If you are business owner, then growing your business is no doubt near the top of your list. Without growth, businesses die off. This is especially true in the day and age of social media and the internet where anyone with a credit card can start a business and compete with you from anywhere in the world. So if you want to avoid being pushed out of the market, you need to have the right metrics to track to make sure you’re hitting your targets. Here is what you need to know about the metrics that matter for business growth:
Utilize Engagement Metrics
Monitoring different engagement metrics can be difficult unless you have a customer satisfaction metrics program. Make sure you have the right program in place that lets you set your targets and measure them effectively with a proven gameplan and the right technology. That way you’re getting valuable data and building good habits from the start.
Traffic
Traffic is the lifeblood of business today. Without people hitting your site, you have no one to sell to. People can’t pay you if they don’t know you. So invest time in tracking how much traffic you’re getting and when it is high or low. For instance, if you have a three day spike in traffic, try to figure out if there was a magazine article, blog post, or something else that drove that traffic so you can double down on it.
On-site Engagement
This is one of the key engagement metrics you want to look out for. If customers are engaged with multiple parts of yours site, it means they found it interesting and relevant to their interests. One specific area to focus on with engagement is a certain video or button on your site. Perhaps you want people to watch your 5 minute brand video. You can actually track this with JavaScript and even see how much of the video they watched. If your numbers aren’t as high as you would like, consider repositioning the video or using a different call to action.
Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Don’t take your customers for granted. Make sure you are getting their feedback on a regular basis. Obviously, looking at your sales and return rates is one way to see if your marketing is working. But to see if your customer service is truly up to par, send out quarterly surveys via email to ask customers what they like about your business and what they would like to see improved.
Referrals
Out of all your customers, how many referrals are you getting? If you’re not getting at least one referral per customer, then you have a lot of room for improvement. This is such a valuable metric because it tells you how much customers trust your brand. They would only refer you to their friend if they had high confidence that you would deliver. This is why tracking this metric can inform you as to whether or not you are really on the right track. However, sometimes customers need a little extra push to give that referral. Offer small discounts or cash rewards for each referral to get the ball rolling.
When it comes to growing your business, no one said it would be easy. However, it can be made less stressful and more successful with the right metrics. Track the metrics above and implement strategies to improve them. If you do this, you will be well on your way to getting the growth and profits you deserve in your company. Then, you can sit back and relax as your customer base comes back again and again.