6 Marketing KPIs That Should Never Be Removed from Your List

I have been a marketer for as long as I can remember. So, if someone would ask me about marketing KPIs, I’d rattle off a few without thinking. 

But, because I am an entrepreneur too now, things have changed. My outlook towards marketing has changed, and so have the marketing metrics which truly matter. 

What are Marketing KPIs?

You see, marketers have a never-ending list of tasks to complete and goals to achieve. But how do you determine whether their efforts and your investment are making an impact on your business? That’s where marketing KPIs come in.

KPIs, or key performance indicators, help you measure the success of your marketing initiatives. They give you a snapshot of your campaigns’ performance and help you identify areas that need improvement. 

By tracking the right KPIs, you can make informed decisions about allocating your resources and optimising your marketing strategies.

Why Do You Need Marketing KPIs?

Marketing KPIs are essential for any business that wants to understand and visualize the impact of their marketing strategies. No matter which type of marketing approach brands take, evaluating and optimizing your efforts depends on the KPIs. 

Here are a few reasons why you need marketing KPIs:

1. Provide a clear picture of your performance 

Marketing KPIs provide a clear and objective picture of your marketing performance. 

They give you a reality check and help you identify areas that need improvement.

2. Make informed decisions

Tracking those marketing metrics enable you to make data-driven decisions about your marketing strategy and resource management.

You can see which campaigns are working well and which ones need adjustment and allocate your resources accordingly.

3. Drive success

They help you track progress and measure the impact of your marketing efforts. 

By monitoring your KPIs over time, you can see how your marketing strategies are contributing to the overall growth and success of your business. 

4. Improve ROI

Marketing KPIs can help you determine the return on your investment and ensure that your activities are generating a positive ROI. 

They also help you decide better on budgets and expenses for the campaigns.

5. Stay ahead of the competition

By tracking marketing KPIs, you can stay ahead of the competition and stay on top of the latest marketing trends and best practices in your industry. 

This information can help you stay ahead of the curve and make sure that your marketing efforts are effective and efficient.

In short, marketing KPIs are crucial for your brand’s growth roadmap. 

Marketing KPIs to track 

So, what are some of the most important marketing KPIs to keep an eye on? 

Let’s take a closer look.

1. Website Traffic

Website traffic is a basic but vital KPI. 

86% of respondents stated that they use website traffic as a metric to measure the effectiveness of their content marketing initiatives[1]. 

It tells you how many people are visiting your site and where they’re coming from. You can track website traffic through tools like Google Analytics, which provides detailed information on the number of page views, unique visitors, and bounce rate.

To put it in perspective, imagine you’re a bakery owner. You’ve just launched a new website and are eager to see how many people are stopping by. You check your analytics and see that your traffic has increased by 25% compared to the previous month. That’s great news! 

But don’t stop there. Dig deeper into the data to see which pages are getting the most traffic and where your visitors are coming from. This information can help you identify your target audience and alter your marketing strategies accordingly.

2. New Leads Generated

Lead generation is a primary responsibility of marketers.

An important KPI as well,  it measures the number of potential customers who have expressed interest in your products or services.

You can track lead generation through a variety of methods, such as sign-ups for your email newsletter, contact forms, or demo requests.

Let’s say you’re a SaaS company, and you’ve just run a webinar to promote your new product. You want to see how many people signed up for the event and how many of them filled out a contact form. Tracking these leads then helps you gauge how your webinar fared for the audience, and even plan the steps further. 

3. Conversion Rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors to your site who take a specific action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.

This KPI is pivotal to understand your website’s impact and how your audience engages with the content on it. 

Think about it this way. 

If 100 people visit your site and 10 of them make a purchase or sign up for a free trial, your conversion rate is 10%. 

The ideal conversion rate of the website lies between 2 to 5%[2]. 

If your conversion rate is lower than the average, consider A/B testing different elements of your site, such as the call to action or the checkout process.

4. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Customer acquisition cost is the amount of money you spend to acquire a new customer. This is a term sales professionals should be aware of as well. 

This metric is important for measuring the efficiency of your marketing campaigns and determining the profitability of your business.

Imagine you’re a clothing retailer, and you just launched a new social media campaign. You spent $5,000 on the campaign and acquired 100 new customers. Your CAC is $50 ($5,000 divided by 100). 

Tracking your CAC helps you decide if you are generating an ROI or making a loss. 

If your CAC is higher than the average revenue a customer earns you, you may need to adjust your strategies or consider alternative channels for acquiring new customers.

Want to discover the one marketing strategy that can take your business to the next level? Read on to find out!

5. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

ROAS is calculated by dividing your revenue by the amount you spend on advertising. Return on ad spend is the return you get on your advertising investment.

This KPI gives you a clear picture of how well your advertising campaigns are performing and helps you determine optimization possibilities.

Let’s say you’re a home goods retailer, and you just ran a Google AdWords campaign. You spent $1,000 on the campaign and generated $10,000 in sales. Your ROAS is 10 (or $10,000/$1,000). 

Ideal ROAS is four times the investment[3]. 

If your ROAS is lower, you may want to try different channels to run your campaigns, or change your advertising approach. 

6. Social Media Engagement

Social media engagement is a key KPI for understanding the execution of your social media campaigns.

It demonstrates how well your content is resonating with your audience, based on which you can make adjustments to your strategy. 

This includes metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and follows.

Imagine you’re a fashion brand and just posted a photo of a new product on Instagram. You may want to see how well that particular post performs and whether it drives engagement.

Check how many likes, comments, and shares the photo received, see if the post caption made a difference, and how did the audience respond to it. Make changes to your content strategy if needed.

Want to know the secret to boosting your social media marketing game? Keep reading to discover the one strategy you can’t afford to ignore.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, marketing KPIs are essential for your overall brand health. In fact, an effective marketing strategy is one of the reasons for a startup’s success. 

You can ensure that your efforts are making a positive impact on your business and driving success in the long run. 

If you do not want your business or product to fail, start tracking these marketing KPIs today and watch your success soar!