In digital marketing, we need to have certain metrics to know how we are doing, what actions are cost-effective, what needs improvement and if we are using the right resources.
To properly manage the resources of a company is not to leave everything to chance. In a digital environment, everything can be measured practically in real time, something that we should take advantage of.
Within the metrics most commonly used in digital marketing are the so-called KPIs for digital marketing, measuring tools with which to measure the performance of our company, as well as to know the ROI, or calculating costs. However, you should pay particular attention to them, because a lot can mean a loss of time.
What are the KPIs in digital marketing and how is it calculated?
The initial KPI marketing are Key Performance Indicator, which in Spanish means Key Performance indicators. In this way, the KPIs are measurements designed to know what is the evolution that it is following a company and determine its level of progress, or performance.
The KPIs will tell us, therefore, the performance that we're getting from the initiatives that seek to accomplish the objectives. These statistics would not make sense if they are not within a context with which to make a comparative assessment, as may be stated objectives or the results of other similar actions.
To ensure its validity, the KPIs for digital must have some requirements, the so-called SMART, which we will try to summarize below:
- The KPIs have to be specific, that is to say, to focus on something specific.
- Be measurable and express themselves with figures.
- KPIs should pursue challenges realistic or achievable outcomesonly in this way will be effective.
- Be metrics relevant depending on the matter for which you are going to be applied, and the people to which it is addressed. In this way, for a director of sales will be key to know the number of prospects that have turned into sales and not the number of "likes" reached on social networks.
- The KPIs need to have a date of validity to be able to act in time. In this way, we will have to get the first data as soon as possible in order to measure the performance of a campaign that lasts for a certain time.
What are the main KPIs for digital?
The main KPIs in digital marketing are the following:
Cost per visit
With this specific metric we will be able to know the money that it cost us each visit to the website. This KPI is crucial to determine the tendency that continues to this cost and its relationship with respect to the quality of the received visits. Its calculation involves dividing the number of visitors of a specific amount of time between the cost of the campaign in order to attract traffic to the website.
Contacts or leads
With this metric we can know the number of visits you need to get a contact. So, every visitor who takes the action defined in the campaign, whether it is the download of a manual, or to fill in a form, they become a lead. This KPI is very important because with it we can improve the optimization of the page, and make as many changes may be necessary in the campaign to get traffic right.
Cost-per-leads or contacts
It's about knowing what actions, the result of the investment made by the company, you are getting the best results in terms of the number of contacts made and the difference between them with respect to the quality of these contacts. And is that there may be significant differences in the type of contact made depending on the traffic source and your conversion to the sales team. This cost is obtained by dividing the investment of the campaign for the leads obtained.
Costs of conversion of contacts to prospects
A contact made in marketing can require a period of maturation to become prospectus. Calls campaigns lead nurturing it is used to improve conversion rates and, although they are key, you must also pay attention to the costs that it generates.
Rates of conversion to sales
They measure the degree of conversion and to manage the leads. That is to say, the negative result of this KPI will make us rethink some important questions. For example, to what extent the prospects who receive a first offer are in the best position, if there is any problem in the computer, or if the campaign lead nurturing it is really effective.
Customer value
This metric will tell us about the money obtained by a client during our customer relationship. This KPI allows us to know the value of each customer obtained in each traffic source and what is your position with respect to the average customer of the company. So we will discover where to go and what is the campaign ideal for attracting potential customers.
ROI activity
We talk about one of the KPIs most relevant digital marketing. It consists in knowing the profitability obtained for each euro that we have invested in our marketing activity. As with the rest of the metrics, make a breakdown of sources and media is critical to know what actions are the most profitable to continue investing in them.
How to interpret the KPIs?
A company that uses different media such as blogs, videos, or networks to be released (Social Media Marketing), and it is impossible to know if something works if it's not what we measure, or analyze.
In the same way, a metric is meaningless if we do not have a goal to which to aspire. Interpret KPIs makes us think of many things as to what extent and why. For example, what it is to generate traffic online if visitors do not become new leads, and which serves to generate leads if the contacts are not converted into sales.
The purpose of KPIs is to act as points of reference with specific and realistic goals. What do we do with these metrics is to follow step by step a project or a concrete action to intervene whenever necessary.
Can be used KPIs to analyze all kinds of aspects such as web traffic or content strategy. For example, the analytics of traffic are used to determine the performance of a web page and it includes different aspects such as traffic sources (where visitors came from), the amount and duration of the sessions, contacts, or leads generated, the generated clients with at least one purchase transaction, and the bounce rate (visitors who did not do any action as filling out a form or clicking a link).
Everything depends on what you want to analyze and KPIs for employees to bring it to fruition. In the case of email marketingthe metrics we used to evaluate from technical aspects such as deliverabilidad up to the amount of subscribers to a mailing list or newsletter.
The KPIs of contents inbound marketing involve, for example, to review sections of the page that get the most traffic or to evaluate the visitors ' interest towards the contents. In the case of the KPIs of social networks, the indicators will provide ideas about the scope of a publication, the interactions that take place or the number of followers of a profile or page.
The KPIs used in the management of the ads and digital advertising it is also something very important to appreciate, therefore, we can indicate the generated clicks on an ad, the average cost-per-click (CPC) or conversions made, either by downloading an offer, to purchase or fill out a contact form.
How to define KPIs?
Now that you have clear what are the KPIs and what they are, lack the way in which to define them. When doing so, there are several key aspects to pay attention to: the variable to be measured, the long-term strategic aim and the specific goals to short-term.
Decide what we want to measure is essential to establish a particular KPI, according to the areas of your business that require a follow-up. Once clear, the next step will be identify the long-term goalas can be multiply by two the number of customers, or bill the double in 4 years.
This general objective must serve guide to determine goals, small and achievable, divided into objectives, quarterly or annual, everything will depend on the deadlines you've set according to the resources available and the characteristics of the business.
When it comes to setting KPIs for marketing campaigns, it is also desirable to take into account the so-called laggins indicators. It is about indicators or metrics of results that were obtained a long time ago, and that, at this point, we will serve to define new KPIS. Thanks to this information we can make forecasts pure and make better decisions in the future.
Examples of KPIs in marketing campaigns, digital
Within examples of KPIs in digital marketing as we can see, the Cost-per-Click it is quite important. Refers to the cost of the use of platforms such as Facebook Ads or Google Adwords each time a user clicks on the ad. The formula for its calculation is the total Cost of the investment divided by the number of clicks. So, if the investment is€ 100 in a campaign in which we got 50 clicks, the CPC will be £ 2.
Within types of KPIS in digital marketing are the metrics associated with the sales, as would be the amount of shopping carts that end up abandoned. Is the number of times that a person is out of the cart without completing the purchase. This metric will alert you to whether there is a problem in the web interface or if the shipping costs are very high, or similar.
In the case of the KPIs financial, it is possible to calculate, for example, the net profit of the company after having deducted from the benefit fruit, the costs relating to taxation or general expenses.
