Before this year Yogendra Vasupal, the creator of Stayzilla, announced in a blog post he’d shut down all operations of his business — despite having recently raised $33.5 million.
Yogendra wrote an honest and clear article admitting mistakes were made by him and highlighting the reasons for his decision. In the article, he admits the company focused on data which led to their demise:
“The first seven years were all about having adverse working capital, positive cash flow and a continued capability to fund our own development. Those were the only metrics we tracked. In the previous three to four, however, I could honestly say that I lost my route. I started treasuring GMV [Gross Merchandise Value], room-nights and other ‘vanity’ metrics instead of the basics of cash flow and working capital.”
We read news stories explaining how companies concentrated on ‘X’ into overachieve their aims, or the way the latest fad has to be implemented in your organisation to make it effective. However, the threat with focusing with this new information is that it is easy to lose sight of what is really important.
Thus, what are the vanity metrics in advertising and comms?
As professionals working in an ever changing, electronic business, our customer programmes and campaigns are filled with copious amounts of metrics and information which we cannot make use of.
Does not necessarily mean you have to use it though it worked for someone else, just as there exists a metric. Think about whether it’s well worth the expense of your own time and if you’ve got the resources to quantify it. Decide which is more significant.
Drowning in dressing metrics
Impressions, followers, share of voice, likes etc. — we’ve got an abundance of metrics to choose from however, the challenge marketers face would be to distinguish which metrics are going to have an effect on company objectives.
Prior to making the choice to use a metric, stop and say to yourself “does this metric allow me to make a choice?” And “When I see this metric, does this help me understand how to get nearer to my business goals?” If you answer “no” to all those questions, you’re taking a look at a dressing table.
Vanity metrics look significant, but they have a tendency to be shallow and often have a negative impact on your company goals.
Originally, vanity metrics appear important
Yes, amounts in vanity metrics might demonstrate your business is successful but they will not provide.
Re-tweets, enjoys and AVEs are great to use as a benchmark but they are not helpful for measuring the success of your campaign. Don’t allow metrics hold you back; make sure that they provide a bit of insight to you so as to make an influence on your business.
Share of voice: the complications
For example, share of voice is a metric that measures the frequency your organisation is mentioned in comparison to your opponents. For advertising professionals this metric suggests brand trustworthiness and audience taste.
When utilizing share of voice as a 15, however, there are a couple issues. You will need to use services which operate language processing technologies and AI algorithms to accurately track your business’s share of voice.
Which metrics would make an impact on your business
These solutions are quite costly and therefore are not 100% accurate. With no real insight, you’ll be left with no accuracy. It’s also quite simple for businesses to manipulate share of voice amounts. For example, Twitter bots may be employed to increase a public or brand figure is being talked about.
This tactic will improve often your brand is mentioned in comparison but it will not increase your brand’s trustworthiness or customer preference.
Quality over quantity is a reflection that we hear every day, but in this circumstance, it’s applicable. Carefully think about what would be better to quantify and which metrics will make an influence?
So, what do you do?
It’s important that your marketing and communications strategy does not focus on the wrong metrics. You need to make certain that everything you step will provide you insight and impact your business.
In light of this, here are three things all marketing professionals must think about when thinking about metrics:
– Marketing objectives Will Need to align whether this means acquiring new customers or profit
– Do not get metrics that will not help you achieve your Objectives
– Experiment with different approaches. Change your actions to see what works and what doesn’t. Technology is evolving and how you measure your campaign’s success now might be less possible tomorrow. Question everything you do and try new approaches.
Don’t just concentrate on the most recent trend for the sake of it. You have a thorough understanding of how it will benefit your organisation. It’s important not to get swept up in the most recent fad since we have seen in the situation of Stayzilla or you can face serious consequences.
Analytics data and measurement are significant for all advertising campaigns but it’s equally important to concentrate on the approaches. Build your understanding and find out what works for your own organisation to ensure company success.
