What is a Digital Marketing KPI?

It’s likely that you’ve heard of the term “KPI” somewhere in your life, it’s a common measure of an employee’s work in a workplace. Generally, a worker’s KPI sets the standard for the work they’re supposed to get done daily, or what the results of their work are supposed to be. In digital marketing, Key Performance Indicators are statistics that show how well a marketing strategy is working out. It can be easy to think that digital marketing metrics and KPIs are the same thing, however, metrics are anything that measures any process, whereas KPIs are more specific pieces of information that focus on objectives and targets.

The only thing is, there are so many KPIs to keep track of. It can be hard knowing which ones are important and which ones can be largely ignored. Well, don’t fear! We’ve compiled this handy list of the top 25 performance marketing KPIs to keep track of to ensure that your business is growing and that your marketing is working as intended.

Digital Marketing Metrics and KPIs

As stated above, it’s easy to confuse digital marketing metrics and KPIs. While they both kind of deal with the same thing, metrics are far broader than KPIs are, and can be used as sort of categories for the KPIs themselves.

Site Activity

Your website is where everything begins. Of all the digital marketing KPI examples in this list, these should probably be your first concern, as your website is effectively the centre of your presence on the internet, as well as your shop. When you use digital marketing most of the time your goal should be to get people here in order to fulfil a conversion. This could be making a purchase, signing up to a mailing list, watching a video, or reading a blog.

There are a number of digital KPIs to track when examining this metric, namely:

How much unique traffic are you getting?

This KPI is incredibly important, as it reflects the effectiveness of your digital marketing campaign(s) that you’re running at the moment. A steady flow of new traffic to your website means that your campaign is working well and that your audience (and therefore potential clientele) is expanding.

How many customers are returning to your site?

Someone who repeatedly visits your website is either a long-time customer or on their way to becoming one. Having new people come to your website is fine, but it’s up to you to make your products/services so good, and your website so appealing and easy to navigate, that people just can’t help but come back. This can all be done with the help of marketing agencies like Traffic Radius.

How much time are people spending on your site?

This digital KPI might seem unimportant, after all as long as people are buying stuff from your site does it matter how much time they spend on it? Yes and no. Although making sales and profit are the ultimate goals of a business, the time a person spends on your website shows how interesting it is to consumers. Coupled with other data such as customer research, a lot of information about who your customers are and what they want from you can be revealed, especially when you consider…

…Where and when are people leaving your website?

Tracking when customers leave your site is almost as important as tracking when they come onto it. If 50% of your visitors are leaving while reading or viewing a piece of content, or if they see that you stock an item from a particular brand, or if you’re noticing a trend of people leaving empty carts, this is all information that can be used to vastly improve your site and business.

How do people travel through your site?

What links are people interested it? How do they get to your website, and what do they do once they’re there? This information allows you to make tweaks to your website over time, prioritising pages that get a lot of traffic against ones that don’t.

Sales and Revenue

The goal of any business is to establish a liveable income. This metric is possibly the one most business owners will be concerned with, as it’s the one that determines whether they can continue to run their business, or have to seek income elsewhere.

How much revenue does each customer generate?

The revenue generated by each customer allows you to identify what the key money-earning areas of your business are and then funnel more directly to that specific channel in order to maximise profit.

What is your total revenue?

Although the revenue-per-customer KPI is important in determining the worth of certain individual avenues, the total revenue measures the worth of the entire campaign. This is where it can be revealed whether or not your investments were worth the time and effort, and if not – why not? The good thing about digital marketing is that failure can be met with growth and there is always an opportunity for great success down the line. Quite often, newly implemented strategies will see a decline in revenue before a steady rise starts to show itself. Patience, and monitoring this KPI, are key.

How many total sales are you making?

This digital KPI measures how appealing your products and services are to your customers. If there are items that invariably sell better than others, maybe try making more of a show of those ones on your website to really capitalise on their popularity.

What does your conversion rate look like?

“Conversion” is a fancy digital marketing term for “getting a customer to do what you want.” It’s a fairly straightforward but hugely popular (for obvious reasons) KPI to track. The more people that go through with the objective of the campaign, the better the campaign is doing.

Of all the channels in your campaign, which is making the most revenue?

A campaign isn’t likely to just be made up of attacking a single platform. It’s likely spread across multiple forms of media. If one of these platforms turns out to be dead then it’s probably better for your ROI (Return on Investment) to stop using that platform, and instead, focus on the one(s) that your audience is engaging with more frequently.

Profitability

This metric is possible the most important digital marketing KPI of all, as after costs are calculated, profit determines whether or not your business is sustainable. If the costs of the business exceed the profit that the business makes then it won’t be around for much longer. Make sure that when you’re tracking KPIs, you’re paying close attention to the following:

How much does each lead cost?

“Lead” is just another fancy digital marketing term but this time it refers to potential customers. Any customer that explores your website or store but hasn’t bought anything yet is referred to as a “lead.” Generating good leads is paramount to any good marketing campaign, but if your conversion rate is low, then generating those leads is likely costing you much more than it’s making.

How much profit does each customer bring in for your business?

There’s a big difference between a business that has a lot of customers and a business that makes a lot of money. The business that gets a lot of customers may have their items priced too low, or get a lot of foot traffic but not make enough sales. To be a business that makes a lot of money, you need to strike a balance between three main points, getting good leads that are likely to convert, maintaining a good conversion rate, and making sure your items are priced competitively.

What’s your net income?

This digital marketing KPI is essential in any business and was around long before the advent of digital marketing. Net income measures how much your digital marketing strategy(ies) are earning for your business.

Are you making a good Return on Investment?

Your ROI is an indisputably important KPI to track, as this shows whether you’re spending money in the right places. Some marketing strategies or platforms may offer a higher ROI than others, while some avenues may just purely cost money with no ROI whatsoever. Digital marketing is essential, but there’s no point in it if it’s just shooting you in the foot.

Customer Engagement

Customer engagement is essentially the value that your customers find in your business. If you have a high customer engagement rating then you will have a large clientele with a large number of return customers and high conversion rates.

Do you have a high customer lifetime?

Your customer lifetime refers to how long a customer stays loyal to you. If you have a large number of return customers then you’re experiencing a high customer lifetime – but it’s always a good idea to try and improve this where possible.

Are you able to retain customers?

This kind of feeds into the last KPI though the former emphasises permanency. This KPI measures the rate at which conversions become return customers.

Are you getting likes and shares?

Social media is a devastatingly powerful marketing tool when used right. Some of the most successful digital marketing campaigns in the world have been carried out on social media. Likes and Shares represent actual customer engagement and tells you who is paying attention and to what. It also speaks of your general brand advocacy.

How social are your social media pages?

Continuing with the social media theme, it’s always a good thing to have as many followers as possible. Not only is it indicative of how “legitimate” your business is to newcomers, but it also has a distinct effect on brand awareness, sales, and even your rankings on search engine result pages.

Are you having conversations?

We really can’t stress just how important social media is in the modern marketing sphere. Although likes and shares are good digital media KPIs to have, the goal is to get your audience to interact with you. Get them to comment on stories, participate in discussions, share experiences etc. Social media marketing is about establishing a personality behind the brand, and the more human or “real” you feel to your audience, the more likely they are to convert.

Brand Reputation

A business isn’t just a business anymore. Gone are the days of finding the storefront you needed, chatting to a delightful business owner or employee, and handing over physical cash. Nowadays a business is the personality behind it – the brand. The colours that customers associate you with, the efficacy of your designs, the navigability of your website, the quality of your customer service, and the content you put out. Make sure to follow these KPIs to keep an eye on how your brand looks to the outside world.

How far spread is your brand?

Brand awareness is a measure of how many people are actually aware that your brand exists. Getting your name on the lips of the people should be the very first step in any campaign, after all, how do you expect people to find you if they don’t know who you are?

What is your market share?

Your market share indicates how much space you take up within your industry sphere. Are you a small business? Or are you a global giant? Understanding this KPI allows you to broadcast the likelihood of generating profit, and how to increase it.

How well do you rank in search engines?

Your search engine rankings tell you how easy it is for you to be found in search engines. You know how when you search for something in Google and it comes back with several pages of results? These are called the SERPs, or Search Engine Results Pages. Very few people ever use the second page of the SERPs, and around 30% of people use one of the top 5 results on the first page. Ranking highly means that you’re a business the search engine trusts to deliver quality content and relevant answers to your query.

How many and what kind of comments are you getting?

Customer feedback and how you receive it is the key to any endeavour. It feeds into everything, it’s literally taking a test with the answers next to you. Customers tell you what’s wrong and you come up with a way to fix it. Obviously, there’s a difference between legitimate complaints and Karens having a fit, but all legitimate and respectfully given constructive criticism should be taken on board and accommodated for. Paying attention to comments is the foremost method of controlling your brand reputation, and if you share particularly entertaining interactions on social media, it can even help expand your audience!

Are you getting any mentions in the media?

While most of the work is up to you where your brand rep is concerned the media can also play a huge part. Be sure to look up your brand from time to time and see if you’re getting any word of mouth in the mainstream, and if you are what is it saying about you? Does it give you a chance to make amends or take responsibility for something? Is there an opportunity for a campaign somewhere in what people are saying about you? Keep an eye on the press and opportunities will soon become evident.

These 25 digital marketing KPI examples are essential to any business, and it’s important that you follow them religiously. However, we understand that there’s not that much time in the day, particularly for a business owner. Why not Traffic Radius and have our experienced team plan, implement, and manage your campaign!? With our decades of experience and dedicated team, we’re sure we can get you the results you need. Alternatively, feel free to call us on 1300 870 901 and we’d be more than willing to talk about any questions you might have about us and our services.

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