Any novice who has ever dipped their toe into Google Analytics can attest that the sheer volume of data available could easily crush even the mightiest Avenger. Fighting Thanos. On Ego. With all his Avenger buddies.
Let’s put it this way; you need to be a Guardian of the Galaxy to manage the herculean task of sifting through all that data.
But before signaling The Marvel Bunch to help you measure the ROI of your digital marketing efforts, you need to get some basic metrics. Because, let’s face it, without the right equipment, even a God of Thunder is pretty helpless.
1. Cost per Lead
If your website is collecting leads for your sales team to “close,” you need to know how much you’re paying for each lead.
If the cost of each lead is more than what you produce by closing leads, that is indicative of a backward return on investment.
2. Lead Close Rate
How do you track your lead closes? I’m willing to bet you’re doing this offline, which means that data isn’t being integrated into analytics or the online data you’re gathering.
That’s fine, but you need to make sure you keep an eye on your lead close rate so you can check that against the leads being generated. This will help you ensure your digital marketing efforts are delivering leads profitably.
This information is also helpful to use as a control against new digital marketing efforts. If you suddenly get an influx of new leads but you find they close at a lower rate, then you may need to adjust your targeting efforts.
3. Cost per Acquisition
Using the data above, you should now be able to figure out your cost per acquisition.
This can be figured simply by dividing your marketing costs by the number of sales generated.
You now know what it costs to get a sale, which will help you get a firmer grasp on your ROI.
4. Average Order Value
While you want to see the number of your orders increase, paying attention to the value of the average ticket can reap significant rewards.
A small increase in average order value can bring in thousands of dollars of new revenue, and can often be as simple as improving user experience and providing upsell opportunities.
5. Conversion Rates by Channel
We like to know where our traffic is coming from. Whether it’s organic, paid, social media, or other avenues, this information tells us where the bulk of our customers are and/or where the marketing efforts are producing the most buzz.
But that’s not the whole story. Conversion rates can be a better indicator of success and let you know where the best opportunities lie.
Let’s say 75 percent of your traffic comes from organic marketing and 25 percent from PPC. But lo and behold, your PPC conversion rates are double that of organic.
What you learn from this is simple: Invest more in PPC. If you can increase PPC traffic to match organic, you’ve just doubled your ROI.
6. Conversion Rates by Device
Just like checking conversion rates by channel, you want to do the same by device.
If one device has lackluster conversion performance, it may be time for you to reinvest in that area, especially if you see traffic for that device increasing (mobile, anyone?).
7. Landing Page Performance
There are a lot of things to measure when it comes to the performance of your landing pages: Bounce rates, CTR, conversions rates, conversion assists, etc.
Look for any landing pages that aren’t helping drive conversions need to be fixed or eliminated, or the marketing driving the traffic needs to change.
Either way, you’ll want to know how each page is performing.
8. Blog Click-Through Rates
Blogs are a great way to get traffic to your site, but what are you doing with that traffic?
While blogs have notorious high bounce and exit rates, that doesn’t mean you have to resign yourself to those ridiculously valueless numbers.
Instead, use them to set goals for driving traffic from your blog to your main site. A small increase in blog click-throughs can provide valuable new business at almost no additional marketing costs.
9. Customer Lifetime Value
You can’t truly understand the ROI of your marketing efforts until you have a good idea what the average customer will spend over their lifetime.
Let’s say, for example, that it costs you $500 to bring in a new sale or client. But they only make a $500 purchase. Well, that seems like a net loss, once you consider the cost of everything else beyond your marketing investment.
But what if you knew that that customer will go on to spend $500 every six months for the next five years. The average lifetime value of that client is $5,000. Now, $500 to get that customer doesn’t seem so bad, eh?
That’s not to say you want to come out at a loss on every first-time customer, but if the initial investment brings a hefty long-term profit, you can more easily chalk up that first sale as a marketing expense, knowing profits are to come.
10. Brand/Non-Brand Factors
Keep an eye on and differentiate between brand and non-brand searches.
Brand searches tend to have a higher click-through and conversion rates than non-brand because you’re hitting people already familiar with you.
By separating out this data, this gives you additional insight into what is or isn’t performing up to par.
11. YoY comparisons
Finally, when comparing data, try not to compare month to month as that doesn’t take into account seasonality or even other monthly related abnormalities.
Look at year-over-year comparisons to get a true sense of how your campaign is improving.
Are You Getting ROI?
This is the ultimate question, especially those in the C‑suite. To provide an informed answer, you have to get your head around these metrics. Let the metrics tell the story of your marketing campaign and adjust accordingly.