What Makes a Good KPI?

Krista Neher

May 16 2023

What Makes A Good KPI?

KPIs -Key Performance Indicators – judge performance in digital marketing (and in other marketing as well). Since you typically can’t measure your end goal (sales, donations, etc.) and specifically attribute them to one activity, you use a KPI. A good KPI is a metric that indicates whether your efforts are achieving your goals. So what makes a good KPI?

A Good KPI:

Be specific to your success – it should directly link to whether or not your efforts are successful.
Measurable – It needs to be something you can measure.
Link to business objectives – it should tie back to your business objectives. (and your business objectives should tie back to your goal)
Focus on quality and quantity – many KPIs are only focused on quantity (how much did we get) but also should focus on quality and value.
Incorporate costs or efficiency – it is important to consider the cost (time and money) that it took to achieve your objective.

You Get What You Measure

Keep in mind, you typically get what you ask for and what you measure.

If I can’t directly measure sales or new clients, I want to track the things that suggest that I am getting sales or new clients. For example, people in my target audience reading my blog and signing up for email indicate that I am driving interested people to my site. Which should then lead to sales and clients over time. This follows the rules above for a good KPI by being specific, measurable, and focusing on quality and quantity.

Check out this FREE Digital Marketing Strategy Toolkit for more ways to prioritize your KPIs for your business!

Remember:

Set good KPIs that are strongly linked to your business objectives to be sure that you are measuring what matters most.

This is an excerpt of Krista Neher’s best-selling book, “Digital Marketing That Actually Works”. You can find this and more books at Boot Camp Digital

Analytics, Digital Marketing Analytics, General, Measuring Social Media

What Makes a Good KPI?