Web traffic, social media traffic, leads, email open rates, click-through-rates, and bounce rates... As marketers and CEOs, which Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should you track?

KPIs are metrics that help you evaluate the progress of specific business activities and the success of your objectives. Choosing which KPIs to use depends on the organization - business or e-commerce - and on which department is being tracked - sales, marketing or customer service. So, how can you decide which KPIs to track for your organization?

Before you decide on your KPIs, you must have developed crystal clear objectives. You can reference this blog for five key elements you shouldn't overlook when planning your objectives. Our goal in this article is to provide you with some potential marketing metrics you can select. In our next blog, we'll share with you how to create a scorecard to keep track of your progress. Below, you'll find primary and supporting KPIs.

Tracking Web Traffic & Brand Awareness

The amount of web traffic you achieve on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis is an adequate indicator of the reach and popularity of your brand. Below are some KPIs you can use to track the progress and the success of your campaigns:

Primary KPI: Website Visitors

Secondary KPIs:

• Inbound links

• Referral visits

• Media mentions

• Owned reach (subscribers, social followers, contact database)

• Traffic source (advertising, direct, email, calls, social, offline)

• New visitors

• Returning visitors

Tracking Leads

These are the number of visitors who showed more interest in your company, product or service by filling out a form on your website. Below are some KPIs and metrics you can use to track the progress and the success of your campaigns:

Primary KPI: New Leads

Secondary KPIs:

• New contacts

• Content downloads

• Web form submissions

• Lead source (advertising, direct, email, calls, social, offline)

• Cost per lead (CPL)

• Lead quality score

• Lead-to-prospect ratio

Tracking Customers

A customer is a precious asset who is easy to lose and difficult to replace. Below are some KPIs you can use to track the progress and the success of your campaigns:

Primary KPI: New Customers

Secondary KPIs:

• Conversion rate (visitor to customer; lead to customer; prospect to customer)

• Cost of customer acquisition (COCA)

• New customers

• Revenue won

• Revenue source wins

Tracking Customer Loyalty

They say that your current customers are your gold mine. So, work hard to keep them happy and satisfied with your company, product, or service. Below are some KPIs you can use to track the progress and the success of your campaigns:

Primary KPI: Revenue from Customers

Secondary KPIs:

• Active customers

• Churn rate

• Customer lifetime value (CLV)

• Customer referrals and reviews

• Engagement (social, web, email, etc.)

• Retention rate

• Revenue (lost, won, per customer, per division, per product)

Which KPIs you select to use depends on what your organization and its departments want to achieve. While it could seem daunting to select your KPIs, it is a critical step for achieving your goals. Ensure you share them with your staff and partners since they'll probably be excited as they see the progress. In our next blog we'll share how to keep track of these KPIs by creating your own scorecard.

As part of our ONLINE MARKETING program at Xzito, we work with clients to define company objectives, establish KPIs, monitor a company scorecard, and plan the strategies. Contact Xzito now to learn more about setting achievable objectives and taking your company to the next level.

What other metrics have helped you keep track of your marketing progress and successes? We welcome your comments below!