Which metrics matter?

With so many metrics available to measure the performance of your communications channels, let’s discuss which are most important to guide your decision-making.

Earlier in this course, we discussed setting goals for your communications that map to your larger organisational goals. We also discussed that each communications goal should be measurable and associated with a KPI. However, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to decide which metric to choose when setting your KPIs. Not only is your organisation likely using several channels to communicate with your target audience and stakeholders, there are also several metrics per channel that you could be tracking to assess the performance of your communications.

Key metrics to consider

Let’s discuss the most commonly measured metrics for both digital and non-digital communications and how to know which ones your organisation should be tracking.

A benefit of digital communications is that most channels capture data for you and provide easy analytics. The key is to know how to interpret this data and apply it to improve your communications.

Here is a list of the most common metrics in the digital space and what they mean:

Visitors: the number of unique users who visit a website
Views/Reach: the number of unique users who saw a social media post or website page
Impressions: the number of times a piece of content was shown to users (whether or not they looked at it)
Engagement: the number of likes, comments, shares, or saves a piece of content got
Clicks: the number of times a piece of content was clicked to take the user to a landing page or website
Open rate: how many users clicked to open an email
Followers/Subscribers: the number of people who sign up to view an organisation’s content

Paid digital advertisements also use the following metrics:

Cost-Per-Click (CPC): the average cost of one click on an ad
Cost-Per-Mille (CPM): the cost of 1,000 impressions of an ad
Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA): the cost per conversion, or a user following through on a desired action after clicking on the ad
Click-Through-Rate (CTR): the number of users that clicked on an ad divided by the number of impressions the ad got

So, which metrics will best indicate how your communications are performing? It depends on your goals. If you’re trying to expand your audience and increase the number of people that see your organisation, followers and reach may be the best metrics to track. If you’re trying to build deeper relationships with your audience, impressions and engagement would provide better data. If you’re trying to get more visitors on your website, tracking website visitors paired with clicks on your social media posts (when available) may be useful.

When sending emails, it can be helpful to track the open rate of the emails to see how engaging the subject lines are, then track the number of visitors to a landing page if the email asks the user to click on a link within the email.

Assessing the best metrics for digital advertisements also depends on your organisation’s goals, and there is no one-size-fits-all best metric. However, analyzing CTR will help you understand how compelling your ad is while CPC, CPM, and CPA will help you compare spend and track the ROI (return-on-investment) of your ads.

Non-digital channels have fewer metrics available to track, which makes them less complicated, yet sometimes requiring more creativity. Like digital channels, the best metrics to track depend on your communications goals. Here are a few examples:

If you are trying to help more people know that your organisation exists, then it’s best to track how many people are receiving the communication, such as how many flyers are mailed.
If the goal is to compel your audience to do something in response to the communication, such as register for an event, then tracking conversions is best. For example, a flyer might have a CTA (call-to-action) for people to register for an event by visiting a landing page. Then, people who submit the registration form on the landing page can be tracked to assess the effectiveness of the flyer.

Setting KPIs

Once you know which metrics you’ll be tracking to assess the effectiveness of your communications in reaching your goals, you can set a KPI as a target for each metric. If you have decided to track the number of visitors on a page of your website, perhaps 1,000 visitors per month is your KPI. To set KPIs for your communications, historical data is most helpful. This can help you see if you are improving your communications efforts or making them less effective as you make changes. However, if you do not have historical data because it is your first time using a certain channel to communicate, research industry averages and do your best to estimate. Then, begin tracking the data carefully so you can create baseline KPIs for your organisation.

In the next activity, you can download a Communications Channels KPI Tracker to help you record and organise data about your communications.

Which metrics matter?

Key metrics to consider

1. Digital

2. Non-Digital

Setting KPIs