Digital marketing is the path to success for businesses large and small, as nearly 90% of consumers now do their research online before buying. With a growing number of available tools, it’s simpler and cheaper for businesses to take advantage of online shopping trends.
To make the best marketing decisions, marketers need to monitor results across several channels. Digital platforms offer vast amounts of useful data, but it can be time-consuming and unproductive to focus on every KPI.
How do you tell which digital marketing KPIs can help your business grow and which ones aren’t worth your time?
It can get confusing, but we’ll help simplify your tracking efforts with a look at critical digital marketing metrics and how you can move the needle in the right direction.
Digital marketers can measure their success in how they increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, and convert leads. Your marketing mix to accomplish those goals will depend primarily on your brand and target market. Still, there are essential focus areas and KPIs that seem to benefit businesses in nearly any industry.
Conversion Rate
The goal of any business is to push customers through the funnel and win sales. Digital marketers need to turn shoppers into website visitors, leads into prospects, and prospects into buyers.
Conversion metrics show which campaigns and web pages get consumers to take action. For example, you may have a CTA to start a quote on a services page, so you measure what percentage of page visitors click the CTA.
You can use the same concept for email, social media, PPC, and even paid influencer campaigns. When you know how each converts, you can find what works and what needs work. When thinking of conversion in terms of click-through, it’s also a great way of finding the sources of your web traffic.
Sometimes this means simplifying your strategy and removing marketing channels. Other times, you may need to A/B test different designs, CTAs, or other elements to improve a webpage. After all, even if a product page isn’t converting, it doesn’t mean you should remove it altogether.
To get started on controlling conversion, online tools like Google Analytics can show you how your website is performing. If you’re ready to take your efforts to the next level, conversion rate optimization services have marketing experts who can take over the heavy lifting.
Search Engine Optimization
It’s one thing to convert people who already engage with your brand, but you need to raise awareness before you can hope to sell anything.
For startups and businesses with budgets, pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns are shortcuts to traffic. These are top-of-page paid ads that you see when you do a Google search.
A less expensive route that is also better at establishing trust is SEO, or search engine optimization. An SEO focus is what lands businesses at the top of organic search pages whenever a user enters a query. Rather than pay for a high ranking, you earn it through being relevant and trustworthy.
SEO is how you tap into the massive amount of users who use Google and other search engines every day. Users rely on it so much that it accounts for more than 50% of all website traffic!
If you’re not getting on the first page of search engine results, you’re missing out on a huge chance for new customers to discover you.
Several metrics tie into the SEO strength of your web pages. Search traffic KPIs are a good starting point. These broad metrics show you where visitors come from and how they interact with your website.
Other KPIs for keywords show you how you rank for useful phrases, while backlink KPIs detail how to build links on other sites. There are countless online tools, many of them free, that can help you enhance your website’s SEO. You can also start producing killer content to build your presence and your value.
Find the Marketing Methods That Work
Your marketing mix and the KPIs that come with it will be unique to your business, but that doesn’t mean you have to start testing everything to find what works. Do your research for your industry and start with a focus on essential digital marketing KPIs like these. You’ll be surprised at how it will affect your profits.
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