Defining KPIs: Know What's Working

Launching a campaign is easy. Knowing if it’s working? That’s where the real magic happens. Enter KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) — the numbers that separate “busy work” from marketing that moves the needle.

KPIs are your scoreboard. They’re how you know if the hours you’re spending on social posts, ads, or SEO are paying off. Without them, you’re basically throwing darts in the dark. With them, you’ve got a spotlight on what’s driving growth and what’s just eating budget.

What the Heck Are KPIs, Anyway?

KPIs aren’t just numbers to toss into a report. They’re the metrics that prove your marketing is tied to real business outcomes. Think of them as the vital signs of your brand’s health.

Some examples:

Website traffic → Are people finding you?

Click-through rate (CTR) → Are your ads irresistible?

Conversion rate → Are browsers becoming buyers?

Customer lifetime value (CLV) → Are customers sticking around and spending more?

If it’s not tied to growth, revenue, or impact — it’s just a vanity metric. KPIs are the ones that matter.

How to Choose the Right KPIs (Without Drowning in Data)

There are a million metrics out there. Spoiler: most of them don’t matter. Here’s how to figure out which ones actually deserve your energy:

Start with your business goals.

Want brand awareness? Focus on reach and impressions. Need leads? Watch conversion rate and cost per lead. Looking for sales? Track ROAS and acquisition cost.

Match them to your funnel.

Top of funnel → Reach, impressions, organic traffic.

Middle of funnel → Engagement, CTR, leads captured.

Bottom of funnel → Sales, revenue, ROAS, customer retention.

Make them actionable.

If you can’t make a decision from it, it’s not a KPI. Period.

Tools That Make Tracking KPIs Way Less Painful

Let’s be honest — nobody wants to spend their whole week in spreadsheets. Good news: there are tools built to do the heavy lifting. Below are just a few examples of platform solutions, but there's a 1001+ Martech solutions on the market. Identify all the functions you need & you'll find the right platform.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4): Website traffic, conversions, and user behavior.

Google Search Console: SEO health check — rankings, impressions, CTR.

HubSpot / Salesforce / Zoho: Lead tracking, pipeline, customer retention.

Meta Ads Manager / Google Ads / LinkedIn Ads: Paid campaign performance.

Hootsuite / Sprout Social / Native Dashboards: Social media engagement.

Looker Studio / Power BI / Tableau: Custom dashboards that pull it all together.

Don’t just collect data. Schedule a weekly review for 30 minutes to see what’s trending up, what’s dropping, and where to tweak.

Why KPIs Are Your Competitive Edge

Here’s the truth: most brands say they’re tracking results, but few actually use KPIs to make decisions. That’s your advantage.

When you know your numbers, you’re not guessing. You’re building marketing that’s faster, smarter, and impossible to ignore.

KPIs don’t just measure success — they create it.