Measuring your digital marketing efforts is critical to your success in the ever-changing digital landscape. You can use a variety of metrics to determine which digital marketing tools are giving you the biggest bang for your buck, says Walid Abdelaty, partner at Techlicity Ventures Corp. in Toronto.

You have to be selective in what metrics you measure, Abdelaty says. “Vanity” metrics, such as Facebook likes and YouTube views, are simply “nice to have,” but are not effective for business growth and revenue generation.

Digital metrics can be classified into three broad categories: traffic generation, conversion and revenue. Within each of these categories, there are several metrics that can be tracked to determine how well your marketing program is working.

> Traffic metrics
Traffic metrics measure how much traffic your website is generating. They are useful when using digital marketing techniques such as search engine optimization (SEO), Abdelaty says.

For example, by measuring total site traffic, you will find out how many hits, page views and unique visitors your website is getting over a defined period. “The greater the number of unique visitors your website gets,” Abdelaty says, “the greater the chances of getting potential clients.”

You can also determine the source of traffic. “If you know where the traffic is coming from and the keywords and phrases you used to generate the traffic, then you can conclude that your SEO strategy is working,” Abdelaty says.

In this case, you would continue to focus on the digital marketing techniques you are using. If your keywords and phrases do not generate the desired traffic, you should consider making changes.

You can also look at several other metrics, such as the amount of time visitors spend on each page. This information will give you insight into how you could improve your content.

> Conversion metrics
Converting website traffic into leads and, ultimately, clients is the main goal of any digital marketing campaign, Abdelaty says. You can measure the conversion rate of visitors to determine which digital marketing techniques are delivering the best results.

From a cost perspective, you can also measure the cost per lead, which measures leads converted against the cost of your digital marketing program, and the cost to acquire a new client.

These metrics will “allow you to determine the profitability of your campaign,” Abdelaty says.

> Revenue metrics
The profitability of your digital marketing campaign is measured to help you assess what aspects of your campaign are working. This step will help you determine whether you should continue with your strategy or make adjustments to increase conversions and generate higher revenue, Abdelaty says.

Measuring your return on investment (ROI) is based on the cost of your digital marketing program against fees generated from new clients converted over a defined time frame. “You can also use this metric to determine where the highest number of conversions and revenues are generated,” Abdelaty says. You can then focus on those areas to increase your ROI.

This metric will also help you identify which areas of your digital marketing campaign are driving sales and revenue, and which areas have room for improvement.

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