How do you choose the most important digital marketing metrics?

Aligning KPIs with brand strategy is often a miss for advertisers. Far too often, advertising departments claim exceptional results while the underlying brand sinks. The brand strategy and objectives form the bedrock for delineating an appropriate set of metrics. The selection should transcend the confines of a unique metric, extending to multiple ones. For example, consider ROI as an efficiency yardstick, that has to be complemented by scale metrics that drive effectiveness/sales.

Depending on your objectives, you may want to consider additional KPI’s that will help measure the a wider impact of the campaign such as brand lift. For instance, if your aim is to build an emotional connection among your target audiences, measuring brand lift could be a useful metric.

Well, to be specific. What I've learned at my organization is to first identify the objectives and pain points. For ex. People are talking negatively about an incident that happened in your company over social mediums. Now what metrics and KPI will be useful in this case? I believe, User Sentiment, Total Number Of Engagements, Tweets/Posts gaining more traction. You cannot change the negative sentiments but you can definitely analyze the situation and make an insight-led decisions with your org communications. The best way to choose a metric is to identify the pain points or use cases. The high bounce rate will tell you that something is wrong with your UI/UX. Low engagement will tell you that your communication is not customer centric.

I fully agree with the point shared here to avoid choosing too many KPIs. More doesn’t mean better! And frankly we can get lost in data and then not know how to use it all or waste time when the clarity needed is found in just 1-2-3 KPIs. Take your goals and write them down. For each goal write down 1-2-3 KPIs that will inform how you’re doing. They help you steer the way to success. Example: one goal is to build visibility and attract top talent to job openings using social media. Your KPIs could be number of posts and clicks for assessing performance around ‘visibility’. And then number of applications filled and positions hired to assess your performance around ‘attracting top talent’.

When deciding KPIs, especially as a white label agency, it is imperative to ask probing questions to the client. This can help get to the root of what they want to achieve with their marketing campaigns. A previous client for over a year mentioned she only cared about clicked on the Google Ad. When asked about any further action on the website be measured, she repeatedly said just clicks. Well the clicks where exceeding the goal, but she was still not happy. After a year, the KPI of lead form submission and phone calls came to light. Had she answered with what she really wanted it would have been a more successful campaign. Knowing exactly what the client is wanting to measure is useful in strategic marketing.

Regardless of the metrics you choose it’s important to remember first party data will always be more accurate than third party data from tools. However, third party data is valuable because it provides the same level of intel into your competitors that they have into you. Make sure the metrics you choose are milestone or indicators of your long term goals. If you’re ultimate goal is 30% increase in traffic, what metrics would show progress into making that happen? Top 10 keyword positions, impressions and CTR could be examples.

Marketing is a dynamic and ever-changing landscape, and our results reflect this reality. However, relying solely on past metrics won't guarantee future campaign success. Instead, leveraging these metrics offers invaluable insights to enhance our strategies, tactics, KPIs, and beyond, propelling us towards the future of evolving marketing. By embracing these insights, we can stay ahead of the curve, understand audience preferences, and make data-driven decisions that shape the path to success. Our ability to continually refine our strategies based on insightful metrics is what will set us apart and allow us to thrive amidst the changing marketing landscape.