Key metrics for performance marketing campaigns: 17 KPIs that provide measurable results and critical insights
Marketers need to know every metric relevant to their performance marketing goals so these Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can be tracked. This ensures a marketer’s performance marketing campaigns have a measurable goal and provide valuable insights that can be used to optimize performance over time.
This guide shares 17 key metrics for performance marketing campaigns in 2021. Our guide is organized by critical metrics for performance marketing campaign measurement, cost metrics, and post-install metrics you can use to learn a user’s long-term value.
9 key metrics for performance marketing campaigns
1. Impressions
An impression occurs every time a user is delivered an advertisement (ad) on a publisher’s inventory. This metric is also needed to calculate your Click-Through Rate.
2. Clicks
This is an action that occurs every time a user clicks on an ad or affiliate link to your ad’s desired location. For example, a click may take a user to your mobile app’s entry in the app store so they can install.
3. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Your CTR is the percentage of users who clicked on your ad when delivered an impression. This is a critical metric that shows the efficacy of your ad creative. Variables such as your chosen ad format will make a significant impact on your CTR: according to MarketingDive, video ads triple a campaign’s CTR compared to static display ads.
Learn more about “Performance marketing ad formats”
You can also use CTR to identify problems with the user funnel. If you have a high CTR and low installs, users may have encountered an issue installing your app, or your creative misrepresented the value of your app.
4. Conversion
A conversion occurs when a user completes a desired action. For example, a conversion can be any time a user installs your app. It can also be sign-ups for your newsletter or mailing list or completing an in-app purchase.
You can then measure your conversion rate to try and optimize for the best results. For example, you can A/B test conversion rates and adapt your creative according to the best performance.
5. Installs
An install occurs when a user downloads your app and opens it for the first time. Installs are the north star metric for your user acquisition strategy, showing how many users decided to use your app at least once.
Another KPI that may be relevant to marketers is lead generation. This is when your campaign has resulted in a new lead or prospect. For example, your campaign goal may be to generate new leads by encouraging your target audience to subscribe to a mailing list. This enables you to add this lead to your contact list and engage with them to generate revenue.
Leaders are particularly relevant for B2B marketing and B2C marketing that rely on long-term subscribers for their cost model to turn a profit. This is because a lead can generate value over time rather than just a one-time sale.
7. Average Revenue per User (ARPU)
ARPU is the average revenue that is generated per user. This can be measured for your entire customer base but also for users that installed as a result of specific campaigns. This enables you to compare the APRU for each campaign and invest in your most lucrative channels.
8. Return on Investment (ROI)
ROI is the overall return on an investment for a campaign or marketing channel. For example, you may want to measure the ROI for two different marketing channels to learn which one has the greatest return. It may be that a more expensive option is generating more revenue and is worth the extra costs.
9. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
ROAS is the overall return on the amount spent on ads. This is an important metric that can be used to ensure you are turning a profit with your marketing campaigns and identify the best-performing channels.
Learn more with “Performance marketing vs. brand marketing – explained”
3 critical cost metrics for performance marketing campaigns
1. Cost per Click (CPC)
Cost per Click is a cost model that gives payment to the publisher for every click generated as a result of their exposure. This is a cost model that can be agreed by the advertiser and publisher or affiliate partner before the campaign is active.
2. Cost per Conversion
This is a cost model that gives payment to a publisher or affiliate partner for every conversion that occurs as a result of their exposure. The price and definition of the conversion must be agreed upon before the campaign is active. This is a smart option for performance marketing campaigns as it ensures you are paying a price that fairly reflects the success of a campaign.
3. Cost per Install (CPI)
This is a cost model that gives payment to a publisher or affiliate partner for every install that is generated as a result of their exposure. This is an effective user acquisition strategy that ensures advertisers only pay a fair price that reflects the efficacy of a campaign.
Learn more with “Mobile tracking: which cost model is the best investment?”
5 post-install metrics for performance marketing campaign analytics
1. In-app Purchases
This is a purchase that occurs within your mobile app. It is important to track in-app purchases and connect that event to the campaigns that delivered the user. This enables you to measure the true, long-term value of users who installed as a result of each campaign.
For example, by tracking in-app purchases you may learn that a publisher or affiliate partner that did not deliver a high number of installs is more valuable than it appears when only analyzing install counts. This essential insight gives you more confidence in your decisions when increasing or decreasing ad spend for your marketing channels.
2. Uninstall Rate
Your uninstall rate is the percentage of users who have uninstalled your mobile app after a defined period of time. This is another metric that reveals the true long-term value of your users delivered by each campaign. For example, a campaign that generated a high number of installs may not be as valuable as it first appeared if those users uninstalled on Day 1. Uninstall rate is also useful for detecting issues with your user experience.
3. Retention
This is the percentage of users who are still active after a defined period of time. The aim is to keep users engaged for as long as possible, generating greater value per user. Just like uninstall rates, marketers can also use retention rates to identify areas of their mobile app that need to improve.
4. Churn
Churn and retention are two sides of the same coin: Like the opposite of retention, churn is the percentage of users who are no longer active after a defined period of time.
5. Lifetime Value (LTV)
LTV is a measurement that determines the overall value of the average user before they churn and end their lifespan within your mobile app. As you make strategic changes to your performance marketing strategy to acquire more high-value users your LTV should increase over time. A simple way to calculate LTV is LTV = ARPU / Churn
Learn more with “Introducing Explorer: Swaarm’s unique analytics tool”
Conclusion
There are several key metrics for performance marketing campaigns that every marketer should know. This includes critical metrics for campaign measurement and payment, cost metrics, and post-install metrics you can use to learn a user’s long-term value.
For example, impressions, clicks, CTR, installs, conversions, leads, ARPU, and ROAS are all key metrics for performance marketing campaigns. Important cost models include CPC, Cost per Conversion, and CPI. In order to calculate the true value of each user you will also need to track in-app purchases, retention, churn, uninstall rate and calculate LTV.
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