Measuring Success
How to evaluate marketing effectiveness by establishing and tracking the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
The marketing landscape is in constant flux—virtual sales, app tracking changes, traditional pay-TV decline. How do businesses evaluate what’s working during uncertainty? The answer lies in establishing and tracking Key Performance Indicators.
Understanding KPIs
KPIs are metrics tied to conversion events that matter to your business. The key insight: just because you have the data doesn’t mean you should look at all of it. Focus beats data overload every time.
Modern analytics platforms give us access to hundreds of metrics. That doesn’t mean we should track hundreds of metrics. The best marketers ruthlessly prioritize the few numbers that actually indicate business health.
Common Channels and What to Track
Paid Search
Focus on conversions and return on ad spend (ROAS). Clicks are interesting; conversions pay the bills.
Email Marketing
Track click-through rates and bounce rates. A growing list means nothing if engagement is declining.
Content Marketing
Monitor conversions and engagement. Traffic without action is just expensive entertainment.
Social Media
Measure conversions, organic reach, and follower growth. But remember—vanity metrics are called that for a reason.
Existing Customers
Track repeat sales and lifetime value. Acquisition gets the attention, but retention drives profitability.
Vanity Metrics vs. Business Outcomes
Here’s a common trap: vendors champion metrics that make them look good rather than metrics that make your business grow. Ad clicks going up? Great for the agency’s report. But if ROAS is declining, those clicks aren’t helping.
Don’t let partners prioritize their narrative over your outcomes. Always tie metrics back to actual business results.
The Core Recommendation
Develop a clear marketing strategy with well-defined KPIs. Avoid getting overwhelmed by unnecessary data. Use tools like Google Analytics to track what genuinely matters for business success—and ignore the rest.
The goal isn’t to have the most data. It’s to have the right data, and to act on it.