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There are SO many metrics to look at, but which are the most important to track?

Tracking your performance is a really important part of making sure that what you’re doing is working. After all, how are you supposed to improve your strategy if you don’t know how well you’re performing in the first place?

As easy as it is to say that you should be looking at the data and metrics and making actionable insights to continually improve, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Conversions, sessions, click-thru rate, bounce rate, session duration, new users, channels – what does it all even mean?!

It’s okay, take a breather. Let’s break it down.

 

What’s important to your business?

The easiest way to know what data or which metrics you should be looking at, is to identify what your core KPIs are. Key Performance Indicators are measurable values that show how well your business is achieving your key business goals. To identify your KPIs, you need to decide what goals are most important to your business, and then establish what needs to happen for you to be able to reach them. 

Once you have your KPIs, you can start to think about how the data can be used to put together a picture of your current performance and if it is succeeding in achieving those goals or not.

There are a lot of metrics out there and they can mean different things, for example just because one metric is very high, that doesn’t necessarily mean that performance is great.

Metrics are great tools that can be used to measure and explain what’s happening, providing you with a story. By working to improve the metrics that are directly correlated to your KPIs, you can adjust your strategy to achieve these targets which move you one step closer to achieving your goal.

 

Here’s some context

Okay, to comprehend all of the information above in a way that doesn’t overwhelm our brains, let’s use some examples.

Let’s say that your core KPI is revenue growth so you are focused on increasing the amount of revenue that your business is pulling in. In this case, actions that result in customers buying your products or using your service is what you should be focusing on.

To measure success you would look at metrics like conversions and leads and working to increase these. Conversions are set by you, so you can set it to anything from a request for a brochure to a purchase of a product. This can show you how many users who are partaking in actions that are higher in value to you and your goals.

If you’re running PPC or Social Media ads, you can also look at your return on investment metrics like cost per click or cost per impression to see just how much you’re spending per result versus how much you’re getting back in revenue from these results.

Alternatively, if brand awareness is what you’re after and you’d like more people to know about your brand, then metrics like page views, sessions and new users are your new best friends. You can also see what channels are bringing the majority of people onto your site. 

Are people finding you through social media? Was your website one of the results from something they searched or did they actively come straight to your website? You can find all of that out using data on your site’s google analytics account. And when you know exactly what platform is getting the most users or users who are more likely to convert, you can refocus your attention and improve your performance on those platforms.

The data and metrics that are most important and that you should be focusing on should be the ones that give you more information about how your performance is affecting your business and helping to achieve those all-important goals.

This information ultimately gives you a narrative of how your digital marketing efforts are being received by your audience and gives you ample opportunity to improve and crush your goals.

 

After more juicy insights into digital marketing and how it can help your business? Have a look at some of our blogs like Should We Be Scared Of Algorithm Updates or 5 Tips For Giving Your Marketing A Refresh.

Alternatively, if you just wanna chat things through, ask some questions or get some advice then please do get in touch with us today! 📧

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