A key performance indicator (KPI) is a quantifiable figure that shows how well a business is accomplishing its main goals. KPIs are used by organizations specializing in digital marketing to gauge their progress toward their goals.
Low-level KPIs may concentrate on departmental activities like sales, marketing, HR, or support, whereas high-level KPIs may concentrate on the overall success of the SEO company.
Table of Contents
An Overview of Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
A key performance indicator, or KPI, is a quantitative value that is used to assess how successfully an individual or organization is achieving a goal. You can have high-level KPIs that assess your company’s success or KPIs that delve into individual or departmental procedures.
Top Basics of Using Key Performance Indicators
After defining a KPI, let’s examine the fundamentals of using one.
Have you ever adopted a KPI that is well-known in the industry only to discover that it is ineffective for your company? Always keep in mind that KPIs are a form of communication.
Meaning that they adhere to the same outcomes and best practices as any other type of communication: the most successful information is that which is brief, clear, and relevant.
Understanding your organizational objectives, how you intend to achieve them, and who can act on the information will help you build a strategy for developing KPIs. You will develop a better grasp of which business processes belong on a KPI dashboard and with whom you should share it as you iterate and evolve.
The Differences between KPI and Key Performance Metrics
Metrics and key performance indicators in search are related but distinct concepts. Here is a brief justification:
- Key Performance Indicator: To have the biggest impact on your strategic business outcomes, you should monitor KPIs. KPIs assist your teams to concentrate on what’s important and support your strategy. A significant performance metric may be “targeted new clients per month,” for instance.
- Key Performance Metrics: Metrics assess how well routine business operations support your KPIs. Although they have an impact on your results, these are not the most important metrics. “Monthly store visits” and “white paper downloads” are a couple of examples.
Why is it important to use Key Performance Indicators for Managers?
KPIs are a crucial tool for ensuring that your teams are contributing to the general objectives of the company. Here are a few of the main justifications for why key performance indicators are necessary.
- Keep your teams on the same page: KPIs keep teams moving in the same direction whether measuring project success or employee performance.
- Offer a health check: From risk concerns to financial indicators, key performance indicators give you a realistic view of the state of your firm.
- Make adjustments: KPIs enable you to see your successes and shortcomings clearly so that you may increase what works and decrease what doesn’t.
- Hold your teams accountable by ensuring that each member contributes value through the use of key performance indicators (KPIs) that both employees and managers can use to monitor progress.
Different Types of KPIs
There are numerous types of key performance indicators. Others are used to track long-term progress rather than monthly progress toward a goal. The fact that each KPI is connected to a strategic goal is the one thing that unites them all. Here is a summary of some of the most popular KPI kinds.
1) Strategic:
These broad-based key performance indicators keep track of company objectives. Typically, executives use one or two strategic KPIs to measure the performance of the company at any given time. Market share, revenue, and return on investment are a few examples.
2) Operational:
These KPIs focus on the efficacy and efficiency of organizational processes and are typically more time-sensitive. Examples include regional sales, monthly transportation costs on average, and acquisition costs (CPA).
3) Featured Unit:
Numerous KPIs are connected to particular functions, like finance or IT. Finance KPIs track gross profit margin or return on assets, whereas IT may track time to resolution or average uptime. These operational KPIs are also categorized as strategic KPIs.
4) Leading versus Lag:
Whatever kind of key performance indicator you choose, you should be aware of the distinction between leading and lagging indicators. Lagging KPIs track what has actually occurred, but leading KPIs can aid in outcome prediction. To make sure they’re tracking the most crucial information, organizations utilize a combination of both.
How to write a Key Performance Indicator?
It’s critical that KPIs are designed to support your goals and are tailored to your business environment. For writing precise, quantifiable KPIs, follow these steps.
1) Write a precise KPI aim
Your major business purpose should be linked to your KPI. If your KPI is not aligned with a business objective, you are working toward a target that has no relevance to your firm. Also, a KPI must be more complex than a simple random integer. Your organization’s strategic goals should be expressed in KPIs. KPIs should, above all else, tell the story of your business.
2) Share your KPI with relevant parties
Recall how we said that one way to communicate is through a Key Performance Indicator. Context is necessary for the effectiveness of KPIs. What you are measuring and why you are measuring it must be explained. Employees and stakeholders should be informed of your KPIs so they can understand the direction your company is taking. Withholding that information leads to team misalignment. You may identify and improve how you communicate your goals and KPIs by listening for comments and inquiries.
3) Reviewing your KPIs regularly is important
You must regularly assess your Key Performance Indicator to ensure success. Examine your KPIs from the perspectives of both your progress toward the KPI and your progress in assessing the KPI’s efficacy. It’s time to iterate if you aren’t making any progress because your KPI’s target might not have been met.
4) Make an Actionable Key Performance Indicator
To build KPIs that are actionable, follow these 5 steps.
-
Review your company’s goals:
KPIs change with time. Your KPIs should change as your company’s goals do.
-
Examine your performance at the moment:
Are you establishing realistic goals? Understanding your areas of success and areas for growth requires conducting a performance analysis. To establish a baseline for your past success with a platform like PowerMetrics, look at your historical performance data as well.
-
Set both short-term and long-term KPI goals:
Decide on your long-term objectives, whether they are quarterly or annual, and then work backward to determine the checkpoints or short-term objectives you must accomplish along the way. By doing so, you may continuously evaluate your progress and alter your direction as you work toward your larger goals.
-
Review your team’s objectives:
The dream is made possible by teamwork! Even though it is an old proverb, it is still accurate. To ensure that you are all working toward the same end result, it is crucial that everyone is kept in the loop.
-
Check progress and make adjustments:
Make it a routine to check in with yourself. KPIs cannot be set and forgotten. Check your performance and the applicability of your KPIs frequently. And after you get into the habit, it will become simpler every time.
Creating A Stronger KPI Strategy in 3 Easy Steps
It’s time to change your plan if your key performance indicators aren’t producing the outcomes you want. Here are three steps you can take to make sure everyone in your organization is aware of what your KPIs mean and how to use them to make business-impacting data-driven choices.
1) Choose KPIs that are most important:
You should include a balance of leading and lagging indicators to ensure that you are measuring what is important. Lagging indicators make it easier to comprehend results over time, such as sales over the last 30 days. Using data-based predictions, leading indicators enable you to make changes to your strategy to achieve better results.
2) Make a culture that is KPI-driven:
If employees don’t grasp what key performance indicators are and how to apply them, they won’t be very useful (including what the KPI acronym means). To ensure that everyone in your organization is working toward strategic goals, increase data literacy. To ensure that everyone is making decisions that advance your company, educate staff, give them pertinent KPIs, and use a best-in-class BI platform.
3) Iterate:
Adapt your key performance indicator to changes in the market, your customers, and your organization. Meet frequently to discuss them, closely examine performance to determine if changes are necessary, and publish any modifications you make so that teams are always informed.