Q: I understand that data is important to a marketer, but I’m really not sure what data I should be looking at, or how to use it. Can you point me in the right direction?
Data can definitely help a marketer understand the success of their campaigns, and make decisions about where to focus time and money. Here’s an overview of some data that can be beneficial for the marketing team to have, and how to use it. But to be clear, most of these are numbers that only marketing cares (and should care) about. We’ll get into the discussion of which results marketing should be sharing to different audiences and how in a later post.
#1 Website traffic: Look at who is coming to your site, where they are going, and how they are converting.
Why it’s important: This information helps you understand if your target audience is coming to your website, and once they do, what they’re looking at.
#2 Bounce rate: The industry standard average is 50 percent but it’s best to aim for 25 to 40 percent.
Why it’s important: A high bounce rate means people aren’t actually converting on your website, and is a signal you need to take a hard look at your content, design, and CTAs to see what can be improved.
#3 Your funnel: Look at all the conversion rates associated with a prospect moving through your current marketing funnel.
Why it’s important: Funnels are designed to support sales, so if they aren’t actually driving conversations, you need to make some changes.
#4 Sales team numbers: How many calls have they had? How many meetings have been set up? How many untouched leads are there? What is the conversion of an SQL to a sale? Are there salespeople who sell better? Leads from channels that close faster?
Why it’s important: Using this information, you can identify the fastest sales funnel and focus your efforts and which sales channels could use additional support or needs to close.
#5 Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): This can be a simple marketing program number, or it can include marketing personnel and even sales costs. Regardless, having a goal for this number and measuring against it is important.
Why it’s important: Similar to your sales numbers, understanding which program is working and isn’t will help you allocate funds and resources easier and faster.
#6 Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV): Although this number is generally developed at a corporate level, you need to understand how much your programs cost.
Why it’s important: Knowing how much these programs cost can help you determine whether there are ways to reduce churn and increase Average Selling Price (ASP), both of which should increase your CLTV.
#7 Conversion rates: This includes website conversions, email opens, and click-through rates, plus conversion rates by channel, program, salesperson, organic versus paid.
Why it’s important: If you know your conversion rates, you know what processes and programs need to be focused on to increase future conversion rates.
#8 Content performance: This can be a hard one to track, but take a look at open rates through email, website traffic to your blog, and downloads from email.
Why it’s important: Understanding what content people open and download can help direct future content and avoid wasting your time creating content customers aren’t interested in.
#9 Program ROI: How much revenue did this create, how much did it cost, and just for fun, how long did it take?
Why it’s important: Was the program valuable? Will it be worth improving in the future or should you pivot to other ideas?
Remember, you could measure just about anything. The key is to look at only what is relevant to you and your audience. A lot of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems have built-in templates for tracking data. Start with these pre-built templates as a jumping-off point, then tweak the reports to give you information you can use to make more educated decisions.
PRO TIP: I would also highly recommend having one dashboard for each of your audiences. At a minimum: executives, sales, and of course, marketing.
Want more advice? I’ve got plenty! Check out some of the other situations I’ve chimed in on, or tell me about a situation you need help with.
