Maximize Performance Across Channels with Holistic KPIs
It almost seems too obvious to say it, but the one essential of every single campaign is that it needs to succeed.
As performance marketers, we tend to interpret that truism as being relevant only to our particular channel, rather than looking at the campaign from the viewpoint of the advertiser. He or she may be using multiple channels integrating different pricing models, social media, offline, email, etc., and the overall success or failure of the campaign is likely to spring from how well they all work together.
Just because we in our industry focus on online channels doesn’t mean that our customers only evaluate our campaigns in terms of the online results achieved. Nor should they. Our online activities on their behalf can drive engagement as well as leads, brand awareness as well as traffic, and offline sales as well as online conversions. As sophisticated marketers, we need to look at campaigns holistically, so we understand how each of the component parts affects the rest.
A key part of this process is identifying which metrics should be used to judge success. These chosen metrics— the KPIs or Key Performance Indicators —should provide us with a way to determine if a campaign is performing across all channels, not just those in the digital domain. If you don’t look at how your channel-specific KPIs are influencing consumer behaviors and results in other areas, you could be missing a big piece of the puzzle and some key insights into your target audiences.
As an example of this, a banking client of ours ran an email campaign around a new checking account product, which incentivized consumers to sign up online or print out a coupon to redeem offline. When we analyzed the metrics, we were pleased with the KPIs—open rates were up, checking accounts were being set up and coupons were being redeemed. It was a good campaign. But we looked deeper and found gold.
Further analysis showed a 4-to-1 ratio of offline redemptions to online, which led us to identifying three different types of customers that were reacting to the same advertisement. Consumers who redeemed online via email seemed to display an immediate need of the service. Consumers who printed the coupon showed that they preferred the convenience and reassurance of a brick and mortar store. And finally we identified a third group of consumers for whom the email seemed to generate purchase intent as evidenced by later engagement with display or search campaigns. This represented significant and useful feedback for our client, allowing them to tailor messages and future promotions much more effectively and providing improved ROI across other digital channels.
This is a real-world example of how understanding KPIs across channels can help marketers maximize performance of current and future campaigns. It is also important to understand the different roles that each channel may play in the buying process and how they impact performance. For instance, display gets eyeballs so it’s great from a branding perspective; search is great for leads because of its refined nature, and email and social are having an increasing impact on engagement. Email is especially useful because of its ability to kick-start customer engagement.
David Perez, co-founder of Convertro, confirms, “Overlap is costly to marketers. When we’re looking across channels, email tends to be one of the strongest performers, as 60% of the time it doesn’t overlap with other media.” As marketers we are responsible for generating positive ROI from our media placements. We should always keep in mind that organized, consistent, focused multi-channel campaigns where we understand the value and strength of each channel are the most effective use of our marketing spend. Identifying Key Performance Indicators that give a holistic view of results is an important first step.
Tom Walsh is the senior director in charge of media services for Datran Media.
