Marketing KPIs Definition

Marketing key performance indicators (KPIs) are measurable marketing data and statistics that represent progress toward a marketing goal. For example, a common online marketing KPI might be the amount of search traffic a website receives or how well the site is ranking for one or more targeted keywords. Similarly, KPIs that track lead generation opportunities such as the total number of subscribers for an email marketing list are also important, traceable metrics that usually share a direct correlation with the attainment of marketing goals.

Marketing KPIs Example

Identifying marketing KPIs is one of the key ingredients for any business that wishes to accomplish their marketing goals. When paired with an accurate marketing attribution model, a company can start to quickly piece together a very detailed picture of how to improve their marketing efforts.

For instance, an elementary but extremely important KPI to track are the conversion rates across different web pages. Imagine that a company is sending paid traffic via Google Adwords to a landing page. The goal of the landing page is to collect the contact information from potential customers; in this case, a qualified lead is considered a conversion. Without tracking several KPIs, such as traffic, bounce rate, conversions, and so on, the company is essentially “flying blind” with the advertising campaign.

By knowing the conversion rate KPI, the company can determine whether or not their ad spend is acceptable. Other metrics may be tracked as well in an effort to increase the number of leads generated. Furthermore, after the leads are generated, the company should track the next KPI—conversion from lead to paying customer.

Why are Marketing KPIs Important for Strategic Marketing?

Strategy

From a strategic standpoint, the identification of marketing KPIs can be extremely valuable for a business, since the metrics uncovered often show strengths and weaknesses that might not have been noticed otherwise.

Closing Sales

Tracking marketing KPIs often helps businesses identify bottlenecks in the buying cycle, the resolution of which ultimately helps usher potential customers down the sales pipeline.