Marketing indicators – what for?

Why measure at all? The answer seems obvious. Thanks to the analysis of key performance indicators (KPI), among others:
– you get measurable results of your marketing activities,
– you see which of the published content worked better and which worse
– you can accurately calculate the translation of the costs of marketing activities into profits from finalized transactions,
– it’s easier for you to plan your next promotional campaigns – so as to better tailor them to market requirements.

The problem, however, is that with the development of tracking and analytical tools, the number of indicators has also increased significantly. Of course, each of them matters. Sometimes, however, it is difficult to break through the thicket of numbers and percentages. So it’s worth knowing which indicators – available e.g. in Google Analytics, on the FB fanpage’s administrative page or in CRMs – have a really great impact on the assessment of the effects of marketing activities. So we discuss the most important ones.

Different marketing indicators for each type of message

Remember that when it comes to indicators that are important from the marketer’s point of view, there is no single, universal combination of the key ones. There are no indicators that will be relevant in every situation. All because the interactions with the recipient of each type of content released to the web are slightly different. For example, on the landing page you will observe data related to the acquisition of leads, but already in organic activities in social media – rather those related to the involvement of users under your posts. So choose the meters for each type of marketing message that you release into the world. The indicators depend on the purpose of the campaign.

What to measure by analyzing the effectiveness of the website?

When looking at website traffic, it’s worth paying attention to:

– traffic on the site – the number of page views, the number of unique website users and the percentage of those returning to the website are important,
– average time spent on the website and Bounce Ratio – this will show you whether the prepared content engages users so much that they want to get to know the information closer, or reject them immediately,
– traffic sources – so how did the users get to your site: by entering its address in the browser, via the search engine, or maybe from social media or thanks to other external links? This will help you spread out your accents well when it comes to promoting your site on individual channels,
– conversion rate – how many visitors to your site took the action that you expected. For example, on a landing page it is leaving a lead;
– the proportion of leads to conversions – so how many of the people who initially expressed interest in your offer went through the entire marketing funnel,
– cost of acquiring a lead / client – i.e. the proportion between the amount of expenditure on the promotional campaign and the results obtained.

It is also worth making a “heat map”, so check which areas of the website were of particular interest to readers – so as to make any corrections to the layout and increase the range and conversion rate.

Analysis of marketing indicators in social media

Slightly different indicators count in social media. It is also an important marketing communication channel that strengthens the brand image and acquires sales leads. But what indicates that your actions on the fanpage bring results? The indicators that should pay your special attention are:

– number of views (reach) – of course, organic reach is the key, i.e. the one achieved without reaching for a paid promotion,
– the number of clicks on the post – will show how much information you presented on FB or Instagram was of interest to the recipient. Each click is evidence of initial interest in communication and that the post attracted attention but was not scrolled,
– leads obtained through posts in social media – i.e., e.g. contact details left on the landing page to which they directed messages on FB or from lead ads,
– engagement rates – it’s about the number of: likes / reactions, comments and interactions – the more, the higher the effectiveness of your actions,
– user generated content – i.e. posts / materials related to your fan page by users, e.g. those in which your profile has been tagged. This type of traffic can be obtained, for example, by working with influencers, or by organizing competitions in which the task is to perform just such an action.

If you reach for paid promotion tools – conversion rates are also important, i.e. the cost of a single post view, click and conversion.

What about sales-related indicators? When analyzing activities in social media, it is usually difficult to obtain unambiguous and error-free data. However, the cost of activities carried out here should be included when calculating ROI, and thus the overall return on investment in promotion compared to the outlays made.

How to find yourself in the ocean of data?

As you can see, there are still quite a few marketing indicators that matter, and the ones above are just the tip of the iceberg. For example, CSR actions (related to corporate social responsibility) may have completely different performance evaluation indicators, and nevertheless enter into marketing areas (e.g. from the purchase of each product X we allocate the amount of Y to the organization Z).

If you have the impression that it is difficult for you to be among the indicators, you can always go to specialists. They will look at all the data and indicators that have been generated, analyze their relevance and draw conclusions. As a result of their work, you will receive a transparent report that will show you clearly how your marketing activities translated into achieving your goals. It will also be a source of tips for the future – you will learn from it how to improve your work so that its results are even better. Marketing indicators – and more precisely their design in the context of a given action and goal – is one of the most important challenges for a marketer. However, the correct architecture will also make them an unparalleled ally in operations and reporting.