Ah, KPIs. Those three letters that thrill digital marketing enthusiasts… and give others a headache. Yet, when you truly want to manage an effective digital strategy, they’re simply essential. So you might as well learn to love them.
In this article, we explain which indicators to follow, why they are essential and how not to get lost in an ocean of data (spoiler: we give you a tip at the end).
What is a KPI used for, in concrete terms?
Imagine you’re driving a racing car. You have a great engine, a flashy body, and a killer team. But… no dashboard. No speedometer, no fuel gauge, nothing. Good luck winning the race.
🛑 KPIs are your dashboard. They’re what let you know if your strategy is going in the right direction, if you’re moving fast enough (or too fast), and, most importantly, if you’re not at risk of running out of resources. They translate your goals into measurable numbers.
1. Web traffic: quantity AND quality
Tracking the number of visitors is great. But it’s only a start. Most importantly, you need to understand who’s coming, where they’re coming from, what they’re doing… and whether they’re coming back.
- Sessions: How many times the site is visited.
- Unique users: how many different people.
- Bounce rate: proportion of visitors who leave without interacting.
- Average time spent: a sign of engaging content… or not.
💡 Tip: Don’t forget to segment. Mobile visitors and desktop visitors behave differently. Your content needs to adapt!
2. The conversion rate: the key to success
You can have the most beautiful website in the world, but if it doesn’t convert, it’s just a pretty virtual museum.
Define what a conversion means to you:
- Online shopping?
- Request a quote?
- Subscribe to a newsletter?
- Downloading a white paper?
Then analyze:
- The overall conversion rate
- The rate by traffic source (networks, SEO, emailing, etc.)
- The rate per page (some content converts much better than others!)
🎯 Expert tip: Test your forms. Are they too long or too intrusive? You risk losing people unnecessarily.
3. Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
This is a strategic KPI, especially when it comes to budget 💸. It allows you to answer a simple question: how much does each acquired customer cost you?
If you spend 500€ to buy one that earns you 100€… there is a problem.
Formula:
CAC = total marketing budget / number of customers acquired
👉 This KPI is particularly useful for deciding between different channels (SEA, social ads, affiliation, etc.). A successful channel costs little and brings in a lot. Like a good friend.
4. ROI (Return on Investment): your judge of peace
It’s the KPI that gives the final verdict. You can have great click-through rates, thousands of subscribers… if it doesn’t bring in any money, it’s still just hot air.
- Overall ROI
- ROI per campaign
- ROI by channel
And if you want to be ultra-specific: include human costs, such as the time spent by your team or freelancers. This can radically change the perception of performance.
5. Social media engagement: beyond likes
We know it: vanity metrics (number of subscribers, likes, etc.) can flatter the ego. But they’re not always a good indicator of real performance.
What we want to measure here:
- Engagement rate (likes + comments + shares / reach)
- Click-through rate on posts
- Community Growth
- Number of private messages or mentions
🎭 Quick tip: try different formats (video, carousel, poll, etc.). Sometimes, a simple, spontaneous, human post can boost engagement.
6. SEO KPIs: natural visibility, sustainable results
SEO is a marathon runner’s strategy. You won’t get results overnight, but you’ll get qualified, free, and regular traffic if you do things right.
To follow:
- Number of organic sessions
- Position of strategic keywords
- Click-through rate (CTR) in Search Console
- Number of inbound backlinks
- Loading time (because yes, it influences SEO!)
🔍 The flagship tool: Google Search Console. Essential for understanding how Google sees you.
7. Customer satisfaction and loyalty
We don’t talk about it enough in the digital world, but a happy customer is your best ambassador. And a loyal customer is a customer who costs less to keep than to acquire.
To follow:
- Repurchase or resubscription rate
- Net Promoter Score (NPS)
- Number of positive reviews (and their management!)
- Unsubscribe rate / churn
💬 Bonus: Set up simple post-purchase or post-service surveys. You’d be surprised at the richness of customer feedback.
But how can you keep up with all this without spending your nights there?
Let’s not kid ourselves: between Google Analytics, Excel spreadsheets, CRMs, campaign tools, social dashboards… it’s easy to drown in data. Too much data kills data.
👉 Fortunately, there are solutions like FreewayTeam that offer a centralized view of your key indicators. You can track your digital strategy, collaborate as a team, receive alerts, automate your reports, and, above all, never miss anything important.
And that, frankly, is a real relief.
In conclusion (and in all objectivity to succeed 😇)
KPIs aren’t just numbers. They’re benchmarks for progress, optimization, arbitrariness, and decision-making. Without them, we’re navigating blindly. With them, we make better decisions, faster.
💡Reminder: Don’t track every possible KPI. Choose the ones that are most aligned with your business objectives. And above all, analyze them regularly.
And if all this still seems a little unclear to you, you know who to contact 😉
