Successful digital marketing campaigns don’t happen by accident. To measure their success, marketers need to understand key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs are metrics used to evaluate the performance of a campaign and can be divided across social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC) and email marketing.
Understanding these KPIs will help you gauge how effective your campaigns are and make any necessary changes for improvement. Commonly used KPI in digital marketing include reach, website traffic, conversion rate and cost per click among others. In this article, we will discuss how understanding KPIs in digital marketing can help you create successful campaigns that get results.
However, before we do that, let us take a step back to understand what digital marketing KPIs are and why you need to track them.
Contents
- 1 What is a Digital Marketing KPI?
- 2 Why Track Digital Marketing KPIs?
- 3 Top Digital Marketing KPIs to track in 2023
- 4 Which Digital Marketing KPIs should you NOT track?
What is a Digital Marketing KPI?
A digital marketing KPI is an indicator used to measure the success of a campaign. KPIs are set before any campaigns are launched and should be aligned with the overall objectives. They can provide insights into where resources should be spent for the best results, areas that need improvement and future opportunities for growth.
Why Track Digital Marketing KPIs?
Tracking KPIs helps to ensure that your digital marketing campaigns are effective and successful. By understanding the performance of each KPI, you can identify where your campaigns have been successful and areas that need improvement. This in turn allows you to make informed decisions on how to tweak or adjust campaigns for better results in future initiatives.
Top Digital Marketing KPIs to track in 2023
Digital marketing KPIs come in all shapes and sizes. While there are some universal KPI in digital marketing that apply to all initiatives, you may also want to consider more industry-specific metrics depending on your objectives. Here is a look at different categories of digital marketing KPIs:
General Digital Marketing KPIs
While all digital marketing KPIs can be categorized into which channel they are relevant for, there are also some general marketing metrics that should be measured across channels:
Customer Acquisition Cost
This metric measures the cost of acquiring a customer. It is important to track this KPI as it can help you identify whether or not your campaigns across channels are profitable.
Customer Lifecycle Value
This metric measures the total amount of revenue generated from a single customer over its lifetime. It can help you identify which channels/campaigns are more successful in terms of long-term value.
Return on Investment (ROI)
This metric is a function of previous two metrics, and is used to measure the profitability of your digital marketing campaigns. It takes into account both customer lifetime value which is an indicator of revenue, and customer acquisition cost – an indicator of cost to understand the profitability of your marketing efforts.
Social Media Marketing KPIs
Social media is one of the most popular channels for digital marketing campaigns. Here are some KPIs that you can use to measure the success of your social media campaigns:
Engagement Rate
This metric measures the total number of likes, shares and comments on a post or page. It is an indicator of how engaged your audience is with your content and can help you understand what type of content resonates better with them.
Follower Growth Rate
This metric measures the rate at which you are gaining followers on a specific social media platform. It can help you understand how successful your campaigns have been in attracting new followers and retaining existing ones.
Social Media Traffic
This metric measures the total number of visitors that have come to your website from any social media channel. It can help you understand if your campaigns are driving meaningful traffic to your website or not.
Search Engine Optimization KPIs
Search engine optimization is an important component of any digital marketing campaign. It can help you drive organic traffic to your website by optimizing your website for SEO and publishing SEO friendly content. Here are some digital marketing KPIs that can help you measure the success of your SEO efforts:
Impressions from Non-branded Keywords
This metric measures the total number of impressions from keywords that do not include your brand name. It is an indication of how well you are ranking for relevant terms and can help you understand what type of content resonates better with your audience.
Organic Traffic
This metric measures the total number of visitors coming to your website through organic search results. It is an indication of how successful your SEO efforts have been in terms of ranking for relevant keywords and driving traffic to your website.
Keyword Rankings
This metric measures the position of a keyword in search engine results pages (SERPs). It is an indication of how well you are ranking for a particular keyword and can help you identify areas where there is room for improvement. A clear keyword strategy can improve your keyword rankings by helping you rank faster in search engine results pages.
Domain Authority
This metric measures the strength of a website in terms of its ability to rank for relevant terms. It is an indication of how successful your SEO efforts are in terms of increasing the overall authority and visibility of your website.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) KPIs
PPC campaigns can be used to drive traffic to specific pages on your website. Here are some KPIs you should be monitoring for your PPC campaigns:
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
This metric measures the rate at which users click on an ad after seeing it. It is an indication of how successful your ads are in terms of generating interest and can help you understand what type of content resonates better with your audience.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
This metric measures the total cost of a click on an ad. It is an indication of how expensive it is to get people to click on your ads and can help you understand if there are any areas where you can optimize costs.
Conversion Rate
This metric measures the rate at which users are completing a desired action after clicking on an ad. It is an indication of how successful your campaigns are in terms of generating leads and can help you understand what type of content resonates better with your audience.
Interested to know how these digital marketing KPIs work in the real word. Here is a case study for a new Pre-school where we were able to deliver real value by generating 800 leads/month for them by closely monitoring these KPIs.
Email Marketing KPIs
Email marketing can be used to build relationships with customers and drive conversions. Here are some KPIs you should be monitoring for email campaigns:
Open Rate
This metric measures the rate at which users open a particular email. It is an indication of how successful your emails are in terms of generating interest and can help you understand what type of content resonates better with your audience.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
This metric measures the rate at which users click on a link in an email after opening it. It is an indication of how successful your emails are in terms of generating interest and can help you understand what type of content resonates better with your audience.
Unsubscribes
This metric measures the rate at which users unsubscribe from your email list. It indicates how relevant your campaign is to your subscribers and can help you identify areas where your content is not resonating with them.
Email marketing is not a one size fits all game. You have to choose the right email marketing approach to maximize its effectiveness. Read this article to know how different types of email marketing can be used to maximize engagement.
Which Digital Marketing KPIs should you NOT track?
Although the KPIs above are important to measure the success of your campaigns, there are some key performance indicators you should NOT be tracking. These include metrics such as website pageviews, bounce rate and social media followers. These metrics do not provide any insight into the effectiveness of your campaigns and can be misleading if tracked in isolation.
By understanding and tracking these digital marketing KPIs, you will be able to identify areas where your campaigns are successful and areas that need improvement. Doing so will allow you to better measure the success of your campaigns and make informed decisions about how to improve them in the future.
Not sure wether your digital marketing efforts are generating enough results? At Brandshark, we provide comprehensive kpi in digital marketing services to help you understand and optimize your KPIs. We are a creative digital marketing agency with deep expertise in Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, PPC Marketing, and Email Marketing. Contact us today to find out more.