Measuring the success of your marketing strategy can be a challenge, but knowing what’s working — and what isn’t — plays an essential part in growing your company. All of your marketing efforts should include a measurable return on investment (ROI). The good news is, for online marketing campaigns, ROI is easily trackable. The data gathered through your website analytics can help guide your marketing strategy, help you optimize online advertising, and help ensure the growth and success of your company.
We’ve compiled a list of Marketing Metrics to Use on B2B Websites that are available to help track the progress and success of your marketing campaigns. Of the six metrics we think are most important, Cost Per Action is often considered to be a definitive metric by seasoned marketers.
Cost Per Action (CPA) is also known as Cost Per Acquisition or Pay Per Action. It’s an online advertising pricing model where a business pays a predetermined price for each conversion, and it is often associated with affiliate marketing. CPA can also be used as part of a marketing model that allows advertisers to pay only when a specific action is performed. Such actions could include signing up for a newsletter, submitting a contact request, making a purchase, or filling out a form. It could be as simple as the submission of an email address. Since the advertiser determines what action will trigger payment and pays only when the desired action has occurred, CPA campaigns are considered low-risk to the advertiser.
CPA is considered by some marketers to be the definitive metric for determining ROI since it tracks the cost of conversion from the start of a marketing campaign to its conclusion and measures how much your business is paying to obtain each conversion. A low CPA is an indication that your campaign is effective, making it a useful metric for designing and optimizing future campaigns.
While many marketing metrics can be indicators of success, CPA can be used as a direct measure of the revenue impact of a marketing campaign.
To learn more about CPA and other helpful B2B website marketing metrics, check out the Marketing Metrics To Use on B2B Websites whitepaper.