C-Level SEO – Metrics that Matter – Part 3

Metrics that influence brand engagement, brand perception, revenue and customer retention

CUSTOMER RETENTION

Digital marketing can help any ecommerce site do more than just acquire leads and build an audience; it can help transition those users into returning customers and ultimately, loyal brand advocates. Returning customers are generally more engaged and generate more revenue. Building customer loyalty requires a solid customer service mentality combined with a well-planned digital marketing strategy. Retargeting through advertisements and optimizing landing pages, for example, are essential components and the following metrics can indicate correctly implemented strategies.

Analytics that measure customer retention: retargeting metrics, and A/B experiments and in-page analytics

Retargeting metrics

Retargeting helps convert customers that have already visited a website and serves as a great tool for loyalty programs. Through strategically placed ads, customers are incentivized to return to make additional purchases. There are several ways that retargeting campaigns can be measured, including view-through-conversions (VTC), the number of times a user is served an ad and then searches or types in a website; and click-through-conversions (CTC), the number of times a user clicks on an ad and then converts. Additionally, click-through-rate (CTR) indicates how many times an ad was clicked, divided by the number of impressions served, and multiplied by 100 to express a percentage. Effective ads will have a higher CTR and conversion rates, indicating that more individuals engaged with the content of the ad.

A/B experiments and in-page analytics

Another way to entice customers back is through social media marketing. By offering your existing fans exclusive offers, you can encourage them to purchase additional products or services. One of the best ways to optimize this process, as well as other digital marketing efforts, is through A/B testing. By testing the various content components of these campaigns on a small group, you can repeat the most successful version. This includes optimizing content on-page that drives people to act, as well as the messaging you are using to drive them to the site in the first place. It may include testing which images of a product drive the most sales if you are an ecommerce site, or it may be optimizing the language on a call-to-action button if you are trying to get individuals to sign up for your newsletter. Either way, A/B testing is the key to most effectively using your digital marketing budget.

CONCLUSION

There are many metrics that indicate the effectiveness of digital marketing. The decision to invest in digital is crucial to the development of any brand. But once that decision has been made, questions on how to spend and where to allocate resources are bound to arise. By following best practices, and using metrics to guide the decision-making process, marketers can take full advantage of the cost-effectiveness of digital marketing. When correctly evaluated, analytics can help optimize resource allocations, drive strategy, and, ultimately, increase revenue.

C-Level SEO – Metrics that Matter – Part 3