Consider Your KPIs

By Sarah Shuler

Having started my career in the world of print and direct mail and quickly shifting into digital work, I’ve learned the importance of setting key performance indicators (KPIs) and systematically reviewing metrics to ensure our work is meeting our goals.

At the start of every project, we make a point to identify our goal(s) for the project. Is your goal brand awareness, to drive site traffic or to convert leads (or sales)?  Don’t forget to make your goals S.M.A.R.T - Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. 

Often, a campaign is going to have a mix of all three of those goals.  We want to increase our brand awareness which includes a goal to drive additional site traffic. With that additional site traffic, we want to increase our conversion rate (whether it’s leads or sales).

With your goals set, you can determine the right metrics to meet your goals. Let’s look at a few main KPIs we typically consider with each campaign.  We start each project by documenting where we are with each pre-launch to track our growth (or not). 

Reach: 
Reach is defined as the total number of different or unique people who have seen your ad.  When we set up an ad campaign either through Google or social platforms like Facebook and Instagram, we ensure we’re reaching people within the target audience to further expand the brand. 

Impressions:
Impressions are tied to reach as it represents the total number of times your ad was seen - including if the same person saw it multiple times. The longer your ad lives, the more impressions you can expect to see. 

Website Traffic (Or Social Traffic):
Website traffic shows you how many people are visiting your site - unique and repeat users.  We monitor our client’s websites through Google Analytics. And with social traffic, we are watching for growth in our follower base.  Each social platform or management tool allows you to review this. 

If you aren’t seeing additional traffic or growth, you may need to reevaluate how you’ve set up your campaign as well as your creative and call to action.  

Conversion:
With the additional traffic to your site or social media, it is key to set up conversion trackers. These can be set up in Google analytics (for example purchases or form submissions) or monitored on the social platforms depending on your goal (for example a link click or shopping).  

With each KPI you pick, be sure to set a benchmark either through industry data or your own averages.  Track your goals against your benchmark and adjust your campaign as needed to help achieve those goals!