on the pulse to know when to make changes and when to keep going.
Analytics and metrics are our compass. For a comprehensive view of campaign effectiveness we need to track some Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
But with so many different metrics to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start.
Let’s discuss 5 key metrics that will help you tell what’s working and what is not.
1. Click-through rate (CTR)
CTR can be measured on ads, on social posts and on websites. It’s the percentage of people who click on your post or ad after seeing it. It is a good measure of how relevant and engaging your content is. A high CTR indicates that your content is resonating with your target audience.
2. Engagement rate
Engagement rate is a measure of how well your marketing campaigns are resonating with your target audience. It is calculated by dividing the number of people who engage with your content by the number of people who see it. A high engagement rate indicates that your content is interesting, relevant and engaging to your target audience.
I like this metric because it can give you a good insight into content performance even as your reach and impressions fluctuate.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) offers an engagement rate measurement on web pages and content so you can compare client engagement rates across all platforms more easily.
3. Conversion rate
This is the percentage of people who take the desired action after clicking on your post, ad or web content. This could be anything from signing up for your email list to making a purchase.
A high conversion rate indicates that your ad is effective at driving people to take action.
4. Impressions/Reach/Users/Sessions
I know, I know, isn’t this a vanity metric?
Yes, but …
It also tells me when my content is getting seen.
Impressions is how many times a piece of content is seen, and reach is how many people have seen the content. Users and sessions are the web versions of this. Sessions are how many times a page has been viewed, users are how many people have viewed it. It’s important because if you have 15 impressions, then you don’t have enough data to really measure the content’s efficiency. And you might need to start running ads to boost content’s exposure (I see this all the time on social platforms).
5. Traffic Sources
Knowing where your website traffic is coming from can help you tailor your marketing strategy. Traffic sources can include organic search, paid search, social media and direct visits. Understanding the most effective channels can guide you on where to allocate your marketing budget.
Add-ons: If you run a specific campaign to generate sales (eComm or product/service sales, or launches) or include digital ads I’d include:
Return On Investment (ROI)
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
CLV is a good number for every business to know it’s not a direct indicator of marketing campaigns but should you see an uptick in the CLV after a campaign or when switching out longer-term campaigns it can indicate that marketing has pushed more sales. However CLV is also influenced by how good the product/service is and how good customer service is.
Across Platforms
These metrics vary across different platforms and it’s important to track these across your website, email, social media and content.
Why it’s important?
Metrics aren’t just numbers, their insights to help you make informed decisions for your clients in ways that you can rely upon.
They help you pivot a strategy when it’s tanking, or keep a campaign running longer because it’s performing well.
There’s no better way to instill trust in your clients when you can show them the tangible results of your efforts. This is evidence.
Once you establish a system that includes metrics to measure, you can rise up as a leader your clients and team trust.
Whenever you’re ready, here are two ways I can help you:
- Download the Asana Starter Kit. This is the system I use for my clients and my own business.
- 1:1 Strategy Session to work with you and your team to implement a holistic marketing strategy from start to finish for your clients. Including content creation, ads management and setup, social media strategy, email marketing and list-building strategies.
