{"id":40874,"date":"2018-05-02T15:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-05-02T14:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/?p=40874"},"modified":"2018-05-02T11:05:21","modified_gmt":"2018-05-02T10:05:21","slug":"translating-business-goals-kpis-aa-03","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/goal-setting-evaluation\/goals-kpis\/translating-business-goals-kpis-aa-03\/","title":{"rendered":"Translating business goals to specific objectives and KPIs"},"content":{"rendered":"

How to ensure you track\u00a0performance against target<\/h2>\n

KPIs, we all have them,\u00a0sometimes we set them for ourselves, often they are set for us!\u00a0The question is, are the KPIs you are reviewing\u00a0supporting your efforts into making the boat go faster? Are they translated from business goals or just a bunch of metrics someone\u00a0thought they\u00a0may as well stick on a weekly powerpoint dashboard because Google Analytics spits out a sexy graph?<\/p>\n

This post explores how you can ensure you are using the KPIs that are helping you track performance in line with your business goals?\u00a0KPIs give an\u00a0integral pulse on the business that helps keep you be aware of\u00a0what's really going on and they allow you to exert control to pull the right levers to keep on track according to\u00a0what actually matters. For me, the key when setting KPIs for marketing and digital marketing is to start with the\u00a0business goals.<\/p>\n

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Be clear on the difference between goals, objectives and KPIs<\/h3>\n

I find when speaking to clients, that goals, objectives, and KPIs are used interchangeably by many. It's understandable but can lead to confusion within a business and when talking to providers. While there isn't a 'right or wrong' way to define these, it is definitely a good idea to have clarity on this. In this post, Dave Chaffey explains the difference between objectives vs\u00a0goals<\/a>. The approach he recommends is to have a clear top-down approach so goals support vision and more specific objectives add detail to goals.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Put another way, to show the difference between these units for target setting and evaluation,<\/p>\n

Long-term Vision > Broad organisational goals > Specific SMART objectives > Performance driving KPIs<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Note that this is just one way of defining\u00a0it, you may decide to just use specific SMART goals. What's important is setting\u00a0specific targets (goals or objectives)\u00a0that you can evaluate performance against!<\/p>\n

Ensure your targets\u00a0are SMART (it doesn\u2019t work otherwise)<\/h3>\n

If your targets (goals or objectives)\u00a0aren\u2019t SMART, they\u2019re not clear for you to\u00a0believe in and for others to follow. In fact, when they are not SMART, they can do more damage than good,\u00a0causing\u00a0multiple\u00a0interpretations of what good looks like and possibly drive the wrong behaviour. This is key for all striving to achieve the goals, how will they know when they\u2019ve smashed them. Ensuring your business goals and objectives are SMART ensures they are achievable and therefore celebrates success as well as highlight\u00a0shortcomings, there\u2019s nothing more\u00a0demoralizing than a moving target and that\u2019s\u00a0what un-SMART business goals are! To be\u00a0SMART they must be: Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time-related.\u00a0Here's a summary of other ways to\u00a0define SMART objectives<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Smart<\/p>\n

There are more detailed\u00a0resources on Smart Insights\u00a0to help you\u00a0evaluate your goals and objectives<\/a>\u00a0and run Digital Marketing Optimization<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Select your metrics for KPIs carefully<\/h3>\n

Remember that when\u00a0selecting the\u00a0metrics you are\u00a0going to use for your KPIs, \u00a0that using a score or calculation\u00a0rather than a finite data point may be more useful. For example if you set a business objective to the leading voice in the local fish & chip market, and a goal to have your shop be mentioned in over 50% of all online fish and chip conversations in your local area by December 2015, then a simple \u2018mentions\u2019 metric pulled from a listening tool isn\u2019t\u00a0going to good enough to know if you are yet in the lions share of conversations. To get this\u00a0\u2018share of voice' you\u2019re going to need to\u00a0monitor all fish &\u00a0chip conversations in the area as well to know what percentage your mentions make up of the total.\u00a0So your KPI is made up of a score using two different data values.<\/p>\n

Name them\u00a0practically<\/h3>\n

Ensure\u00a0they are always\u00a0meaningful\u00a0to your audience,\u00a0even (god-forbid) engaging.\u00a0Think carefully about the language you select to tell your story internally, and engage others (maybe your team, or your CEO) in sharing your value in a KPI. It\u2019s OK to be a bit creative and less, well dull. What if we talked about new likes on Facebook as\u00a0\u2018audience waiting to be inspired\u2019 or cart dropouts as\u00a0\u2018potential customers we failed\u2019. This may seem a little over the top compared to the safe\u00a0\u2018click-through-rate\u2019 or\u00a0\u2018reach\u2019 numbers, but maybe its worth asking the question: Would more listen up and pay attention if the KPI actually described what was happening to the business? If you ran a card shop on the high street and you had 50% of customers walking out on you\u00a0because paying was just too painful, would you talk to your staff about the\u00a0\u2018basket abandon rate\u2019 that day, or talk to them about the 'customers we pissed off\u2019. Yeah that\u2019s right, the one that actually says what\u2019s happening, evokes more urgency and action, and that\u00a0actually helps frame ideas for solutions.<\/p>\n

Stacey\u00a0Barr\u00a0offers some practical advice on naming KPIs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Build\u00a0process around checking in against\u00a0KPIs<\/h3>\n

If you are not checking in your metrics, often, then they weren\u2019t\u00a0important in the first place. They are not the right ones. If you own a card shop, and your focus is on driving customer to your store from the high street around the corner, then footfall is a key indicator of success. So you\u00a0monitor it, and think about it every day making small changes to what you write on your chalkboard each week to see what works in driving more people into your store. But without\u00a0monitoring how\u00a0many people come in every day, the\u00a0owner cannot make an\u00a0informed decision on if the message on the\u00a0board is any good or not.<\/p>\n

Ensure a plan of actions relates to the KPIs<\/h3>\n

Tracking your KPIs is one thing, but to ensure they are being used to achieve your business goals, they need to be related to, and generate action. Tracking and reporting on a KPI each\u00a0week or month is only of use if the insights it brings helps shape action to keep on track with the goal.\u00a0\u00a0A simple way to building a process in your business around your KPIs is with a\u00a090-day plan.<\/a>\u00a0This simple approach not only keeps KPIs actionable metrics, but drives a regular process of discussion and decision-making so they don\u2019t get locked away in a draw and only discussion in new year\u2019s planning round. Bring KPIs to life with regular reviews and actions will demonstrating your team are firmly aligned to the goals of the business\u2026 and not just see as reporting for digital marketing self-indulgence.<\/p>\n

The most important aspect of KPIs are they are owned and useful. Otherwise, they will just be regarded as reporting for reporting\u2019s sake. Used well they help keep the agenda clear and simple, driving teams to focus and allowing the celebration of success. Most of all they help your digital team be relevant to the business.<\/p>\n

If you're looking for an alternative view, a good place to start is \u00a0Avinash Kaushik\u2019s\u00a0explanation of goals, KPIs and metrics in the context of web analytics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0* Featured image courtesy of\u00a0www.translatingyourworld.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How to ensure you track\u00a0performance against target KPIs, we all have them,\u00a0sometimes we set them for ourselves, often they are set for us!\u00a0The question is, are the KPIs you are reviewing\u00a0supporting your efforts into making the boat go faster? Are …..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30369,"featured_media":114492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_glsr_average":0,"_glsr_ranking":0,"_glsr_reviews":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[327],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTranslating business goals to specific objectives and KPIs | Smart Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"KPIs, we all have them,\u00a0sometimes we set them for ourselves, often they are set for us!\u00a0Are the KPIs you are reviewing\u00a0supporting your efforts into making the boat go faster? 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