Measuring success in online marketing: which KPIs really count

Only a few metrics count in online marketing: enquiries and bookings, cost per result, close rate, revenue per job and repeat purchases. In the end, one question decides: does it pay off?

What should you clarify before looking at the figures?

Three questions come before the analysis:

• Goal: what should happen? (e.g. more appointment bookings, more shop orders)
• Route: which channels do prospects come through? (Google, social, email, referrals)
• Proof: how can we tell it’s worthwhile? (e.g. cost per customer won vs. revenue/profit)

Which KPIs really count in online marketing?

We focus on measurable results, in everyday language:

• Enquiries & bookings: how many real enquiries or orders per week or month?
• Cost per result: what does an enquiry or a new customer cost on average?
• Close rate: how many enquiries turn into customers?
• Revenue per job or order: the average value of your jobs and orders.
• Repeat purchases: do customers come back, and how often?

The bottom line: does it pay off? Is more money coming in than you spend on advertising and delivery?

How do we set up the measurement?

Four building blocks make the results visible:

• Clean tracking: contact forms, calls, appointment buttons and orders are counted unambiguously.
• Clear sources: we can see whether a sale came from Google, social, the newsletter or a referral. More on this in our article on attribution in online marketing.
• Link to sales: the status and value of enquiries are fed back (e.g. “appointment made”, “sold”).
• One dashboard: one look is enough. Goal reached or not?

What do we keep optimising?

We keep an eye on four things:

• Quality of contacts: are they the “right” enquiries?
• Obstacles on the site: can users quickly find information, prices and contact details? Does everything work on mobile?
• Messages & images: do people understand within 3 seconds why they should choose you?
• Speed: fast pages = more enquiries.

Three questions for a quick self-check

Take five minutes to answer them:

• Does your website count all the important contacts?
• Do you know which channel brings in customers, and at what cost?
• Do you have a simple overview of “goal reached: yes or no”?

If you answered no to any of these, get in touch. We’ll build your measurement foundation, remove the stumbling blocks and give you a clear plan for the next 4 weeks, with specific target values that you’ll see in your results.