KPI Metrics are the key to tracking the performance of your marketing campaigns. A lot of businesses are collecting data, but few actually take the time to check it.
What Is A KPI?
A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a set of metrics that a company uses to gauge its performance over time. The KPIs used are dependent on the business and the goals they are trying to achieve. The data used should be succinct, clear and relevant. The best outcomes come from evaluating the data over time, and identifying trends to act upon.
KPI Metric Examples
While KPIs may vary by business, below are some examples of common KPIs for online businesses.
Traffic Related
- pageviews
- sessions
- bounce rate
- ad link clicks
Transactional
- email optins
- optin rate
- add to carts
- initiate checkouts
- purchases
- purchase conversion rate
- average order value
- customer lifetime value
User Experience
- time on page
- scroll depth
- pages per session
- video plays
- video watch time
KPI Dashboard – How we use Google Data Studio
Over the years, we have used many different dashboard systems with our clients. We have used Ducksboard, Geckoboard, Klipfolio and currently, Google Data Studio. One of the benefits of Google Data Studio is its tight integration with Google Analytics.
To pull in our Facebook Ad data, we use Supermetrics. Supermetrics now has direct integration with Data Studio. In the past, the data was collected in Google Sheets and then presented in Data Studio. This led to a delay in the data reporting as the data wound sync once or twice a day.
Recently Google added the functionality to merge data sources in Data Studio. This simplified connecting the analytics data with the data from Facebook Ads.
Here is an example of a Google Data Studio Google Ads Dashboard:
Making KPI Metrics Actionable
The process of making KPI metrics actionable starts with defining your business objectives. For example, let’s say you want to increase your revenue this quarter by 20%.
The next step would be to analyze your past/current performance. What was your revenue last quarter?
Then you need to set both short and long term KPI targets. Your long term target would be last quarter’s revenue plus 20%. Your short term target would be achievable increases for each month of the quarter.
The target KPIs would not be limited to revenue. You also need to include other KPIs that impact your end goal of increasing revenue.
To increase revenue, we three major strategies
- Increase the numbers of customers each month
- Get your existing customers to buy more
- Increase the Average Order Value for each purchase
On a weekly and monthly basis, you want to review the targets with your team and then evaluate the progress and readjust.
Difference Between KPI and Metrics
All KPIs are metrics, but not all metrics are KPIs. KPIs are metrics that provide actionable information toward a business goal. There are hundreds of metrics captured each day by Google Analytics. By installing Google Analytics, their collection happens automatically.
By looking a few specific metrics as KPIs toward our goal we are able to determine if we are on track. This is where bringing those KPIs into a KPI dashboard adds clarity. Looking at all the data available in Google Analytics can be very overwhelming.
KPI Metrics Tracking – Best Way To Get Started
- Install Google Analytics on your website. If you are collecting payments online, in eCommerce Reporting to capture more transactional data.
- Set up Google Data Studio and attach Google Analytics as one of the data sources
- Check out the Data Studio Report Gallery to get some ideas on how to build your dashboard.
- Invest in some paid media like Facebook Ads to jumpstart traffic to your site. Check out this past episode to learn more about Conversion Optimization with Facebook Ads