Which metrics are most important when running a branding campaign?

When running a branding campaign, there are key metrics that can be used to gauge the success level and overall performance of the campaign. Some of those key metrics include:

• Overall website traffic
• Source of traffic
• Click-through rate
• Average session duration
• Page views
• Most visited pages
• Conversion rate
• Total Impressions
• New vs. returning visitors
• Social engagement
• Bounce rate and exit rate
• Overall return on investment

These key metrics are important to know how effective your branding campaign is, and whether or not it’s worthwhile. As you compile the available information, you can determine the exact value that the campaign has returned and how to move forward with future campaigns.

OVERALL WEBSITE TRAFFIC

The most basic of metrics, overall website traffic, gives you insight into who, when, and how often people are visiting your site. While basic, it’s considered one of the most fundamental metrics due to its ability to provide information on how effectively you’re driving traffic to your site.

SOURCE OF TRAFFIC

Another crucial metric, your source of traffic is another important tool. Understanding where your webpage traffic is coming from allows you to focus on the areas that are bringing in the most customers, rather than trying to drive traffic from areas that aren’t as effective. You can spend money where it’s working, and stop spending where it isn’t.

CLICK-THROUGH RATE

 Typically used in email blasts, click-through rate can also be used for internet-based ads. This metric gives you a solid understanding of how often people are going through the motions of actually clicking what you’re posting, it’s a great tool to see how effective your headlines and overall ads are.

AVERAGE SESSION DURATION

Average session duration can be easily understood as how long visitors actually spend on your site. This metric is great to see what’s keeping your visitors, and where you are losing them. More often than not, it can be used to figure out what parts of your website or campaign need some attention in order to better retain customers. Typically, average session duration is used to improve overall user experience, to better keep visitors clicking through.

PAGE VIEWS

While on its face it doesn’t seem very important, page views have long been considered one of the most important metrics for driving user engagement. Total page views will allow you to further refine your focus in regards to which pages of your site are most important. It can help you spend less time developing less viewed pages, while focusing on the ones people are actually visiting.

MOST VISITED PAGES

Similar to page views, most visited pages can give you a better idea of how people are exploring your website. You can determine exactly how people are navigating, and see if there are any ways you could direct traffic to less navigated pages. Think of this as a visual representation of your flow of traffic through your website.

CONVERSION RATE

This metric is best used to determine how effective your campaign is. It can give you an idea of how many visitors are being converted to sales, or any interaction above and beyond just visiting the site. This is not limited to sales, but can also be related to downloading something from your site, or even filling out lead information.

TOTAL AMOUNT OF IMPRESSIONS

When running a branding campaign, the total amount of impressions your campaign had is considered to be the most crucial metric you can have available. All of your other acquired data can be directly compared to number of total impressions, to get an idea of how often people are interacting with your campaign. Whether it’s clicking an ad, or opening a link in an email, this metric is fundamental to understanding the overall success of a campaign.

NEW VS. RETURNING VISITORS

Understanding who is visiting your website, whether it’s a new impression or a returning visitor, is an important factor in determining the effectiveness of your campaign. If you’re trying to drive new traffic, you can determine how effectively your campaign is doing so by comparing the new and returning users.

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

With most campaigns being hosted across the several available social media sites, total social engagement is a key factor. There are several interaction methods you can use as a metric including:

• Number of clicks
• How many times it was shared
• Total likes or retweets
• Comment engagement

Creating campaigns that drive high engagement can help increase the overall effectiveness of a brand campaign. The more users interact with your content, the more exposure and potential traffic you can generate.

BOUNCE RATE AND EXIT RATE

The bounce rate is a negative metric, used to total up the number of visitors who left your website or campaign after viewing no more than a single page. This is a great metric to get a better understanding of whether or not you are bringing visitors to relevant, engaging content that compels them navigate further.

Exit rate on the other hand is best utilized to understand where you are losing new visitors. Rather than focusing on the fact they left on the first page, exit rate instead shows how far in a visitor got before they lost interest. Since the key to running a brand campaign is to garner interest in your brand or business, this is a key metric to pay attention to.

OVERALL RETURN ON INVESTMENT

While yes, ROI is considered a metric, it’s more of a way to understand whether or not everything you’re doing in regards to your branding campaign is worth it. The easiest way to conceptualize this metric is to ask, “Is the amount of money and time being dedicated to this campaign worth it in terms of profitability or overall exposure?”

If the answer is yes, then nothing needs to be done. However, if the answer is no, typically its best to revisit the approach, and see what it will take to make it a yes. With all these metrics available, you can fine tune your approach to make it worth your while.