1. Clicks
Focusing mainly on clicks can be very limiting, especially in the buying process of your customers. Of the many ways leads may interact with your brand, clicks are just a single option — and separated from knowing the actions that followed it, a click alone doesn’t give you much information.
2. CTR
Although the Click-Through Rate (CTR) may tell you if a particular ad or link gets visitors to go to the next page, a high CTR isn’t automatic success. A low CTR can be accompanied by a high conversion rate, and vice versa.
3. Page Views
Page views really tell you very little when it comes to your marketing bottom line. A page view number in the ten thousands or higher certainly sounds impressive, but it just means that you are getting visitors. Those visitors may jump from one page to another without engaging with the content and offers, or they may bounce from the site immediately after the page loads.
4. Impressions
By the nature of how impressions are tracked, this metric is not a very accurate measure for your brand. An impression is counted each time a page loads with your ad on it — even if the visitor never scrolls down to see the ad. If they have an Ad Blocker installed or ignore the ad completely out of habit, the “impressions” for those potential customers still count.
5. Rankings
Your search result rankings vary based on a number of factors, including location and personalization, which have a huge influence on your brand’s position for keywords. That makes it next to impossible to compare rankings from one week or month to the next.
Four Metrics You Can’t Ignore
1. Funnel Report Data
Funnel data takes a more nuanced look at customer activity on your website, with ads and across various platforms. With this kind of report, you can actually see the full path your customers take on their way to a purchase — and where you are losing them.
2. Cost Per Acquisition
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) tells you exactly what you are paying to convert a lead to a customer. A good CPA depends on many factors, including your industry and particular costs, but a good start for evaluating it is in determining how much a customer is worth to your brand, then how much you are willing to pay for a new customer.
3. Cost Per Acquisition at Scale
Following on the importance of Cost Per Acquisition, Cost Per Acquisition at Scale is another key metric you should be following. What is an acceptable CPA at initial stages of your business may not be a sustainable rate as your business grows.
4. Return on Ad Spend
Return on Ad Spend, or ROAS, is a good metric for focusing on the financial health of your advertising campaigns. ROAS tells you how much money you are making for each dollar you spend in advertising, showing you which ads are working and those that aren’t working well.
From the initial advertisement or content on your website to the confirmation page after checkout, the entire process is recorded by the numbers. Analyzing the right metrics can provide invaluable insights into what is working in both your inbound and outbound marketing strategies — as well as into your customer’s pain points and preferences.
