Even if you don't know what a KPI is, you've probably heard of this term more than once. It stands for Key Performance Indicator.
One of the great achievements of digital marketing over traditional marketing is its ability to quantify and measure all of the actions performed online.
Metrics and KPI's are not exactly the same. Metrics are the different data points that helps you to assess if you are achieving your campaign's goals. KPI's (though they are a type of metric) are the indicators that you define as necessary to assess the effectiveness of an action.
What role do key performance indicators play in marketing strategies? They help you measure the success of the different parts of your strategy and allow you to see what's working and what isn't. Then, you can modify your marketing plan accordingly.
So, how should you go about creating your marketing plan and defining your KPIs? Let's take a look!
The first step is to define the objectives of the campaign. Knowing where you are going and what we want to achieve is essential. However, it is important to categorize your goals by what you want to achieve in the short term, the more medium term, and then the long term. This is the key to obtaining realistic results.
Based on the goals you have set for yourself, create your marketing strategy and decide which digital channels you will prioritize, who you will get you message to the public, and how you want to position your brand in the market.
When you have completed the first two steps, you should choose the key performance indicators or KPI's. These will need to be defined to quantify and assess whether the actions you’ve taken are generating the results you want or not. Discard any metrics that, although they may add information, won’t be useful in helping you understand the effectiveness of your marketing actions.
When the KPI analysis starts to provide data, you can then identify which processes are moving you toward your goals and what needs to be modified, changed, or even eliminated.
Here are some examples of KPIs that can be useful when determining the success of a marketing strategy. These performance indicators will give you a good idea of how your brand is doing.