While responding to your pain points

We asked you what your marketing strategy pain points are. Tara commented with this …

‘KPIs, what are the better ones to focus on that show engagement vs. ones that may look good
(more followers) but not telling what value people are getting.‘

– Tara Elzingre

In the industry we call followers ‘vanity metrics’. Some marketers will give you the disgusted face if you mention them. I do feel that they contribute to a key performance indicator (KPI) assessment, because they relate to audience building (which is a common objective). However, I recommend not focusing solely on an individual metric. With KPIs I encourage being specific. Monthly insight reports can contain general metrics (which you can compare against previous monthly/annual insights for analysis).

How to set KPIs

1) Matching objectives to KPIs

In order to identify best-fit KPIs, you will need to set your objectives and outline a campaign OR outline activity you intend to measure.

An example objective for a set campaign
Create an event that will run between May 1st and June 1st that raises €150,000 in donations that will be used to educate young people aged between four and 16 years old in Rwanda, Africa.
Spend will be set at no more than 10% of monies raised.

Campaign creative
The campaign will centre around a series of quiz challenges.
It’s underlying message is simple. Knowledge is power. We want to empower young people.

Target
Warm donors and new donors (note: this warrants a profile/persona).

Details and design
Website page with integrated sign up form (name, email, phone number). Form entrants emailed to challenges@ email address.
We will also set them up physically in 20 pubs across Cork city and county.
All entrants must sign up first. €10 per person, groups must be a minimum of four people.

Communication activity
30th April: Sign up page and form go live. Slider added to homepage.
1st May: Press releases in local newspapers.
1st May: Warm donors contacted via email.
1st May: Facebook and Instagram adverts created to entice new donors. Max. spend €10 per day (see spend note above).
1st May: Social media posts launching challenge – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Tiktok.
3rd May, 6th May, 10th May…. social media posts with with sign up link.
Etc. ….

From the above information we should be able to set our KPIs.

KPI Campaign Engagement Metrics

Main

• Sign up number (Via form, email, phone, social media comment, in person).
• Total number of sign ups that paid the €10 donation.
• Total number of individuals that took part.
• Total donations (by source: direct transfer, cash, third party fundraiser).

Supportive/Additional Metrics

• Email opens (per email) and clicks on sign up page.
• Email referrals that resulted in a sign up (Analytics goal for form submission confirmation page, segmented by source).
• Social media link clicks (Analytics Content drilldown – select sign up page > secondary dimention: source/medium).
• Social media referrals that resulted in a sign up (Analytics goal for form submission confirmation page, segmented by source).
• Social media advert clicks.
• Social media advert conversions (Analytics campaign tracking report – requires tracking code to be added when setting up adverts).
• Social media comments about the campaign.
• Email responses about the campaign.

Other
Newspaper sales (no specific way of determining readership or reach).

This is a vastly simplified version to help you get the gist of how to set specific KPIs.
We’re looking for those that confirm a conversion and then those that support conversions.

Value KPIs

In order to assess value, you really need to define what value looks like. For a campaign like the one above, I would consider the following:

Intrinsic: Campaign was valuable to the donors – it made them happy, social experience, felt they were supporting a cause, their participation was important, felt included.

Experience: Visuals were captivating, campaign was understandable, easy to sign up, steps for taking part and for donating were simple, inquiries were answered in good time, in a friendly manner and answered completely.

2) Continuous KPIs and Associated Metrics

Growth

• Dependent on business type – Sales, clients, donors, donations, partnerships, app downloads, etc.
• Social Media followers/Supporters – numbers going up, actions supporting/opposing.
• Email – database numbers increasing.
• General increase in clients (conversion/inquiries).
• General campaign targets met/exceeded.
• Product, service, system usage.

Interaction

• Social Media – Sharing posts, commenting in support, taking part in competitions, polls and other interactive activities.
• Recommendations, reviews, testimonials from clients/supporters.

Client/Supporter Value

• Feedback from check in calls is positive.
• Feedback from post campaign forms is positive.
• Attendance at meetings/events/other touch points and time-based activities – up/down.

We can help you:

• Brainstorm ideas and create an online strategy
• Provide templates to support your online planning
• Manage your digital communications each month and give you first-class mentoring

Email us at strategy@cgomarketing.com for details.