When business and marketing professionals reference KPIs, most people become somewhat flustered. The technical aspect of KPIs is somewhat intimidating, especially to those who are new to the industry’s vernacular. Delve into the nuances of KPIs, short for key performance indicators, and you’ll find they provide considerable utility.
Let’s take a look at the top five KPIs your business should track to make the most of the money you spend on marketing, content and customer acquisition.
1. Close Rate Per Channel
The challenge of maximizing demand generation through marketing, content and additional means is to strategically alter information to maximize engagement of the target audience and rake in additional revenue. In particular, the KPI of close rate per channel or closing percentage is especially important. Marketing content tailored to specific marketing mediums and specific target audiences is that much more likely to have a higher close rate per channel.
The marketing budget that maximizes the close rate on specific channel such as streaming video might not be ideal for another channel. Analyze the close rate across each channel and alter them accordingly, setting the stage for your content to catalyze sales. Continue to make improvements to increase close percentage and you’ll move forward in full confidence knowing your marketing strategy is evolving rather than stagnating or regressing.
2. Cost Per Acquisition
Adhering to traditional demand generation strategies is not guaranteed to spur a significant number of sales or boost customer acquisition. The success or failure of a demand generation push is partially gauged by the KPI of cost per acquisition. The cost per acquisition is distinct from cost per lead. Cost per lead quantifies the number of people who are interested in making a purchase while customer acquisition quantifies the number of prospective customers who follow through with a purchase. Monitor your cost per acquisition and you’ll have a better sense of the amount of money your business spends to acquire customers.
3. Performance of Content: Aggregate Views
Keep your finger on the pulse of your marketing content’s performance. Quantify performance in terms of views, likes, shares, link clicks, comments and saves. For some businesses, amassing a significant number of views is more important than connecting with a target audience. For other businesses, the opposite is true as engaging target customers with an inclination to buy the product/service in question hold greater importance than connecting with the comparably uninterested masses.
4. Funnel Leads
The number of leads that transition through the demand generation funnel should be quantified down to an exact number in real-time without exception. The metaphor of a funnel is used in the context of marketing and sales as guiding potential customers toward the beginning point of the sales process is similar to pouring gasoline or another liquid into a funnel to power a lawnmower or other machine that provides utility. The prospective customers represent the essential fuel your business needs to continue functioning and thriving. However, steering prospective customers toward the top of the sales funnel is not enough in and of itself.
The challenge every marketer and business owner faces is moving target prospects through the entirety of the symbolic funnel so they emerge as paying customers at the end. This is precisely why quantifying your aggregate funnel leads in specific periods of time is important. Furthermore, quantifying the number of leads that are not converted into actual paying customers and also quantifying the number of leads that move all the way through the funnel provide your business with a better understanding of what does and does not work in the context of marketing.
It is in your business’s interest to keep a running tally of the number of leads that move into the funnel and also pass through the sales funnel. Focus on the center of the funnel as this is where leads tend to stagnate. You have the power to make the most of the prospects that enter your sales funnel. Delicately nudge leads caught within the middle of the funnel toward the bottom through email marketing, artful calls-to-action and other subtle components of inbound marketing and your bottom line will benefit.
5. Customer Lifetime Value
Also referred to with the acronym of CLV, customer lifetime value quantifies revenue generation per customer across the lifespan of the business. CLV is essential to determining whether a specific marketing push is in the black or the red. Proactively and regularly gauge the success of your marketing campaigns with ongoing analysis, make strategic adjustments and you’ll succeed in maximizing your CLV.
