Marketing used to be far more mysterious than it is now. Place some ads, send out a press release, launch a website and start blasting out emails. When the phone rings, it can seem like some sort of magic. But what worked?
Sadly, in an age of data collection, tracking and reporting on everything digital, marketing departments still take the same approach of blasting out a bunch of noise and hoping that something works. It’s a waste of money and time that’s so easy to avoid.
Instead, set up some Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to keep an eye on weekly, if not daily. Some organizations look at only one KPI – income. Others may go to the other extreme and track numbers that don’t even matter; but regardless of your business, there are 13 that you should always keep an eye on, and most adhere to a “sales funnel” concept:
Top of Funnel KPIs
These are the numbers on the outskirts of brand awareness, and typically where you start to find first-time prospects.
- Unique site visitors (including geographic location and time/length of visit)
- Opt-ins to your newsletter, social media accounts (likes, follows, etc).
- Most popular pages/posts/news items, and their traffic source.
Middle of Funnel KPIs
Following a site visit or initial engagement, you get to see who is more interested, and what content is attracting them.
- Downloaded content (white papers, checklists, recorded webinars).
- Scheduling a free trial/consultation.
- Social media shares (which are far more important than likes).
Bottom of Funnel KPIs
When they’re ready to make a purchasing decision, there’s a series of behavior leads tend to follow that’s just as trackable as the rest.
- Conversion rate (number of legitimate contacts out of total traffic).
- Revenue per customer (a key item of any marketing meeting’s agenda).
- Cost per lead (total spend divided by total revenue).
Ongoing KPIs
While not necessarily part of your sales funnel, there are some numbers that you should always have on hand for those C-level meetings.
- Search engine ranking (you should have a list of keywords you’re ranking for).
- Social networking presence (followers/fans, percentage of engagement).
- Position in relation to sales quotas.
- Market share (how big is your piece of the pie in your service area?).
Next, Build Your Digital Marketing Strategy
Once you’ve determined the numbers you’ve chosen to track, it’s time to develop a marketing strategy that drives growth and meets your objectives. Let us work with you to determine the right mix of marketing tactics, messaging and timetables that give you lasting results.
