Which Came First, the KPIs or the Creative?
February 03, 2017
The age of “Creative is King” is long gone. The world of advertising, often tending towards creative sensibilities, can find itself at conflict with the business world of left brain functions such as process and finance. More and more, marketing and dynamic advertising is being evaluated upon the amount of business impact it generates, rather than the amount of buzz it creates.
Orange Label recently attended Mirren’s Organic Growth Training in Santa Monica, which focused on the importance of identifying business KPIs before developing marketing plans. KPIs or Key Performance Indicators are quantifiable measures that companies use to assess performance in terms of meeting key business objectives. Each company and industry has unique KPIs, depending on their priorities or performance criteria. For example, one KPI for a hospital could be In-Patient Volume, while for a retail store an important KPI could be Store/Foot Traffic. Using generic metrics are not specific enough to improve performance. Marketers should communicate with other key business functions such as operations and finance so that all parties are clearly aligned on the company’s goals and objectives.
Every marketing plan should begin by assessing the business’ specific KPIs and then determining where marketing can benefit the company in helping meet their goals. Keeping business objectives at the core of marketing strategies ensures that creative work is designed to have an impact on the areas of focus indicated by the company, instead of simply focusing on creating the coolest, eye-catching design.
Below are 15 KPIs to keep in mind when developing your marketing strategy.
1. Sales Revenue
2. Return on Investment (ROI)
3. Cost Per Lead
4. Conversion Rate
5. Cost Per Acquisition/Sale
6. Mobile Lead Conversions
7. Social Media Lead Conversions
8. Newsletter Subscribers
9. Pay-Per-Click Traffic
10. Website Traffic
11. Bounce Rates
12. Qualified Leads Per Month
13. Blog Post Visits
14. Landing Page Conversions
15. Lifetime Customer Value