10 Most Important Marketing Metrics to Measure

Planning, financing, and executing a marketing campaign has the potential to be somewhat wasteful unless you take the time necessary to gauge its success (or lack thereof) with the appropriate marketing metrics. Take a superficial glance at the marketing metrics available to business owners and marketers and you’ll find there are plenty to choose from. Below, we highlight the most important marketing metrics that help determine the success of a marketing campaign.

1. Customer Lifetime Value

Customer lifetime value is a metric commonly used to quantify the financial value of a customer. If the money you spend to acquire the average customer (customer acquisition cost) exceeds that of the customer lifetime value, you are spending too much on marketing. The customer lifetime value metric tabulates the value of the customer from the initial point of contact all the way through to the last purchase made.

Use the CLV metric to get a sense of value across advertising channels, pinpoint the specific channels that have a comparably high CLV, and continue to invest in those avenues.

2. Return on Advertising Spend

Also referred to as ROAS, return on advertising spend is a tool that gauges the money made through advertising efforts. This marketing metric gauges marketing campaign performance, measuring the level of revenue obtained through advertising dollars spent, and highlighting performance on specific marketing networks. Use ROAS in the context of analyzing connected TV advertising statistics and you’ll better understand how to maximize ad performance.

3. Cost Per Thousand Impressions

The CPM, or cost per thousand impressions, is a commonly used marketing metric. CPM is the cost for every 1,000 web-based views. CPMs give you a sense of how much your ads cost per view to evaluate the financial efficacy of exposure and make necessary alterations.

4. Cost Per Lead

The cost per lead (CPL) metric is determined by dividing the money spent on a marketing push by the aggregate number of leads it yields. Cost per lead determines if a company’s current leads are generated at a rate that has the potential to prove sustainable and cost-efficient over time. CPL also empowers businesses to zero in on ways to optimize sales funnel stages to decrease cost per lead while simultaneously boosting conversions.

5. Brand Sentiment

The perception of your brand is partially dictated by your marketing campaigns. Get a sense of your brand sentiment through Google alerts that make you aware of instances when your brand name or other relevant information is mentioned in media. Develop a response plan of action to manage your brand sentiment in accordance with mentions, continue tracking mentions and it won’t take long to improve customer perception of your company.

6. ROI (Return on Investment)

Above all, ROI is the most important marketing metric. ROI is the return on marketing investment. ROI determines whether the money spent on a specific ad campaign is worthwhile. Monitor the ROI of each individual marketing campaign, make strategic alterations, and recalculate the ROI after those adjustments and it won’t take long for your bottom line to benefit.

7. Click-through rate

The click-through rate, or CTR for short, gauges the number of times an ad is clicked. This important metric reveals the online visitor’s action in the aftermath of exposure to an ad. CTR empowers business owners, managers, and marketers to obtain a better understanding of the behaviors of the target audience, helping to improve the on-site shopping experience.

8. Customer Acquisition Cost

The amount of money necessary to acquire a customer is just as important as the amount of money the average customer spends. Quantify the CAC, short for customer acquisition cost, and you’ll understand exactly what it costs to bring a prospect into the fold as a paying customer. CAC is determined by dividing the money spent on marketing by the number of acquired customers.

9. New Visitors Vs. Returning Visitors

Compare the number of new visitors to the number of returning visitors and you’ll get a sense as to whether your current marketing campaigns are driving new traffic to your site or if most of your business stems from those who previously demonstrated interest.

This metric ultimately reveals the “stickiness” of the site in the context of whether its content and marketing encourages customers to return and also whether marketing campaigns are successful in attracting new interest.

10. Return on Marketing Investment (RoMI)

RoMI is calculated by measuring marketing campaign revenue generation and comparing it to the overarching cost of operating the campaign. RoMI can be calculated with end-to-end suites and other specialized software. RoMI is useful in that it helps business owners and marketers develop a comprehensive understanding of marketing campaign performance, especially in the context of how such campaigns play a part in overarching organizational growth.