It’s been said many times: “you get what you measure.” The choice of which metrics to use is a strategic one and should be made with care. Do not measure results based on volume alone e.g. the number of leads generated, number of new customers acquired. Volume alone tells you very little about either efficiency or effectiveness.
The most meaningful metrics are those that get to the value of the customers you acquired in a given program. Examples include ROI and LTV. If your company does not have the infrastructure to measure ROI or LTV, you may need to rely upon other metrics. A best practice is to balance your metrics to include data on both effectiveness as well as efficiency.
Best Practices
The best metrics are those that are normalized for dollars spent, which is just a fancy way of saying that the metrics use the dollars spent on the campaign as the numerator. Normalization is essential to allow for results to be read and compared across campaigns.
Another best practice is to develop a standard set of assumptions you’ll use consistently in analyzing and reporting on campaign results.