Reporting: how to gauge real results over vanity metrics
Think about the reporting that you use. How quickly can you identify your KPIs? Is it quicker than your competitors?
Whether the numbers are going up or down, you need to know about it in a glance! Good or bad, a change in performance will require action, to either replicate success elsewhere or identify what’s gone wrong and adapt. For external influences (like a national or global event), time is of the essence. Being able to quickly spot what’s changed will equip you to act in the right way, before your competitors do. But having the ability to drill down into these stats is also essential to help you take the correct path.
Know which metric to measure and what action to take
For example, during the Covid-19 outbreak, many retailers found that their open rates for email and SMS increased. But the truer measure was also seeing if they had the same uplift in click-throughs and ROI. Looking at this will ensure whether it’s best to employ varying strategies. With click-throughs, you should focus on tweaking campaigns themselves. But if ROI is the problem, then it’s landing pages that need to be put under the microscope. Knowing where to place your efforts will empower your business, and save you from going down rabbit holes.
It’s not just big pivots, but fine-tunes that will help to win the race
Of course, the more actionable data you have at your fingertips, the more you can tweak and test campaigns to get the best possible results. For this, you need real-time data in reports that immediately communicate. After all, experimenting with your sends or campaigns is only going to be worth doing if you have perceptible results to act from. If you’ve recently changed up some CTAs in your email design or SMS copy, you should be able to compare with past results to see if you’re onto a good thing. Or perhaps you want to start leveraging dynamic content from your CRM for ultimate personalization. It helps to be able to prove the ROI to your stakeholders with ease. The reporting available to you can make or break your campaigns for this reason.
Want to find out more about how to optimize reporting for your campaigns? Download our best practice guide today.
