The digital migration is swiftly revolutionizing the way customers buy products and services. Now that digital banking is used by approximately 51 percent of the world’s adult population, financial institutions should focus on creating a sustainable digital marketing program for a fully digital world. This starts by understanding the applicable digital marketing metrics. The following are the six categories of metrics behind digital marketing for financial services:

1. Traffic Metrics

Traffic metrics are mainly measured and monitored during the traffic generation stage. They are very crucial for both SEO and Pay-Per-Click digital marketing strategies. There are several aspects to consider when evaluating traffic metrics, including site traffic and sources of traffic.

Site Traffic

Significant changes in the overall website traffic can give you an insight into how effective a particular digital marketing strategy is. When evaluating the overall site traffic, you should not only focus on the number of page views or hits your site gets, but you should also consider the number of unique visitors your website gets within a specific period. The more unique visitors your website gets, the higher the probability of acquiring potential customers.

Sources Of Traffic

Identifying where your website traffic is generated from and what specific keywords brought them to you can give you an insight on where you should focus your digital marketing campaigns. If search engines are the primary source of the most traffic, you should focus your efforts on SEO marketing. If most traffic is coming from social networking sites, you should focus more on social media marketing, and so forth. Be sure to explore other traffic sources that may prove to be beneficial for your business.

When evaluating the sources of traffic, it is important to assess both the number of mobile and non-mobile website visitors. As more and more people access the internet through their Internet-capable mobile devices, digital marketers must consider mobile traffic an important metric.

2. Engagement Metrics

Is your website content resonating with your website visitors? After reading your content, do they take any action and, if so, how consistently or regularly? Are website visitors downloading white papers and e-brochures or filling out forms?

There are various ways you can evaluate engagement metrics. One of them is by checking the number of clicks your pay-per-click ads receive. Another way is tracking the number of comments, likes, shares, and reposts on social media. You can utilize Google Analytics to track website and app engagement metrics, including page views, unique visitors, and the average time spent on your content.

To boost engagement, you should consider including at least one call-to-action on each of your landing pages, services pages, email, or any other marketing channels that presents a conversion opportunity. You should also review all of your communication channels so you can identify the ones that are generating your desired response. By doing so, you will be able to determine what to change and what to replicate in future digital marketing campaigns.

3. Retention Metrics

Retention metrics are all about establishing whether you are holding your prospects and customers’ attention beyond the initial contact. You should not only check the number of returning website visitors and social media followers, but you should also take note of the bounce-rate, opt-out rate, and the number of unsubscribes.

If the retention numbers outnumber the opt-outs, it’s a good sign that your marketing message is resonating with the target audience. If the retention numbers are decreasing, you should revise your messaging and align it with your target audience’s needs.

4. Conversion Metrics

While getting lots of traffic to your website is an achievement, it won’t mean much if your site visitors remain just that – visitors. The primary purpose of your digital marketing campaign is to convert website traffic into potential customers. As a financial institution, the conversion metrics you should pay attention to are the number of new account openings and new loan applications you get after launching your digital marketing campaigns.

5. Revenue Metrics

The success of your digital marketing campaign can be evaluated appropriately by revenue metrics. You can determine the Return On Investment (ROI) by assessing the website traffic that eventually converted into new business leads or paying customers. By evaluating this metric, you will be able to identify the areas in your digital marketing campaign that are driving sales and revenue.

6. Cost Metrics

This is where you evaluate the amount you spend to launch your marketing campaigns. You have to consider metrics such as the amount you spend on every direct mail campaign you make, every monthly blog post or newsletter you publish, etc. Be sure to determine how each of your marketing efforts is impacting the bottom line, and then use your findings to plan a viable strategy for future digital marketing campaigns and sales cycles.

Data Is An Asset

Everyone agrees that data is one of the most valuable assets any business can have. It’s not the data itself that matters, but what a company does with it. With lots of data at hand, financial institutions have to rethink the way they handle data to be more customer-centric, and, as a result, more profitable.