Digital Marketing Metrics You’ve Never Heard Of

Article first published in January 2019, updated July 2019.

You’re ready to take your digital marketing to the next level, but it’s hard to know which metrics you should be watching to gauge your success. In the age of data, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with all the information you can collect. And many of us focus too closely on some metrics, when we should be following others.

Important factors to consider in your digital marketing campaign

Read on to learn a few factors you should consider when improving your digital marketing metrics:

1. Choose the right marketing channels.

There are a number of digital channels you can use to market your business effectively. However, not every digital channel is right for your business. For best results, try researching customer preferences.

2. Set and track goals.

A successful digital marketing strategy starts with setting goals. Every campaign needs specific numbers you’re trying to reach. Tracking those goals will keep your digital marketing metrics top of mind. As a result, you’ll be able to know which aspects of your campaign aren’t performing well and those that are.

By keeping tabs on your digital marketing metrics, you can easily adapt to the ever-changing digital marketing landscape and jump on trends as they arise. No matter what’s en vogue, though, data will always be your biggest ally. With it, you can build marketing campaigns that convert.

3. Design a robust email marketing strategy.

Email may seem old, but it still reigns supreme when it comes to driving ROI. In fact, email marketing should be the cornerstone of your digital marketing for three reasons:

• Email is direct and personal. Because your message goes directly into your customer’s inbox, it has higher chances of being read, especially when compared to social media.
• Email gives you complete control. With other digital marketing platforms, you’re at the mercy of algorithms. However, with email marketing, you own your email list, so you’re less likely to lose views the way you would on social media.

In short, a digital marketing strategy is not complete without a robust email marketing strategy in place.

4. Measure and calculate your ROI.

It’s important to be able to determine the ROI on your digital marketing efforts. In order to do this, track your key performance indicators. Calculating ROI is different for every marketing platform, but with metrics, it’s much easier to do.

We’ve gathered the most important digital metrics you need to know in order to take control of your marketing and achieve your best results yet.

Read on to see some of the more unknown digital marketing metrics. We’ll also look at why you should incorporate them into your marketing strategy:

Digital marketing metrics you’ve never heard of

While the right metrics can keep you ahead, all the data available can be overwhelming.

That’s why we’ve gathered the ones you need to know, so you can organize and prioritize.

Why bother tracking?

Tracking metrics will warn you when certain trends begin to fade, and they’ll help you decide where to invest your marketing budget.

For example, anywhere from 34% to 63% of millennials block ads, making this once-lucrative channel less effective. (MediaPost)

Social media ad revenue is expected to grow by 42.9% in 2018 but is expected to grow as little as 13% by 2022. (Statista)

Start tracking these top digital marketing metrics:

1. Top landing pages

This digital marketing metric will show which pages are the most visible across the web, especially in search.

Marketers are expected to spend $45.39 billion on paid search in 2019. (Statista)

2. Channel-specific traffic

This digital marketing metric will show you where the majority of your web traffic comes from.

For example, are people visiting your site from links or social media? Then you’ll know where you should spend the majority of your budget.

Last year, most marketers expected their digital marketing budget to grow by 12%. (Statista)

3. Cost per lead

This metric is the average monthly cost of your digital campaigns divided by the total number of leads generated over the same period.

This metric can show you where your marketing efforts are most effective.

4. Exit rate

This metric measures the percent of visitors who leave your site from a specific page (out of everyone who visited that page).

Less than 30% of small businesses use website analytics and 18% of small businesses don’t track anything. (MediaPost)

5. Lead-to-close ratio

How many of those leads do you convert?

This metric can show you which digital marketing platform yields the most leads who actually convert.

People convert on smartphones about half as often as they do on desktops, but smartphone conversions continue to rise. (Monetate)

6. Conversion funnel rates

This metric is “the percent of potential customers that make it through each step of a given conversion process,” according to Rand Fishkin.

This metric can help predict which channels and behaviors will move leads further through the sales process.

7. Mobile traffic

You can track the browser and device your mobile users prefer as well as what content they consume.

Mobile users spend more than double the time online than their desktop counterparts. (SmartInsights)

Bonus: Brand sentiment

While not an actual metric, establishing a Google Alert can let you know whenever your brand is mentioned online.

This allows you to gauge what people are saying about your brand and deal with any negative publicity.

Bonus: Dark social

People participate in dark social when they share content through private channels.

Dark social links don’t contain referrer data, making these shares hard to track, but it accounts for roughly 84% of sharing. (RadiumOne)

Use shortened URLs for outbound links in your content to start tracking dark social activity.

Wrap up

With these metrics in your toolbox, you’re ready to tackle even the most ambitious digital marketing goals. Remember, don’t go for vanity metrics that only puff up your ego. Instead, focus on those metrics that are crucial to helping you refine your systems and grow your business.

In order to help you master the sometimes murky waters of email marketing metrics, we created an article on the top 17 email marketing metrics you should know. Check it out.

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