Digital Marketing Metrics That Matter

As a digital marketer today, you have access to a lot more data and metrics than ever before. The huge chunks of data that your inbound marketing efforts generate, can be overwhelming. That is why as an online marketer you need to know which metrics you should follow and which ones you can ignore.

The thumb rule which I like to use is “follow the goal-based metrics”. This approach is based on the following steps:

1. Know your online campaign objectives
2. Identify online marketing channels that you want to leverage
3. Set the key performance indexes (KPIs) based on what you want to achieve out of your campaigns
4. Map your KPIs with the channel metrics that can capture & measure your KPIs
5. Focus your efforts on optimizing these identified metrics

For example, if your objective is to “generate qualified leads”, then you should focus on using Google AdWords and Email as the main channels. First, you need to “acquire” qualified visitors, “capture” their contact details, "nurture" them, and then “convert” them into qualified leads. So, your focus metrics should be the following, for the different stages of the campaign:

In Google AdWords:

1. Click-through-rate (CTR)
2. Conversion Rate
3. Cost per conversion

In your marketing automation tool (for Email campaigns):

1. Click-through-rate (CTR)
2. Conversion Rate
3. Bounce Rate

Make sense?

So, the important aspect is to identify the goal-based metrics, and focus on optimizing those metrics with the help of various sets of reports. It is not necessary that vanity metrics need to be written-off completely. In several situations, vanity metrics may prove to be a better gauge of your performance.

For a better understanding, read how to optimize web presence with Google Analytics.

To further structure this piece on which digital marketing metrics matter, I have identified and split the metrics channel-wise and have put them in the following infographic:

Do you have any more metrics that are not mentioned here and which may be important to measure the impact of online marketing? Please say so in the comments.