Marketing KPIs for a small business: the few numbers worth watching.
A KPI is a number that tells you whether marketing is doing its job. Most small businesses need only three or four. This guide explains how to choose them, which ones matter for each channel, how to set up tracking and which impressive-looking numbers to ignore.
- Choose three or four numbers tied to enquiries and sales, not to attention.
- Set up tracking before you start, so that every enquiry has a recorded source.
- Ignore numbers that look good but cannot be traced to a customer.
5 min readPublished By Domeq Solutions
What is a KPI?
KPI stands for key performance indicator: a number that shows whether something important is going well. In marketing, the important thing is usually customers, so the best KPIs sit close to enquiries and sales.
The risk is measuring everything. Dashboards offer dozens of figures, and watching them all means watching none. A small business needs a few numbers that it understands, checks often and can act on.
A number you cannot act on is not a KPI. It is decoration.
How do you choose your KPIs?
Start from the goal and work backwards. If the goal is more enquiries, count enquiries, and then the numbers that explain them: how many visitors, how many of them enquire, and what each enquiry costs.
From visit to customer: where to count.
Visits
How many people arrive, and from where.
Enquiries
How many take the action you want.
Qualified leads
How many are a real fit.
Customers
How many buy.
Value
What a customer is worth.
Four steps to choose KPIs.
State the goal in a sentence
For example, more qualified enquiries for our main service this quarter.
Name the action that counts
A form sent, a call made or a message started. This is your conversion.
Add one number before it and one after
The visits that lead to it, and the customers or sales that follow it.
Write down how you will find each number
Name the tool and the report, so that anyone can check it each month.
Which numbers matter for each channel?
Different channels need different numbers, but the same logic: count what leads to an enquiry, and what an enquiry costs.
Useful numbers by channel.
| Aspect | Useful to watch | Treat with care |
|---|---|---|
| Search (SEO) | Clicks and the searches behind them in Search Console, enquiries from search | Rankings for one phrase, which vary by person and place |
| Paid ads | Cost per enquiry, enquiries, search terms | Clicks and impressions on their own |
| Social media | Visits and enquiries from posts, replies and messages | Likes and follower counts |
| Clicks, replies, enquiries, unsubscribes | Open rates, which mail apps can inflate | |
| Website | Enquiry rate, speed on mobile, pages where visitors leave | Total page views |
See the Search Console and Analytics guide to set up the main reports.
How do you set up tracking?
A number you cannot trust is worse than none. Set tracking up before the work starts, test it, and record where each enquiry came from. Tag the links you control, such as emails, social posts and ads, with the UTM link builder, so Google Analytics can tell the sources apart.
Six tracking checks.
- Google Analytics is installed and counting visits
- Google Search Console is connected and verified
- Each form, call button and message link is counted as a conversion
- Links you control are tagged so their source is recorded
- Someone asks every new enquirer how they found you, and writes it down
- The numbers are checked in the same place at the same time each month
At Domeq, every website has Google Search Console, Google Analytics and Meta connected as part of the project.
Which numbers should you ignore?
Vanity metrics look impressive and prove little. They are not useless, but they tell you about attention, not about customers, so do not let them stand in for results.
Four metrics that mislead.
More followers means more business.
Followers measure audience size. Enquiries and sales measure business. The two can move apart.
A high number of impressions means the ads work.
Impressions count how often an ad was shown, not whether anyone acted. Look at enquiries and what each costs.
Page views show the site is succeeding.
A busy site can still fail to bring enquiries. Look at what visitors do, not only how many arrive.
A top ranking for one phrase proves the SEO is working.
Rankings vary by person and place. Look at clicks, enquiries and the range of searches that bring visitors.
How often should you look?
Look monthly, in a short meeting with the same page of numbers each time. Ask three questions: what changed, why, and what will we do about it. Change one thing at a time, and give each change time to show its effect.
Domeq plans and reviews marketing as part of Digital Marketing, with SEO and Performance Marketing where they fit. If you are building a plan, the digital marketing plan template has a tracking section ready to fill in, and the free website audit gives a first read of the site that the numbers depend on.
Questions, answered.
What are marketing KPIs?
Key performance indicators: a few numbers that show whether marketing is helping the business. The best ones sit close to enquiries and sales, such as the number of enquiries and what each one costs.
How many KPIs should a small business track?
Three or four. More than that and the numbers become noise. Choose the ones you understand, can check regularly and can act on.
What is the most important marketing metric for a small business?
Usually the number of qualified enquiries or sales, together with what each one costs. Other numbers are useful mainly because they explain those.
What is cost per enquiry?
What you spend, on average, to win one enquiry. Divide the total spent on a channel by the number of enquiries it brought. It helps you compare channels and decide where to put more.
What are vanity metrics?
Numbers that look impressive but do not show business results, such as followers, likes and impressions. They describe attention, not customers, so treat them with care.
How do I know where my enquiries come from?
Use Google Analytics with tagged links to see the source of visits, and ask each new enquirer how they found you. Together they give a more complete picture than either alone.
Does Domeq set up tracking for clients?
Yes. Every website Domeq builds has Google Search Console, Google Analytics and Meta connected, and marketing work is planned around the numbers that matter to the goal.
Keep reading.
More guides on the same topic, and on the ones around it.
- Digital Marketing Plan Template for a Small BusinessA digital marketing plan template for small business: eight sections to copy, with prompts for goals, audience, channels, budget, calendar and review.Digital Marketing
- Email Marketing for a Small Business: How to Get StartedEmail marketing for small business explained: why it works, how to build a list with consent, what to send, how to measure it and the mistakes to avoid.Digital Marketing
- SEO vs Google Ads: Which Should a Business Start With?SEO vs Google Ads compared on speed, cost, control and lasting value, with a simple way to choose which one your business should start with.SEO
Keep going.
The services behind this guide, if you would rather have it done.
Know what you need? Let's scope it.
Tell us about the business and the work. You get a reply within 24 hours.
