What Marketing Analytics Data Should You Track?

If you’ve known me for very long, you’ve probably heard me say “follow the data” about a million times. We don’t make marketing decisions by following our hearts or the latest trend – we let marketing analytics data guide our thinking.

However, have you ever been sucked into the rabbit hole of too much information?

Sometimes the question becomes, what metrics matter?

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Website SEO Metrics

Website SEO metrics tell you how well your website is performing on search engines and whether your content is attracting the right audience. These marketing analytics metrics make it easier to see what’s driving organic traffic and where improvements are needed. Tracking SEO metrics ensures your website is actually working to generate long-term growth and leads.

 

Website SEO Metrics to Track

Outside of regular website audits, I recommend tracking the following marketing analytics data and looking for trends over time. I use a tool called Ubersuggest and add these data points to a Google Doc every month.

If you’re investing time in your SEO strategy, these numbers should increase over time.

1. Organic search traffic to your site – This is how many people came to your site by clicking on a search result. *We’re still looking at this metric, but we aren’t hanging our hat on increased organic traffic anymore. Clicks matter more than impressions in this area.
2. Number of keywords indexed – When keywords are indexed, that content becomes more likely to show up in search results when people type in those keywords.
3. Domain authority – Domain authority is a scale of 1-100 and predicts the likelihood your site will rank in search results. (DA between 30-50 is pretty good!)
4. Number of quality backlinks – Backlinks are links from another site to content on your site. Backlinks are part of the calculation for domain authority, and high-quality backlinks can elevate your ranking.
5. On-page SEO score – This is a metric that tells you how the content on your website is configured for search engines.

I also like to make a note of which keywords are performing best and check for any website errors that need to be fixed.

You may not see huge increases in these metrics month over month, but looking at the trends over time can help you measure the effectiveness of your SEO strategy. It can also show you areas that need more work.

 

Paid Marketing Metrics

Paid marketing metrics show how effectively your advertising budget is being used to drive traffic, leads, and conversions. They help you measure return on investment, identify which campaigns perform best, and spot wasted spend early. 

Without tracking these metrics, it’s nearly impossible to scale ads confidently or make data-backed decisions about where to invest more or pull back.

When it comes to paid marketing, the metrics we track depend on our overarching goals and the tactics we use.

 

Lead Generation Campaign

Here,  our goal is to sell a product or service. I recommend using these KPIs to measure performance:

1. Number of leads generated per month – Probably an obvious one. We want to know how many leads came from this campaign.
2. Cost per lead – In most cases, our goal would be to pay less for the lead than the revenue that lead generates on their first purchase.
3. Threshold to profitability – How many purchases does it take for this campaign to be profitable? You want to know this going into the campaign and keep track of your progress toward meeting that threshold each month.
4. Performance metrics – You want to know which ad types, platforms, and keyword groups are performing best so you can optimize toward strong performers.

 

Brand Awareness Campaign

In a brand awareness campaign, you may use tactics that are less focused on conversion – such as digital display ads and streaming audio.

For brand awareness, I recommend using these KPIs to measure performance:

1. Impressions – How often was your ad served to your target audience?
2. Click-through rate – How often did people engage with these ads. (For streaming audio, this number will likely be very low. So you may want to look more toward impressions.)
3. Performance metrics – Once again, you want to know which ad types, platforms, and keyword groups are performing best so you can optimize toward strong performers.

 

Social Media Marketing Analytics Data

It can be easy to focus on followers and post reach on social media, as well as chasing the elusive viral post. Ultimately, though, the question really should be: are people engaging with your content?

Regardless of what platform(s) you’re using, the most important social media marketing metric to track is engagement. And, if you’re selling products or services on social media, are those posts converting into customers?

I use Social Pilot to schedule posts on multiple platforms (there are so many tools like this available). Monthly, I look at what posts had the best engagement and use that data to configure my content calendar for the following month.

You can have 10,000 Instagram followers, but if they aren’t engaged with your content or purchasing your services, you are not getting a return on your investment in that platform.

One hundred engaged followers who purchase your services are much more valuable to your business!

 

Overwhelmed by Marketing Analytics Data??

Tracking marketing metrics is essential because it turns guesswork into strategy. When you understand what’s working (and what isn’t), you can make smarter decisions, allocate your budget more effectively, and focus your energy on efforts that actually drive results. 

Marketing analytics data provides clarity, accountability, and direction, helping you grow sustainably instead of relying on assumptions. Ultimately, consistent tracking ensures your marketing supports real business goals, not just activity for activity’s sake.

If you’re overwhelmed by all the metrics jargon, or you just don’t know where to start, reach out for a free consultation.

FAQs About Marketing Analytics Data