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Do you struggle to track client progress?
You’re not alone. 61% of businesses haven’t developed a long-term strategy for managing data.
It doesn’t help that every client has unique goals and projects.
However, here’s the truth: not accurately tracking progress will make the client’s worried and irritated.
Oppositely, clearly showing clients that you’re securing their marketing will give them confidence and peace of mind.
And, if they stick around for longer, that’s more money in your pocket.
That’s why I’m going to teach you how to track marketing client progress if you continue reading.
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1. Determine each client’s KPIs
You wouldn’t tell an app development client that their Facebook ads need improvement. They’d look at you as if you spoke jibberish.
That’s why each client needs to have clear key performance indicators. These are the metrics they care about and matter the most.
Think of them like a green, yellow, or red light when you’re driving.
Green? Go.
Yellow? Slow down.
Red? Stop.
For instance, if sales are measured for one account, and it’s lagging, that needs to be secured first.
It also empowers an agency to gauge whether or not the strategies you’re implementing for the said client are working.
Some KPIs to keep in mind include:
- Leads generated
- Website traffic/sessions/impressions
- Sales/revenue
- Conversion rates
- Impressions and click-through rate
- Cost per acquisition
- Cost per click
Once you have determined these for each client, you can move onto the next strategies.
2. Study website analytics
Since you’re dealing with marketing clients, you’re going to be working with websites and other assets. Unless, of course, they live in the stone age!
Naturally, free platforms like Google Analytics are priceless.
They measure every nook and cranny of a website and organize it into easy-to-read reports.
So, first off, connect to Google Analytics if you haven’t already.
Then, give it a week to stir up some data. After that (or presuming you’re already connected) let’s navigate to some crucial areas:
Traffic sources
If you offer traffic generating services (i.e. content or SEO), you need to know where traffic comes from and in what amount. Luckily, Google Analytics does just the trick.
Navigate to the “Channels” tab under “Acquisition.”
Google lists the primary traffic sources and their importance, including:
- Direct
- Organic
- Referral
- Social
- Paid
- Other
Click any source to view more information about the individual source.
Use this to determine if a client’s website and their traffic are growing, declining, or moving sideways.
Top pages
The most visited web pages on a website are essential. They imply what content is getting the most attention, what topics are enjoyed by readers, and if campaigns are paying off.
Click the “Behaviour” tab and “All Pages” under “Site Content” to view the most popular pages.
You will see a list of the most visited pages along with their performance metrics.
I’d pay special attention to:
- Bounce rate
- Average session duration
- Pageviews
Ideally, a good bounce rate is below 64%. A session duration between two and three minutes is worthy of a pat on the back, as well.
A high bounce rate may be a symptom of user experience or website structure that requires optimization. The same applies to a low average time spent on-page.
Goals
You can create goals on Google Analytics, such as form completions, conversions, and button clicks. These allow you to directly track conversion rates and the most important actions on a web property.
Create a goal by clicking the “Admin” tab. Then, choose the “Goals” option under a chosen web property.
Click “New Goal” on the next page.
Choose from a premade template or click the “Custom” option to create one from scratch.
Enter a description, ID, and choose the type of goal completion, like visiting a specific page.
Lastly, finish the goal details and hit the save button.
After this, you will be able to track goals via the “Goals” and “Overview” tab. They are also seen in other reports like traffic to see what assets are contributing to conversions.
That brings me to my next point.
3. Use a custom KPI dashboard
Free tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar, and others are great. However, they can have a lot of clutter.
Maybe you don’t need traffic.
Maybe you don’t need channels.
You get the point.
So, let me show you how to create a custom client dashboard on Google Analytics that tracks the metrics that matter.
Step 1: Create a new custom dashboard
Click the “Customization” tab followed by “Dashboards.” Select the red “Create” button next.
Give it a name and choose between the blank canvas or the starter dashboard.
Step 2: Add widgets
You can add widgets in the form of timelines, maps, tables, pies, and other formats to track very particular metrics.
Set a title, click a tracking option, and choose a KPI.
You can also compare it to another piece of data or filter it further.
Click “Add Widget” to continue adding as many elements as you need.
Step 3: Share it with clients
Once you have set up a custom dashboard for a particular client or purpose, it’s time to share it!
The first way is to click the “Export” button and send clients a PDF.
However, you can also directly send a client the PDF by clicking the “Email” option and filling out the form.
Lastly, you may wish to invite a client directly to the Google Analytics property so they can check-in when they’d like.
Read my article on how to reduce client churn if you’re enjoying this post, as well.
Final thoughts on how to track client campaigns
You need to be able to track client progress for two reasons…
One, it gives clients confidence and comfort, knowing their money is being spent intelligently.
Two, it gives you confidence in your ability to provide excellent service and know what does and doesn’t work.
Not reporting client data will make clients uncomfortable, and you never improve your product.
So, I recommend beginning by ensuring that you map out the most crucial metrics for each account.
Then, take advantage of analytic tools like Google Analytics, Mixpanel, and others to track them.
Create custom dashboards to show clients specific pieces of data and to not get bogged down by excess information. Or, you could automatically track campaigns and access easy-to-read reports by trying Morphio today for free. Our marketing security platform tracks performance, opportunities, and risks in real-time for your agency or customers.
