Many companies rely on the wrong metrics to measure the performance of their digital marketing campaign. In this article, I give you the best ones.
Measuring the impact of a digital marketing campaign relies on analyzing the metrics that really matter.
In the world of digital marketing, agencies are very good at manipulating data and convincing clients that a campaign is successful. Google’s pretty charts and diagrams might look nice, but is the digital marketing campaign actually helping the business grow? Often, a business is enticed by increased site impressions, Facebook likes, or even search engine keyword rankings. But are these numbers creating sales or generating new leads?
What are the most relevant performance indicators for a digital marketing campaign?
- Prospect name
- Site traffic
- Number of sales
- Company income
- Customer retention
Increase in the number of leads
The more you know about your customers, the better you can create the right message and content for them. Knowing your audience helps target the marketing message so that the product or service is more relevant to your ideal customer. The content you create should be what they are looking for and should be formatted accordingly.
Creating and delivering marketing messages through multiple online marketing channels should create leads. The number of leads can and should be measured. The number one rule of a digital marketing campaign is to create a system to track every phone call, every form submission, and every user interaction. Only by following each lead can a campaign be evaluated. If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.
Leads are the byproduct of a well-designed sales funnel. Every lead generated can be measured, meaning the success of each funnel stage can be measured.
More leads means more sales. More sales means more revenue.
In fact, a digital marketing campaign can generate a ton of traffic, but if it doesn’t convert and turn into a lead, then the campaign isn’t working.
Increase in site traffic
Not all site traffic is created equal, and traffic that converts to new customers is the only traffic that really matters. Traffic is necessary to increase leads and make sales, but traffic alone is not a number that a business should be infatuated with. Traffic can be deceiving, and high traffic numbers on a site can make a campaign appear successful even if there is no increase in revenue.
That’s why it’s important to know how to properly measure and manage your site traffic. 80% of website traffic worldwide comes from search engines. This traffic comes from organic SEO campaigns, local marketing strategies, and PPC advertising. Conversion rates are 50% higher with traffic filtered by Google for 90% of US businesses.
There are three types of traffic that are important to measure. Organic traffic, referral traffic and paid traffic. These three types of traffic are important to understand and manage.
Organic traffic, depending on the market, is often the traffic that converts the most, because organic, or natural, ranking in search engines is a signal of trust for consumers. Only a small number of sites will get top rankings and these go through Google’s algorithms to rank well. The top three sites ranked on a search engine’s results page generate 68% of search traffic. So you need to hire an expert SEO agency to get a better ranking and the best results.
Referral traffic is visitors who land on a webpage by clicking a link from another website. For example, a user might be reading an article and click on a resource in that article to visit another site. Referral traffic can also come from press releases, social media channels, and local business profiles.
Paid traffic is traffic to a website that is delivered through Google Ads advertising or placement of ads on other websites. The model involves paying for each click and bidding against the competition for better ad placement. The first two or three listings on the Google results page are usually paid ads.
A digital marketing freelancer can help you set up an optimized campaign with monitoring of the performance indicators that really matter.
Sales increase
An increase in sales is the most important performance indicator of any digital marketing campaign. The goal of any business is to increase its revenue. The increase in sales through organic SEO can be measured by looking at the increase in the number of products sold or the number of new customers acquired. Just measure the current numbers and track the increases as the marketing campaign progresses.
The other way a marketing campaign can increase sales is to increase the value of the product or service. Brand awareness, product testimonials, a high search rate, and a strong and active social media presence can create value for products. By sharing with potential customers the real solution provided by a product or service, the value and relevance of the product is increased.
Measuring an absolute increase in sales can be skewed by a few outliers. A better way to look at increased sales is to measure it as a percentage. This allows business owners to compare and contrast a few campaigns to determine which have been the most successful.
Revenue increase
Measuring revenue growth seems like a simple metric to track. But it’s how that increase is broken down that will allow a company to make campaign decisions that will continue to grow the business. There are several ways for a business to increase its revenue.
- More customers for a product or service.
- The frequency of purchases per customer increases.
- The average basket increases.
Increasing the number of customers buying a product is the most common goal of a digital marketing campaign. It’s about bringing a product or service to more people and converting those people into customers.
Increasing a customer’s buying frequency is also a great way to increase revenue. This often involves knowing the shelf life of a product and notifying consumers when the product they have purchased is about to expire. It can also include informing current customers about product updates, new business offers, or offering sales and discounts to entice them to buy more.
It is possible to increase the average basket by upselling and offering other complementary products during the checkout process. Amazon does this very well by showing users similar products that other customers have purchased together and delivering them in a bundle. A set of products not only provides an easier solution for the customer, but also increases the purchase amount.
Increase customer loyalty
The best way to retain customers is to make a business more than just a place to buy. Be the resource where consumers can find information and get answers. Offer a value proposition that helps customers understand how the product or service can make their life easier, happier, or more efficient.
Customer service is one of the main factors that make customers become repeat buyers of a business. Promptly respond to emails and phone calls with solutions for current customers.
We’ve all heard the saying “out of sight, out of mind”. Businesses need to keep in touch with their current customers by offering updates and product and service offers. It is much easier to sell a product to an existing customer than to acquire a new customer. Treat loyal customers with offers and sales to entice them to keep buying from you.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the 5 most important performance indicators to measure the impact of a digital marketing campaign are:
- The number of leads
- Website traffic
- The number of sales
- Company income
- Customer loyalty
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