A new year gives marketers and business owners the opportunity to start fresh. With this new chance, new goals and objectives arise in every business under one premise: increase the revenue from the previous year. While it’s important that every business starts to set up their main goals for the upcoming year, it’s even more critical that they have a plan to measure those goals effectively. In order to successfully accomplish this, they’ll need to look at data through the right glass and be ready to answer the right questions or in other words, have a strategic measurement model in their plan. Without that, they’ll find themselves looking blindly in the analytics dashboard for something to shine or pop up in the middle of the dark with a solution for their business. And if you are one of those waiting for this to happen, the Orlando digital marketing team at On Target has bad news for you; it’s not going to happen.
In 2017, you need to find metrics that help you measure the success of your business. These key metrics are also known as key performance indicators or KPIs. By definition, a KPI is a measurable and quantifiable indicator that measures the success of the goals that you’ve set up for your business. While every business’s KPIs will be different, some of them will consistently appear in every marketer’s campaign. Our team has compiled five key metrics that you’ll need to be paying attention in the upcoming year if you are ready to start generating the most actionable insights for your business in 2017.
***Disclaimer: The following metrics are not your typical KPIs, so put your ninja suit on, and let’s conquer 2017.
- Conversion Rate: This is a great metric to start with. This metric focuses solely on the outcomes and you shouldn’t obsess over it, but it will show you right away if you are getting qualified users that are working towards your main goals. No conversions mean zero online business. Contact forms, downloads, and sign ups could be some potential goals and some of the reasons why you have a website. Something to keep in mind is that the average conversion rate is 2%.
- Days To Transaction: Do you how many days pass by between the first day that users visit your website until they purchase something on it? You’ll be surprised by looking at the results, and you’ll learn so much about your users. However, in order to obtain that precious, shiny, actionable insight, the key here will be to apply segmentation with each of your main traffic channels to see how the days to transaction vary based on the channel that people are using to access your website.
- Frequency & Recency: Talking about the days that your users take to purchase something on your website…do you know how often do they simply visit your site? How loyal are they to you? Do they religiously come back when you post new content on the website? Are your users coming back or just stopping by once and never again? That would be super sad. We are talking about loyalty here, a key metric that you need to start paying attention to in the upcoming year, which can be found in the frequency and recency report in Google Analytics. The key here is to run this report excluding your new users from it. Google Analytics will automatically include the new users to the “0 days bucket” which is not very accurate. When looking at your returning users, you’ll be able to see how often they come back or if they do it at all.
- ROI: This metric talks strictly to your budget and what you are getting in return. It helps you measure and ensure that you are not spending more than what you are getting in return. Assigning a realistic economic value to each of your main goals and conversions will allow you to easily identify which channel, content, or type of users are giving you the most bang for your buck. Still wondering how you can measure your content marketing ROI? We’ve got you covered on this post.
LET’S TAKE A QUICK BREAK…
- The Real DEAL: Now that you have the main KPIs you came looking for, let me present you with the “real deal” and challenge that 2017 presents for every digital analyst, marketer, and business owner. Two words. Mobile Analytics. As we’ve mentioned in previous blogs, measuring for the upper funnel will be key in the upcoming year. Bridging the gap of the actions that your users execute before they visit your website or actual store is key to serve your users with the right content at the right time. In order to do so, knowing the behavior of the users on each device and stage of the funnel will be essential to take your business to the next level. While all the metrics and KPIs that we’ve mentioned above are excellent, they don’t solve for the upper-level funnel. Are your KPIs allowing your team to be there and be useful in your user’s micro-moments?
In a mobile-first consumers society, a combination of all these KPIs should be in your 2017 digital marketing measurement model. In the upcoming year, you need to go the extra mile and focus on those metrics that can get the highest value for your clients. Let your digital marketing measurement model dictate the KPIs that you need to be paying attention to in order to measure the right actions and we guarantee you a lot of success in your upcoming strategies. All of our clients are proud owners of a custom digital marketing measurement model that targets and works toward their specific goals. If you are ready to start making data and growth-driven decisions in the upcoming year, the Orlando digital marketing experts at On Target are here to help! In the meantime, you can start taking the next step today by downloading some extra analytics pro tips that we’ve prepared for you.
It’s time for a fresh start in 2017! Get your digital marketing On Target and give us a call, In Orlando: 407-830-4550, Nationwide: 866-471-4748.
Lydia
