Measuring success

I don’t need to tell you that staying abreast of your performance and progress is the difference between having a heartbeat and not having one.

Most analytics tools can give you these metrics super fast. Export the dataset as a CSV file, upload it to claude.ai, and ask for a breakdown of the most important insights focused on whatever is the most important success metric.

Noah Kagan - the AppSumo founder - reckons his top three metrics for 2024 are:

• Web traffic (top of funnel - are we getting enough eyeballs?)

• Sales volume (conversions)

• Average order value

Yours could be entirely different - though I’d imagine the number of conversions is a pretty common success indicator, and average order value could be more insightful than any other vector if you’re deeply entrenched in D2C (or general ecommerce) growth.

There are loads of other things you can measure - including stuff like Pulse survey results, if you’re one of these deluded ‘we can change our culture’ types.

But since this book is very much about how a business can shape its story, I’m not especially bothered about such fripperies.

Depending on the type of business - and client - I've suggested using these success metrics:

• Top-of-Funnel (TOFU): Awareness & Interest

• Reach: Unique visitors, impressions, social media followers

• Engagement: Website visits, blog post views, video views, social media interactions (likes, comments, shares)

• Lead Generation: Email signups, ebook downloads, webinar registrations

• Brand Awareness: Brand mentions, sentiment analysis

• Middle-of-Funnel (MOFU): Consideration & Evaluation

• Website Traffic: Page views, time on site, bounce rate

• Content Engagement: White paper downloads, case study views, demo requests

• Lead Nurturing: Email click-through rates, lead score progression

• Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs): Number of leads meeting specific criteria

• Bottom-of-Funnel (BOFU): Conversion & Purchase

• Conversion Rates: Form submissions, product purchases, free trial signups

• Cost per Acquisition (CPA): Cost to acquire a new customer

• Return on Investment (ROI): Revenue generated from marketing campaigns

• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Total revenue a customer brings over their lifetime

• Beyond the Funnel: Retention & Loyalty

• Customer Retention Rate: Percentage of customers who remain with you over a period

• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): Measures customer happiness with your brand

• Net Promoter Score (NPS): Customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend you

• Repeat Purchase Rate: Percentage of customers who buy from you again

Other metrics worth considering:

Financial

• Sales Revenue

• Net Profit Margin

• Gross Margin

• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

• Net Income Ratio

• Break-even Point

Client

• Net Promoter Score (NPS)

• Customer Retention Rate

• Customer Churn Rate

• Cost of Customer Acquisition

• Customer Loyalty and Retention

Conversion

• Qualified Leads Per Month

• Lead to Client Conversion Rate

• Monthly Website Traffic

Marketing

• Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI)

• Revenue versus Forecast

We could also measure against the community development and growth efforts.

We know Storyselling isn’t a static mechanism for marketing. It’s a catalyst for an entirely new way to work with colleagues and clients.

Their loyalty is the heartbeat of our business.

So how do we make sure this effort is commensurate with our needs as business operators?

Here are the two families of success metrics for our communities:

Client

• Increased deal velocity: track sales cycle time reduction attributable to more vision resonance  

• Client spend expansion: measure growing account spend/order values post-integration 

• Renewal rates: analyse year-over-year continuity partnership renewals

• Satisfaction scores: compare lifecycle NPS trends before/after implementation  

• Testimonial quality: evaluate depth of client feedback for campaign leverage

• Community participation: monitor client involvement in programs like beta testing/panels

• Referrals generated: count new partnerships originated from existing accounts

Colleague

• Organisation health: bi-annual survey assessing strategic clarity/purpose understanding

• Program NPS: assess employee satisfaction specific to initiatives like workshops  

• Ambassador signups: analyse employee participation supporting events/field marketing

• Internal utilisation: examine intra-company sharing/consumption of story elements   

• Time-to-productivity: track new hire ramp speed citing alignment acceleration  

• Cross-functional participation: gauge employees engaging across teams/role

• Attrition/retention: evaluate company tenure upon exits to diagnose weak points

These blend both behavioural metrics and qualitative surveys to gauge engagement depth.

Where we have Storyselling tactics appealing to everyone, we can pick a selection of success metrics for colleagues and clients and quickly measure whether these combined approaches are achieving the traction and growth we need

Additional tips

• Set SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

• Track multiple metrics: Don't rely on a single metric to tell the whole story.

• Benchmark your performance: Compare your metrics to industry averages and competitors.

• Focus on what matters: Prioritise metrics that align with your business goals.

• Use a marketing analytics platform: Automate data collection and reporting.