Digital Marketing KPIs You Should Be Tracking to Measure Success

Successful marketing is all about the numbers. Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) is the first step to optimizing your digital marketing campaigns, so you reach the right audiences and get more sales for your dollar.



In this post, we'll cover the most critical metrics for search engine optimization (SEO), email, paid media, and social media marketing. Learning about these digital marketing KPIs will help you act on them as part of your strategy, improving your chances of campaign performance and return on investment (ROI).

Why Tracking Digital Marketing KPIs Matters for Your Business

Digital marketing performance measurement is an essential part of any well-designed campaign. Online marketing KPIs tell you whether a campaign is helping to achieve business objectives, so you can invest in the marketing efforts that pay off.

Fortunately, the shift to digital marketing has made it easier than ever to track industry KPIs. The key is to know which metrics are meaningful for your campaign type, so you can monitor success and make better marketing decisions.

Key SEO KPIs To Monitor

SEO improves your online visibility and can increase your website traffic. Three metrics help you determine whether your SEO strategy achieves these goals.

Organic Traffic

Organic traffic includes each visit to your site from a non-sponsored result on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). More organic website traffic means greater brand visibility and often indicates higher SERP rankings.

Google Search Console lets you view organic search traffic for free. You'll need to verify site ownership and grant Search Console access, but it's worth the legwork to get regular updates. 

If your organic traffic isn't where you'd like it to be, consider conducting additional keyword research to ensure they align with your audience's search behavior. 

Bounce Rate

Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing a single page. A high bounce rate indicates that a site doesn't engage its audience, often because the content isn't valuable enough or the site is challenging to use. Address potential issues by:

• Breaking up text with high-value images
• Using short paragraphs to make your content scannable
• Adding menus for intuitive navigation
• Incorporating action-packed calls to action (CTAs)

Page load speed can also contribute to high bounce rates. If your page is slow, try compressing your images and simplifying your code.

Keyword Rankings

This metric shows where you appear in the SERP for your target keywords. It's a crucial metric for your content marketing strategy because it shows whether your chosen keywords are driving traffic. 

If you rank low, Google might not view your site as relevant and valuable for those terms. Consider targeting different keywords or optimizing your content to emphasize user value.

Paid Media KPIs That Highlight ROI

Unlike SEO, which functions as inbound marketing to attract customers, paid ads work as outbound marketing. Search ads, social media ads, and influencer relationships actively promote your product or service. By tracking clicks and ROI, you can determine whether they pay off.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

CTR measures the percentage of ad viewers who click through to your site. A high CTR means your digital advertising entices audiences and targets the right keywords. A good click-through rate is above 3% for search ads, or 1% to 2% for social ads.

If your CTR isn't there yet, experiment with new versions of your ad copy. Incorporate more value-oriented, actionable language, then compare versions using split testing. Use varied keywords, in case your target keywords don't align with your audience's search behavior. 

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)

To learn your ad spend per new customer, divide the total campaign cost by the number of new customers or leads generated. 

A high customer acquisition cost means you're overspending. Focus first on increasing your conversions by optimizing your ad copy and landing page. 

If you see more customer action, you can consider refining your ad targeting. Focusing on a more niche audience can increase your CTR, potentially letting you spend less overall.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

This metric gets straight to the point: How much revenue are you getting for your advertising dollars? Many PPC advertising platforms, including Google Ads and Facebook Ads, will automatically calculate these numbers with a little bit of platform manipulation.

Tracking ROAS helps you optimize your ad spend by giving you bottom-line results for each campaign. Use that information to choose which campaigns to keep, dismiss, or edit.

Email Marketing KPIs To Track Engagement

Email newsletters and promotional messages help you engage consumers further down the marketing funnel. You can market to new subscribers and existing customers with targeted messages and promotions, but you need to track interactions to gauge success.

Open Rate

As the name suggests, open rate tells you what percentage of your emails people open. It speaks volumes on how people feel about your brand and how enticing your subject lines are.

The average email open rate across industries is 42.35%, according to data from email service provider Mailerlite. If your open rates need some work, consider these tips to make your subject line more exciting:

• Use action verbs, such as "discover" or "save"
• Create urgency with phrases like "don't miss" 
• Ask questions, hinting at an answer behind the click

Run split tests on your subject lines to learn which ones perform best. Every audience responds differently.

Conversion Rate

By calculating your lead conversion rate, you can determine the percentage of recipients who took the desired action after receiving your email. You can get this number via Google Analytics by adding a traffic tag to the end of your clickable links. These tags are called utm parameters, and mastering them can make your digital marketing analytics much easier.

Many factors contribute to a great conversion rate, from top-notch email copywriting to the perfect product description. The first step is to get more people to click your link, which you can do by emphasizing customer value. Make them feel like they'd miss out if they don't click, and be clear about why.

Social Media KPIs To Measure Performance

Social media marketing is a cost-effective way for a small business to connect with its audience. This marketing channel is all about interaction, which is how you evaluate success.

Engagement Rate

When you measure social media engagement, you look at the percentage of your audience that likes, comments, shares, or otherwise interacts with your content. A high engagement rate indicates that your content resonates with your audience, prompting them to participate in the conversation.

Audience engagement strengthens your brand relationships and makes you more visible on social media. The more interactions you get, the more visibility you'll get on major social platforms. 

Follower Growth

Follower growth means that your audience and brand reach are growing. More followers mean more opportunities for lead generation, which brings your audience closer to conversion. Great content can earn you more followers, and don't be shy about asking people to "like and share."

How To Use KPIs To Optimize Your Campaigns

To create a high-converting lead funnel from your digital marketing, you need to analyze data from your key marketing channels. That's the beauty of KPIs for online marketing: They give you real-time information and insights into trends that tell you what's working, what isn't, and what needs perfecting. By following the data and adjusting your strategies across each channel, you can maximize your digital marketing ROI and broaden your reach.

Boost Results With Smarter Digital Marketing Strategies

When you're busy running a business, the idea of tracking digital marketing KPIs can be overwhelming. Optimize Digital Marketing is here to help. Our skilled professionals can work with you to create a customized digital marketing strategy that we'll refine and optimize based on data, so you can focus on impressing your customers.

Don't waste money on digital marketing that doesn't get results. Contact us today to learn how we can help you do more.