OK, so I’m never an advocate of “should” because people end up shoulding all over the place and create a huge amount of resistance to the shoulds and also diagnose failure because they aren’t doing all the things that they should be doing. 

So it’s deffo not a one size fits all when it comes to tracking metrics. 

BUT, that which has attention placed on it grows #fact! 

The things you are tracking you stop ignoring, both consciously and subconsciously. 

I’m a massive advocate of setting goals and targets in your business and I talk a little bit about that in this episode of the podcast ~click here to listen in~    and, even with goal & targets setting I don’t want you setting yourself up with one aribitary figure to hit.

In order to measure growth then you need to be looking at key performance indicators.  They are the metrics that allow you to see if your work is resulting in growth.  They are going to give you the heads up to be able to see what’s working, the trends in your business and to be able to respond rather than react if there’s anything that needs your attention.  Essentially it’s checking in with your compass to check if you’re still going in the right direction and if you’re not then you can alter your course.  

So, let’s look at some of the key performance indicators that you can include when looking at your growth.  

Please note that this doesn’t have to be a boring AF task and doesn’t have to create tension in your body.  Always see it as a wee adventure to explore where you are, what you need to know and what you can learn from the numbers in front of you.  

Income

I’m obviously going to start here because it’s a biggie! 

You are a business and ultimately a business is about making money.  Yeah, it doesn’t have to be it’s solo focus but it needs to be a significant consideration.  Making more money can be your metric to showing that you’re helping more people at a deeper level and impacting more lives.  Making more money can show that your work is valued, significant and important.  

Don’t resist tracking your income purely on the basis that you aren’t all about the money because the income can be showing other trends within your business too. 

You might not be solely looking at income but you might want to consider profitability.  Keep an eye on the expenses allows you to make sure that you are maximising your profits.  

Incrementally upleveling your income is important if you’re looking for income growth.  ~ You can read more about incremental uplevelling here ~

Social Media

Growth within your social media platforms can take a couple of forms.  I know that most people see it as getting more people to follow them and they get frustrated because they have a small Facebook Page or Instagram following and it seems to have stagnated. 

It’s a fact that in most genres it’s not as easy to build a social media following as it once was.  I’ve been around on social media for business for a long time and we certainly aren’t in the hayday of simple growth anymore or getting new likes on an ad for 0.02p per liker BUT it doesn’t need to be a slog either AND isn’t the solo focus.  

A small but invested crowd can be a shit tonne (an actual metric measurement) more profitable than a large but disengaged crowd. 

So, what metrics can you look at? 

1️⃣ yeah, we will start with the Facebook likes.  One of the strategies you can implement to increase those is detailed right here -click to take a look – You can also cross pollinate your social media by directing your fans from other platforms, your newsletter or your website to come & follow you on social media.  Creating engaging content can also increase your followers as well as being featured elsewhere (think articles, guest blogs, podcast appearances, collaborations with others)

2️⃣ Next up is engagement, this is the most important metric on Social Media for me.  A crowd who is invested is a crowd who’s more likely to purchase BUT also a crowd who cares more about your message, a crowd you can help & support and a crowd who values your work.  The engagement metric is my fav.  Engagement isn’t just about hitting a reaction on your posts either.  ~ I’ve given you a guide to what engagement actually means here ~ 

Your Website 

Having Google Analytics on your website is super important.   You need to know if your website is serving you! This is the business asset that’s within your control (i.e. not owned by a social media platform) and it houses all your content with longevity.  

How do you find answers to questions?  You use a search engine of some description. 

You want to make sure your website is being found and used. 

So which metrics can you look at here? 

1️⃣ Users – essentially getting more eyes on your website.  You can also dig into that a little further and see the % of new users and existing/returning users to see if your website is catching new eyes and is a valuable resource to those who have visited before (i.e. they are coming back because they love it). 

2️⃣ Time Spent On Your Site – are people coming and meandering through your site?  Are they spending time there?  This can be dependant (in the same way as the next point) as to how you’re driving traffic to your site and you can impact this dependant upon the cycle you are in within your marketing.  It might be that you are driving a hell ov a lot of traffic to a certain blog or page on your site and your main aim might just be for them to read that one thing.  That will mean that your time spent on site may be reduced to the equivalent amount of time it would take to read that one thing. 

3️⃣  Bounce rate – bounce rate is the % of people that come to your site and go away without looking at anything else other than the page they landed on.  So that again might be because you’re in a stage in your strategy that this is what you want them to do.  BUT, it can be also a heads up that your site needs a wee bit of attention because it’s not sticky (meaning you haven’t created a bit of a web to catch people in when they land on your website). 

4️⃣  Keeping an eye on most popular pages.  Where are people visiting, what’s catching their eye?  This can give you a heads up as to the type of content they adore on your website. 

List Building 

Your list is your inner circle.  It’s the people who’ve popped their hands up and saif that they are interested in what you do and want to hear a whole stack more.   

These people are, in marketing bs speak, your warm leads.  

What are we looking at here?

1️⃣ Growth, is the size of your list growing?  Are you commited to list building activity. 

2️⃣ Engagement, are they opening your newsletter and getting into your newsletters, clicking links and generally being into the content you’re sending out to them? 

Takeaways 

Yup, just made myself hungry there writing that title 🙈

✔️  Tracking isn’t boring, see it as an exploration/adventure to discover more about how your business is working 

✔️ That which you track will get your focus and therefore will grow 

✔️ It’s not just about income tracking 

✔️ think of goals as your overall aims for a period of time and the targets you set as the incremental indicators along the way

✔️ Fit your targets to the cycle of growth you are in.

The Rockstar Vault is my free learning & resources library.  

Yeah, let’s get specific ~ there’s videos and cheatsheets and checklists and pro-formas.  You can get your hands on trackers & planners that will help you measure those success metrics with ease..