Key performance indicators (KPIs) may not be one of the most exciting parts of a marketer’s job, but it’s certainly one of the most important. KPIs help you determine how well you’re meeting your goals so that you can identify the measures that are working. Using this information, you can then tweak your marketing campaigns to better meet your audience, and ultimately, your end goals. Without KPIs, you would be going into your campaigns blindly and possibly taking steps that were ineffective.

So which KPIs should you be tracking in the first place? Are there certain performance indicators that are more important than others? We recommend tracking these five KPIs to get the best picture of your campaigns.

Mobile Statistics

Content should be optimized for mobile devices so that you can easily track leads, conversion rates and traffic. KPIs tell you how well your mobile content is performing. It doesn’t matter what types of services or products you sell or whether you are small and locally owned. With so much of the population owning mobile devices (and more being sold each day), you’re bound to find your audience here.

Social Media Demographics

By tracking social media demographics, you can get a better idea as to who your followers are on social media. You can also gain insight as to other factors such as the age group and location of your audience. This information can be used to target specific groups of people or to tap into other markets you’re not currently attracting.

Inbound Marketing ROI

Inbound marketing efforts such as blogs, videos and social media should be tracked to see if you’re spending your ad dollars wisely. If you’re not seeing the results you had hoped for, try other inbound marketing techniques like infographics or podcasts. With so many tactics to try, there’s no reason to spend money on things that aren’t working for your audience.

Customer Service

More people are turning to social media to ask questions, resolve issues and share experiences, and it’s up to you to keep this channel well monitored. Use KPIs to track how people are coming to you for help and what types of issues your customers are facing. Also determine how long, on average, it takes to respond to these issues. Remember, everyone can see how you handle issues online, so always put your best service forth.

Impact of Visuals

Images are very important these days, and content wouldn’t be the same without them. Not only are images used in blog posts and websites but also in social media posts. KPIs can be used to track how well the images are performing. You may find that your Facebook audience prefers funny, creative and colorful images while your LinkedIn audience engages more with SlideShare presentations and infographics.