Metrics And KPIs – Are You Missing The Point?

It could be true that you are missing the point with your metrics and KPI selection. Do you have dashboards that indicate success but the underlying processes show a very different outcome? Many projects irrespective of size are allocated metrics to track progress but are they the right ones?

Are you using the wrong business metrics?

A business metric is a quantifiable measure businesses use to track, monitor and assess the success or failure of various business processes. This often requires the input of key stakeholders in the business as to which metrics matter to them*

The key aspect to the selection of the right metrics is in the definition above. Selecting the metrics that matter the most to the key stakeholders. To overcome this issue I often interview key stakeholders. I have a well worked form to collect the information. Therefore the first trap door to avoid is talking to the least informed person.

In 2009 I recall that my very first social media projects were given to me via interns of the stakeholders. I asked so many questions that the interns convinced the stakeholder that they needed to provide clarity direct to me. Sometimes this did not work and I learnt to provide “predictions of failure”. This is not nice but harsh reality in those early days. Selecting the wrong metrics is a common occurrence. Often based on not having clarity on what the real success outcomes are.

The third trap door to avoid is talking about metrics too early. There must be an agreed understanding about what the success event or outcome is. Once I have that I will then go on to talk about the selection of campaign tactics that are appropriate. Progressing to the corresponding metrics that will measure the results as the campaign progresses. I have found that many stakeholders have favorite metrics that they suggest for every project even when the processes involved are very different.

So in summary…

• Interview your key stakeholders.
• Find out what the goals are for each campaign or activity.
• Discuss metrics that track tactics, and KPIs that signal overall success. 
• Avoid easy to measure metrics that do not align with the campaign goals.

Are you always choosing easy to measure metrics?

Trap door number four is the selection of “easy to measure” metrics. In my field of digital marketing and the specialism of social media; there are many popular metrics that do not align to what the campaign goals are.

Many years ago social media tools were not mature. This meant that I had to use excel to track success metrics. I gathered all the data via emails, phone calls or by negotiating access to business intelligence programs. It was hard spending a good hour or two updating my company dashboards by hand. The dashboards were presented in the social media cross functional meetings. Many of the KPIs I selected were a combination of metrics from various sources.

Many years later I am so happy to have a social media management system with 2000+ metrics in it. However I have often created custom metrics in the tool to ensure the best fit to the campaign tactics.

Be careful to avoid reading too much into what a metric represents. In situations like these metrics become proxies for higher level goals. Avoid creating “proxy metrics”.

Are you using dashboards with 20-30 metrics in them?

There are 1000s of metrics. This does not mean we have to use all of them 😉

I personally dislike dashboards filled with 20-30 metrics. Forgive me, but I view them as old fashioned thinking. I normally aim for far fewer metrics in number.

I often use two sets of measurements. The first set is normally three metrics that are key, which are KPIs. Let’s establish the difference between KPIs and metrics at this point. KPIs are strategic and metrics are tactical. The second set is normally 2-5 metrics which are not KPIs. I call them “health” metrics, because they track the performance of the underlying campaign tactics.

These metrics are predictive in nature; advanced warning about the success of the KPIs. They also provide me with some kind of background as to how to understand the trend lines of the KPIs. Trap door number six is to be mindful that correlation is not causation.

Lastly, I have devised my own metric and KPI hierarchy for social media campaigns. I have refined it over the past 9 years. It is embedded in the social media strategy of the company I work for; Signify. You wont find it in any reference book. You too can devise your own frameworks and hierarchies based on experience.

Are you selecting target metrics from thin air?

Finally, are you selecting target metrics from thin air? Avoid selecting metrics without any understanding of the campaign goals in the eyes of the key stakeholders. Does this still happen? YES. My tip to avoid this? Ask the question as early as possible how a metric will track the process under consideration. Two simple tests that I use is to implement the metric tracking and perform the process for a short while. The other way is to analyze historical data and test how the metric performs over an extended past history timeline.

In Conclusion

Learn to love numbers!

I spent many years as a lighting designer performing complex calculations often by hand. I loved always testing the installation of my designs to see how close I was to the final outcome. Each installation was an analytical learning moment for me. I used to take samples of new products home to measure the light spread. This enabled me to design with them in new projects before the photometrics became available. Eventually I took this same approach into social media marketing.

I have devised my own process over a period of 9 years to define and measure social media projects. Are you crazy about social media analytics like I am? If so you will love this post, which defines 61 key social media metrics.

• Insist that any project you are involved in uses the right metrics.
• Question the basis of project dashboards especially as your performance is determined by it.
• React if you see another example of a dashboard filled with “metrics from thin air”.
• Interview the key stakeholder (yes, the key one if you can). Together agree on what the campaign goals should be.
• Insist that any project you are doing uses the right quantity of metrics. Select a small number as KPIs as well.
• Not all metrics are KPIs.
• Document past projects in easy to present formats when you need to convince people of your approach.

Learn to love numbers! Be thorough, develop case history and a predictive skill based on extensive experience of your own analytic dashboards.

Don’t forget to have fun.

*Searchcrm Techtarget.com