Digital metrics can be overwhelming. So why do we still get so bogged down with cluttered, meaningless data?
With so many data points to analyse and new ones being added or taken away from platforms with regularity, it can be daunting for those not truly ingrained in the industry to understand.
Reporting can easily become focused on “vanity metrics” that are largely irrelevant instead of focusing on how the business is truly being impacted by the results.
This is fine when Digital Marketers are looking to analyse campaigns for day to day performance optimisation. However, when trying to tell the story of how your actions are having a positive effect on the overall business, these stats can be largely meaningless.
Get reporting down to a few important KPIs
The difference between a simple metric and a KPI is easily answered by the question “How does this directly impact the business?”
CPC, Impressions, CTR…. None of these have tangible business results tied to them. Sure they are great for the people on the ground running the campaign, but nothing about these metrics correlates to business success.
Leads, Attributed Revenue, Installs, and Monthly Active Users are all great examples of a KPI and what we should be focusing all our reporting effort on. Focusing on the tangible elements of the value that campaigns are driving gives you something solid to show what digital campaigns are doing to help a business succeed.
Words first, numbers later
Get into the habit of writing your metrics down as supporting explanations for why KPI’s may have changed. For the people who need to make strategy or financial decisions, having an explanation of why something is happening can make a much bigger impact than simply getting numbers thrown to them.
Explaining the relationship between a KPI and what your platform metrics are doing also helps to build your knowledge and others confidence in your understanding and ability.
Conclusion
Showing success of a campaign can be tricky, and falling back on old-school metrics can be the comfortable option, but this ends up being a limitation all too soon.
Focus on the things that really matter to the bottom line and how your great work is directly impacting these.
