Key Performance Indicators

Key Performance Indicators

by | Apr 6, 2023 | Analytics Reporting, Digital Advertising, Digital Marketing

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are crucial aspects of any marketing strategy and play a vital role in tracking the effectiveness and efficiency of your marketing campaigns. They are quantitative values that help you measure your progress towards your marketing goals and provide valuable insights into areas for improvement. In this blog, we will dive into what KPIs are, how to create them, and how to measure them to drive results.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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What Are Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)??

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How to Create KPIs for Your Marketing Strategy

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How to Measure KPIs

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Tips For Creating And Measuring KPIs

What are key performance indicators (KPIs)?

KPIs are metrics that help to measure the success of your marketing efforts. They are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) values that are used to track the performance of your marketing activities. KPIs can help you identify areas for improvement and make informed decisions about your marketing strategy.

Examples of KPIs in marketing include website traffic, conversion rate, customer acquisition cost, email open rates, and social media engagement. They can be used to measure the success of specific campaigns, as well as the overall performance of your marketing activities.

How to Create KPIs for Your Marketing Strategy

  1. Determine your marketing goals.
    Examples include increasing website traffic, improving customer engagement, or boosting sales.
  2. Choose the right metrics.
    Your KPIs should align with your goals and help you track progress towards them For example, if your goal is to increase website traffic, you might choose to track website visits, page views, and bounce rates.
  3. Select relevant KPIs.
    When selecting KPIs, it’s important to choose metrics that are relevant and meaningful to your marketing goals. Choose KPIs that directly correlate with your goals and can easily track the progress of your marketing efforts.
  4. Set target values.
    Set target values for each of your KPI’s. This will help you measure progress and determine if you are on track to achieve your marketing goals.

How to Measure KPIs

  1. Monitor regularly:
    To effectively measure your KPIs, you need to monitor them on a regular basis. This could be daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on the KPI and the frequency of your marketing activities.
  2. Use analytics tools:
    There are various analytics tools available to help you measure your KPIs. Google Analytics is a popular tool that can help you track website traffic, conversion rates, and other metrics. Other tools, such as email marketing software and social media management tools, can also be used to track KPIs specific to those channels.
  3. Review and adjust:
    Regularly reviewing your KPIs is important to ensure you are on track to meet your marketing goals. If you are not seeing the results you want, adjust your marketing strategy, and continue monitoring your KPIs to see if there is improvement.

Tips for Creating and Measuring KPIs

  1. Keep KPIs simple.
    It’s important to keep your KPIs simple and easy to understand. Complex metrics can be difficult to measure and interpret, which can hinder your ability to make informed decisions about your marketing strategy.
  2. Focus on relevant metrics:
    When selecting KPIs, focus on metrics that are relevant to your marketing goals and provide valuable insights into the success of your marketing campaigns.
  3. Automate data collection:
    Automating data collection can help to streamline the process of measuring your KPIs and save time. There are a variety of tools available to help you automate data collection, including Google Analytics and marketing automation software.
  4. Interpret data correctly:
    It’s important to interpret your KPI data correctly to make informed decisions about your marketing strategy. Take the time to understand the data and what it means for your marketing efforts. Don’t rely on one KPI to make decisions; instead, look at a variety of KPIs to get a comprehensive view of your marketing performance.
  5. Collaborate with other teams:
    Marketing KPIs often impact other teams, such as sales and customer service. Collaborating with these teams can provide valuable insights into how your marketing efforts are impacting other areas of the business.
  6. Update KPIs regularly:
    As your marketing goals and strategies evolve, it’s important to update your KPIs to ensure they are still relevant and aligned with your marketing efforts. Regularly reviewing and updating your KPIs can help to ensure they continue to provide valuable insights into your marketing performance.

By creating SMART KPIs, regularly monitoring and interpreting data, and collaborating with other teams, you can drive results and make informed decisions about your marketing strategy.

By using KPIs, you can also measure the impact of your marketing efforts, track progress towards your goals, and identify areas for improvement. This information can help you to adjust your marketing strategy to ensure you are getting the best results possible. So, take the time to create and measure KPIs to help you drive results and achieve your marketing goals.

If you need any help creating or analyzing your company’s KPIs, feel free to contact us at hello@rootandroam!

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Ep #04: Digital Strategy with Eva Marie Guido

Ep #04: Digital Strategy with Eva Marie Guido

by | Jan 30, 2022 | Analytics Reporting, Digital Marketing, SEO

Ep #04: Digital Strategy with Eva Marie Guido

The show is about digital marketing, creative services, office culture, and everything in between. In this episode, I talk with Eva Marie Guido, Digital Marketing Manager and Root & Roam’s super digital nomad. We talk digital strategy, trends, and her recent adventure to the Lone Star State.

We’ll be back monthly to tell you more about what’s going on behind the scenes at Root & Roam.

Selling on Shopify: How To Set Up An ECommerce Store

Selling on Shopify: How To Set Up An ECommerce Store

by | Nov 24, 2021 | Analytics Reporting, Root & Roam Blog, Website

Selling on Shopify – As the world is ever-changing, more and more people are doing their shopping online. From basic necessities to clothing and groceries, just about everything is available for purchase through the World Wide Web. Perhaps you have a brick and mortar store or you’re just getting started and seek only to sell online, but you just don’t know where to start. There are numerous ecommerce-specific platforms available, but the ecommerce experts here at Root & Roam agree that Shopify is the gold standard. 

Shopify is a full featured, robust platform that handles the most nitty gritty of online selling. They have made it simple to process payments, create shipping labels, and design the actual look and feel of your website all in one place. Shopify has even built in various high-powered and highly effective ecommerce marketing tools. Gone are the days of confusing, clunky, hard-coded ecommerce websites. So, just how do you set up a Shopify store? Read on for our expert guide.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Selling on Shopify

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How to set up a Shopify store

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Utilize ecommerce marketing

HOW TO SET UP A SHOPIFY STORE

First things first—Shopify offers a 14-day free trial, and, once your trial period has expired, Shopify offers three tiers ranging in price from $29 to $299 per month. All of these plans will get the job done. However, the higher tiers give you access to more features like advanced reporting and deeper discounts on shipping. Advanced reporting in Shopify allows you access to reports such as a live view of your website, customer statistics, information on how your customers find your website, and more. Once you have selected the plan that best fits your needs, the setup process begins and consists of the following steps:

Choose a Shopify Theme.

Shopify offers several free themes, as well as third party paid themes in their Shopify theme store. The free themes are definitely enough to get you started. However, if you want more styling options and features, you’ll want to browse through the paid themes. Shopify’s themes are all mobile-friendly, and you won’t have to worry about configuring for mobile devices. Once you’ve chosen a theme, you can start customizing it and plugging in your content as you see fit. Don’t forget to develop your navigation, customize your checkout pages, and add legal pages like a privacy policy and terms of use.

Create Your Products.

Adding your products is relatively straightforward. Shopify has all of the necessary fields within their product listing sections. Be sure to complete as many fields as possible and use thorough, keyword-heavy product descriptions. Add high-resolution images that showcase different views of each product. Input pricing, skus, inventory, etc., for each product. You’ll also need to categorize each product into the appropriate “collection.” The collection a product belongs to will determine how the products are displayed on your website.

Determine Payment Methods.

What payment methods do you plan to accept? You’ll need to set this up in Shopify settings. Will you accept all major credit cards? What about Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, or PayPal? It is during this step that you will also need to provide your business information so that you can receive payouts.

Configure Shipping.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to your shipping terms. Do you plan to offer free shipping, flat rate shipping, or calculated shipping? Are you able and willing to ship internationally, or do you plan to only ship domestically? Will you use multiple carriers or stick with one tried-and-true option? It is imperative to determine your shipping structure up front and configure all options to match. If you plan to offer real-time, calculated shipping rates at checkout, you will need to shop and install a third party app from the Shopify app store.

Don’t Forget to Collect Tax.

Depending on the types of products you sell, where you are shipping them, and where you are physically located, you will need to configure the tax section in Shopify settings. Obviously, it is important to comply with all state and federal tax guidelines.

Test and Retest Your Store.

Once you have set up your Shopify store, it’s imperative that you test all aspects. Click around the front side to ensure all links are properly configured. Check to be sure your products are categorized in a way that makes sense and your product listings and individual product pages appear as you want. Add products to your cart, and walk through the checkout process, paying close attention to shipping options and the collection of taxes. Essentially, do anything and everything to try to “break” your site or the rules you’ve set in place. If everything operates as it should, you’re ready to go live!

    HOW TO UTILIZE ECOMMERCE MARKETING

    Shopify offers an assortment of ecommerce marketing tools to help you make more sales. One of the simplest ways to grow your audience is by encouraging visitors to sign up for email newsletters or SMS (text) updates, special offers, and announcements. Once you’ve gained these leads, you can build marketing campaigns to drum up site visits and increase conversions. You’ll want to use a third party service like Klaviyo, Omnisend, MailChimp, or Wishpond to create flows and push customers or potential customers through the funnel. If you choose to run SMS campaigns, be sure to meet all legal obligations in your Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy!

    Shopify Abandoned Cart Emails

    Another simple marketing tool that Shopify offers is abandoned cart emails. These emails are sent out at a specified time if a shopper places items in their cart but does not complete the checkout process. Shopify offers basic abandoned cart emails, but to really make the process more robust, it is recommended to use a third party service like Klaviyo. According to Shopify Partner Ezra Firestone, “Ecommerce customers who receive multiple abandoned shopping cart emails are 2.4 times more likely to complete the purchase than those who receive only one follow up email. And customers who receive multiple abandoned cart emails have a multiple transaction rate 44 percent higher than those who didn’t.”*

    Shopify Integrations

    Shopify integrates with several other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Google to boost your efforts to the next level. You can use these integrations to build ad audiences to retarget and upsell your current customers, build like audiences that would be interested in your business based on the profiles of those who are already your customers, and re-engage users who visited your website but did not complete a purchase. Use a free Shopify app like Kit to build targeted social media ads and campaigns. (Kit is free, but you will pay social media platform fees for running ads.) 

    The ecommerce marketing options are truly endless. However, anything beyond basic needs will require the use of a third party app. When you find the one that fits all your needs, the cost is well worth it!

      Shopify Best Practices

      Now that your Shopify store is up and running, and you’ve got some ecommerce marketing campaigns in place, it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Don’t get too comfortable just yet, though! Successful websites and marketing campaigns are consistently monitored, weak spots identified, and adapted to be even more effective. The World Wide Web and all of its various algorithms are constantly evolving. Thus, it is important to stay up-to-date on advancements and trends and adjust accordingly. 
      If you find yourself in need of a new ecommerce site, or you’re unable to stay atop of the constantly changing environment, give the Shopify experts at Root & Roam Integrated Marketing Agency a call. We have extensive experience in both developing and designing Shopify websites, as well as running highly successful ecommerce campaigns.

      Resources

      https://www.shopify.com/partners/blog/how-to-build-an-abandoned-cart-email-sequence
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      What Are Heading Tags and Why You Should Use Them?

      What Are Heading Tags and Why You Should Use Them?

      by | Jun 29, 2021 | Analytics Reporting, Audit, Creative Services, Digital Advertising, Digital Marketing, Local SEO, SEO, SEO Strategy, Social Media, Traditional SEO, Website

      It’s hard to believe at times, but the internet has rules. There are protocols and conventions that, when followed, tend to make things easier on all of us. They also make the content we create more accessible to more people! One of the foremost jobs of a digital marketer is knowing these rules and knowing how to use them to do better work for their clients. Heading tags fall under this category. This post aims to explain what heading tags are, why they’re important, as well as how they function.

      What are HTML heading tags?

      Heading tags serve several different purposes.

      Let’s start with the content creator or the web designer, the person writing and determining each heading tag. Here, heading tags act similarly to an outline of the content being created. They establish how the information and the content surrounding that information are to be structured. 

      To search engines such as Google or Bing, heading tags act like labels or signs. They help point search engines to the specific places within web pages to quickly locate the content that people are searching for. Heading tags inform the search engine robots about the hierarchy of the information that they’re processing – a heading tag helps delineate what is the most important content and where it is located. 

      Finally, to someone visiting a website to read the information or content, heading tags are topic signifiers and points of interest – by reading the “What are HTML heading tags?” above the previous paragraph, a reader can easily determine what the overall topic being presented will be and can deduct what to expect in the post. Heading tags are also an important accessibility feature that helps accessibility software like screen readers parse and categorize the most important information on a page. 

      heading tags are also an important accessibility feature

      How are heading tags structured? How many heading tags are there?

      Heading tags are numerical, starting with H1 to denote the most important section heading. This is the heading that a search engine gives the most weight. Most HTML (the markup that most pages are built with) supports six levels of headings, with H6 denoting the heading with the least importance. Within that markup language they look like this:
      heading tags are also an important accessibility feature
      But what about the page’s title? The title tag is used to denote what your page is titled, and it’s what displays as the preview for your page in search engine results and social media snippets. The page title tag is not the same as a heading tag, but a page title tag and the H1 tag are often mirrored. This is largely because best practices have shown that Google typically gives more authority to pages that are formatted in this way because it views those pages as being more accurate.

      Prevent inaccurate article titles

      We use our crawler to scan your article pages and determine the correct headlines for your content. Follow our best practices to help us display the correct title from your content:

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      Place the title of your article in a prominent spot above the article body, such as in an <h1> tag.
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      Match the title of your article page (in the HTML <title> tag) to the title of your article (in <h1> or equivalent).

      Google HTML Rules

      Heading tags and SEO best practices

      Although using heading tags alone may not have a substantial impact on overall SEO from the standpoint of a search engine (the keywords used on each page take precedence), it does have a substantial impact on the readability of your content. When utilized properly, this impacts the time that is spent on a page and the overall webpage traffic. Both have a substantial impact on your search rankings. When correctly utilized alongside your page title, meta-description, and target keywords, your heading tags play a key role in improving search rankings for those specific keywords. A few best practices directly from Google:
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      Match the anchor text that points to your article in your section pages to your article/page title.

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      Avoid using the article title, or a substring of the title, as an active hyperlink on your article page.

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      Do not include a date or time in your article title.

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      Article titles should be at least 10 characters and between 2 and 22 words.

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      Do not include a leading number in the anchor text of the title to make sure your article title displays properly on mobile devices.

      A few more SEO specific best practices include:
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      Use only one H1 tag per page.

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      Keywords should be aligned by the rank of importance corresponding to your tag hierarchy.

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      Keep your heading tags concise and keyword specific.

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      H1 headings should be approximately twice as large as your body text.

      Why should you use heading tags?

      There’s plenty of reasons to use heading tags, and it mainly comes down to structuring your content in a way that makes it coherent and legible for every interaction with them. They are also an important part of your overall on-page SEO efforts, especially when you consider how it impacts your entire audience’s ability to find and digest the information you put out there. A quick summary of why using heading tags is important:

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      Heading tags structure your content

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      They help make your content more accessible

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      They are an important part of SEO best practices

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      They enhance readability and improve accessibility

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      They play a part in enhancing the overall user experience

      Here at Root & Roam, we have a team of passionate people with decades of experience utilizing all aspects of available technology to help communicate value to customers. Our company has experience working with all forms of media through all available channels, platforms, and mediums. Our mission is to help businesses connect with customers, and we take pride in our ability to do just that. We know we can help you grow your business, so schedule a free marketing consultation to see what we can do for you today.
      Determining how to structure your page and its headers to best benefit your business and its goals can be tricky. Root and Roam has a passionate team with experience in Content Creation and Web development to help.
      CONTACT US
      Owned Earned and Paid Media

      Owned Earned and Paid Media

      by | May 11, 2021 | Analytics Reporting, Digital Advertising, Digital Marketing, Lead Generation, SEO Strategy, Social Media, Traditional Marketing

      Owned, Earned, And Paid Media: The Digital Marketing Trifecta

       

      You may have heard the terms “Owned, Earned, and Paid Media” tossed around in the past and could be concerned that they are new types of media that you must have to optimize and create a well-rounded online presence for your business. However, there’s a strong likelihood that you already have developed and are using at least a few of these types of media already!

      Owned, earned, and paid media all play a strong role in your company’s SEO, and all work together to provide a clear overview of your company to a customer. Let’s dive into the differences between earned, owned, and paid media.

      Owned Media

       

      Your owned media is just that – any content or platforms your brand owns. If you have complete control over the media, you “own” it. Owned media is great because you control the entirety of the messaging and branding. The more places your brand can be found online, and the more engaged on these platforms your audience is, the better your website will rank on a search engine results page (SERP).

      Examples of your owned media include:

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      Website

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      Ebooks

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      Blogs

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      Podcasts

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      Apps

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      Social media accounts

      Owned media allows your brand to shine. If you have a branding kit, make sure that you’re referring to it consistently to so your messaging, brand personality, color scheme, and fonts are all on-brand. It’s important to show consistency across all of your owned platforms to increase your brand awareness.

      Whether you’re working to develop all your owned media platforms or you’re continuing to grow them, now is the time to do an audit.  Make a list of all of the owned media your company has, and make sure that you’re utilizing them all to their fullest potential. This is a prime way to get seen by current and potential customers, so make sure you are putting your best foot forward and providing up-to-date and engaging for your audience. Create a plan to monitor and engage with your social media accounts. If you have a social media account you’re not currently using, consider whether or not you have the bandwidth to re-engage with this platform.

      Root and Roam Tip: There are many types of owned media, but you do not have to use them all. Focus on the owned media platforms that resonate with your audience.

      Earned Media

       

      Earned media is any mention your brand has earned through work of your own. You’ve heard before that “nothing good comes easy,” and your earned media is a prime example. Over time, your earned media grows exponentially. Putting in the hard work to develop customer relationships, loyalty, and provide excellent customer service pay off for you with earned media.

      Examples of earned media include:

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      Blog posts about your product or service others have written

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      Press mentions

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      Online reviews

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      Social mentions

      It may feel uncomfortable, but the fastest way to gain earned media is by asking. Check in with your most loyal customers and ask them to write a review on your Google My Business page, an online business review site, or even your social media platforms. You can do this in person or through an email.

      Root and Roam Tip: It may feel easier to ask a customer to leave a review in exchange for a discount or small token of appreciation. Resist this temptation. Doing so can inadvertently be considered to be bribery. Your company is great and your organic reviews will show this!

      Paid Media

       

      Your paid media is any content or brand mention you’ve paid to have. They may fall anywhere on the cost spectrum, from just a few dollars to the largest paid campaign that you could dream up.

      Example of Paid Media Include:

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      Google search ads

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      Streaming ads

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      Google display ads

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      Banner ads on a website

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      Network display ads

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      Paid articles or advertorials

      Your paid media is an important part of your overall marketing strategy because it expands your reach.  Paid media allows you to get your company seen by potential new customers. Targeting options allow for you to hand-select who your audience is, and there are multiple ways for you to do so. You can target your search and display paid media in many different ways, including geographic location, specific keywords or searches, demographics. You even have the option to do a retargeting ad to follow up with those who have already visited your website or Facebook page.

      Your paid media also includes any ad buys that you make on any online industry publication and streaming TV or radio ad.

      Root and Roam Tip: There are many places you can use paid media. The opportunities are endless. Start off simple with platforms that you know your current audience or target audience are utilizing, and do some A/B testing to see what resonates best and provides you the most conversions.

      How do I combine earned, owned, and paid media?

       

      As we talked about the differences between earned, owned, and paid media, you may be thinking “How do these all work together to give me a well-rounded digital marketing strategy?” The combinations of earned, owned, and paid media is the key. All types of media play a pivotal role in your SEO strategy but also in your overall brand strategy.

      Owned and Paid Media

       

      Some examples of owned and paid media combinations include:

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      Sponsored social media advertising

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      Boosted social media posts

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      Influencer partnerships

      Owned and Earned

       

      Some examples of owned and earned media include:

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      Testimonials on website

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      “As seen on..” Sections of the website

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      More branded searches for your business

      Owned and Paid

       

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      Engagement on your owned media from influencers or social ads

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      Website conversions through paid advertising efforts

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      Increased web traffic on a dedicated landing page to capture leads through an ad

      Each option of the type of media you choose, if leveraged alone, can achieve a company goal. However, when combined with another type or better yet, when all three are utilized, you’ll see much better results regardless of if you’re targeting brand awareness, lead generation, lead nurturing, or transactional opportunities. Interested in learning more about how these three types of media can improve your business, get in touch with a marketing strategist at Root & Roam!