Like any other form of marketing, inbound marketing works best when you track certain Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Those new to inbound marketing may be unsure of which KPIs they should be monitoring.
If you’re in this camp, you need not worry, as it’s not hard to figure out which KPIs impact inbound marketing.
In fact, if you keep reading you’ll learn the inbound marketing KPIs that really matter. Make it to the end of this post and you’ll be considered an expert on inbound marketing KPIs.
Let’s begin!
Install Google Analytics First
Before you can track KPIs, you first need to able to gather data on your inbound marketing campaigns. The best way to do this is with the help of Google Analytics. This is a free tool and is very easy to install.
All you need to do is take the code provided by Google and input it into the code of your website. If you have a WordPress setup, there are plugins that’ll help you do this. If you doubt your ability to do all this, there is the option of working with a web developer.
Consider Using UTMs
It’s also worth mentioning that you should consider making use of UTM codes. A UTM code is essentially a URL that is specific to a certain form of content/web page and marketing style. You can then use this to work out where your visitors are coming from and how well a particular marketing campaign is doing.
UTM codes also make it easier for you to identify separate campaigns and traffic sources within Google Analytics. This makes it easier to identify which campaigns are producing positive results.
If you struggle with UTMs, you can consider asking this company to help you.
Avg. Time on Page
This metric will give you a sense of how people are engaging with a particular piece of content on your site. Suppose you have a long form blog post on your site. It may be the case that this blog post generally takes around 15 minutes to read.
But if the average time spent on the page is only 1 minute, it lets you know that something is wrong.
Either the wrong kind of visitors are being sent to that page. Or the content on the page is not being presented in an engaging way. It may even be that the content itself is not that good.
This is all a sign that something needs to change.
Search Queries
You’ll also want to take a look at the ‘Search Queries’ metric.
This will let you know how people are finding your site, via search engines. This metric can be helpful because it can give you a sense of what people want to learn more of. Which also relates to how you should go about improving your SEO strategy.
For instance, you if you have a blog post on your site that is generating a lot of traffic from search. If this is the case, it can be a good sign that you should create more content around this topic.
At the very least, you should make your existing blog post on this topic, much better. Doing this can improve the levels of engagement you achieve with the traffic generated by this post. But taking this step can also help improve the rankings of the blog post in question.
Social Media Shares
You’ll also want to keep a close eye on how your content is being shared. Taking this step can help you learn more about how you can use social media to improve your branding.
If you find that one topic, in particular, seems to be doing better than others on social media, it can be a sign to double down. It can also give you a sense of how you can promote yourself using a PPC campaign.
For example, if you have a blog post that has done well on Facebook, it means that this content has resonated. So, if you’re going to put money behind this content, there’s a good chance you’ll experience an ROI. This is because the content has already proven itself.
You can keep track of your social media performance using tools like Buzzsumo.
Bounce Rate
The bounce rate will let you know which pages lead to people leaving your website. If you review your bounce rate in the context of existing content on your site, it can tell you many things. Especially when you combine this KPI with other KPIs.
Suppose you have a high bounce rate for a page with content. In one sense this can mean that the content itself is not very good. It’s very easy to imagine a scenario where someone comes across the content, finds it boring and then leaves.
But what if the page has a high ‘avg. time on site’ KPI? This can mean that the content on the page is good, right? In a situation, like this, it can be a sign you need to make it easier for people to navigate around your site.
You might need to include more links to other parts of your site, within your content. You might need to think about including a sidebar, that promotes existing content.
Email Opt-Ins
If your email opt-ins are high, it can show you that people enjoyed your content so much, they want to hear from you in the future.
They’ve given you permission to market to them. This can be a sign that your inbound marketing approach is going in the right direction.
Can Inbound Marketing KPIs Help You?
If you don’t keep track of KPIs, your marketing campaigns are flying blind. This is as true for inbound marketing as it is for any other form of marketing.
In this post, we’ve reviewed some of the inbound marketing KPIs you need to be focusing on. You should think about installing Google Analytics. You might also want to think about using UTMs to help you improve your data collection.
Of the many KPIs on offer, you’ll ideally want to pick the ones that align with your goals.
If you want to create more engaging content, avg. time on site is important, for instance. If you want to improve branding, social shares matter a lot. By focusing on the KPIs that align with your goals, it will be easier to draw actionable insights from the KPIs on offer.
Want to learn more about content marketing? Check out this blog post to learn why it’s important.