Understanding Why Metrics Matter

Launching a new campaign is exciting. The world finally gets to see your new product or service. Yay!

So, where is your campaign headed? How is it getting there? Is it reaching the right audience? Even if you think you know the answers to these questions, you must have a way to be sure of them. Enter: metrics.

Why Do You Need to Track Advertising Metrics?

We wouldn’t fault you for thinking metrics can be overwhelming; they can be. To unpack the world of metrics, we'll utilize a digestible example that never confuses anyone: healthcare.

You're the doctor. Your campaign is the patient. When the patient gets a headache, you don’t immediately prep for surgery. That's how you get your imaginary medical license suspended.

First, you look at the symptoms to determine the source of the problem so you can develop a treatment plan. Metrics are the symptoms. They reveal a correlation between your message and your audience—is everything healthy, or is there a pain point? The right metrics can show you if your marketing dollars are doing anything to drive your key performance indicators (KPIs). Without understanding your metrics, you can't know what’s happening in your campaign.

Metrics That Matter to You

Not every campaign is created equal. Some are built to sell something, others are built to get attention, while others are built exclusively for traffic. Some are just built for fun because advertising people get bored and lonely. Every campaign goal comes with a unique set of KPIs.

There are several types of campaigns, but we will take an Olympic approach to things by only acknowledging three. There’s no medal stand to determine which type is best, as all are valuable. Think of a medal stand that’s completely even. Three different nations get the gold, and all their national anthems are played simultaneously.

(Maybe Olympics was the wrong metaphor here. Too late. We're carrying on...)

Metrics That Measure Sales Campaigns

If your campaign was crafted to drive sales, you'll want to keep the following metrics in mind:

Add to cart
Conversions (this can mean various things depending on what you want users to do)
Cost per acquisition (CPA)
Conversion rate, which is the percentage of visitors who "convert"

Metrics That Measure Brand Awareness Campaigns

If your campaign was crafted to drive up awareness, you'll want to keep the following metrics in mind:

Impressions, which are the number of times users see your ads or your site in search results
Costs per thousand (CPM—fun fact: “mille” is Latin for “thousands”)
Video views
View-through rate (VTR)

Remember to factor in the type of creative you’ve implemented for your awareness campaign. It’s difficult to measure video views for billboards.

Metrics That Measure Campaigns Meant to Drive Web Traffic

If your campaign was crafted to drive web traffic, you'll want to keep the following metrics in mind:

Impressions, which are the number of times users see your ads or your site in search results
Link clicks
Landing page views
Cost per click (CPC)
Click-through rate (CTR), or the percentage of people who see your ad or search result and click on it

All these metrics are keys to successfully finding the holes in your web marketing. They show you what’s working or what’s not. You can monitor where you’re hitting the mark to increase efforts in successful elements of your marketing, but you can also see where you’re off track, and make timely adjustments to turn those misses into hits.

Looking to find out more about what metrics you should be tracking to make your next marketing push your best yet? Fill out the form below and speak to a genius and get started today.