When it comes to measuring performance, the inbound marketing landscape is dominated by quantitative metrics such as website traffic (organic, affiliate, PPC, etc.), time on site, conversion rate for various digital properties and landing pages, lead generation, and the list goes on. Obviously, all of these metrics are vital for managing and optimizing various inbound marketing programs, campaigns, strategies and tactics. However, they do not tell the full story.
That’s because while quantitative metrics do an excellent job of capturing WHAT leads and prospects are doing, they aren’t designed to go behind-the-scenes and illuminate WHY they are behaving in certain ways, and by extension, what can be done to influence them towards one direction or decision vs. another.
Here’s a simple example: a business (wisely) invests in publishing a consistent stream of engaging, original, relevant and keyword optimized blog posts, which generate an average of 200 quality leads a month through organic search — which is 10x more than they used to get before hopping on the inbound marketing bus. Naturally, this is a big win and everyone is happy.
However, what isn’t captured by this quantitative metric is, once again, WHY those leads are leaning towards this business vs. heading to a competitor. Is it brand recognition? Local proximity? Pricing? Fulfillment? Something else?
These aren’t academic or trivial questions that provide “nice to know” answers. They are strategic and pragmatic, because they help this business understand where it has a competitive advantage that should be enhanced, and just as importantly, where it may have a competitive weakness that should be fortified.
To continue to the example: let’s say this business (again, wisely) implements a robust survey to discover the mindsets of its target audience; which, it must be quickly noted, is not 100 percent comprised of existing customers, but also of prospective customers. And the survey reveals some extremely valuable intelligence: a significant proportion of profitable customers are impressed by this business’s strong commitment to after-purchase support, and that is their primary motivation for choosing it vs. a competitor.
Armed with this valuable intelligence, this business integrates the theme of “after-purchase support” into blog posts and other inbound marketing assets (e.g. eBooks, infographics, checklists, videos, etc.) and coaches its sales force to emphasize this when engaging prospects. Before long, website traffic, qualified leads and conversion numbers soar.
Again, this a simple — but certainly realistic — example of how qualitative metrics help businesses understand the full inbound marketing story, and ultimately boost performance, results and profits.
Learn More
To learn more about leveraging qualitative metrics and quantitative metrics to set your business apart in a crowded, competitive marketplace (online and offline), contact the Leap Clixx team today. Your consultation with us is free.
Also, be sure to check out our FREE eBook on how to use SEO to boost your inbound marketing results:
Topics: Inbound Marketing
