How’s your firm’s pulse looking?
Is it strong? Weak? Slow? Normal? Not sure?
You can keep track of this with key performance indicators. KPIs are performance measurements that help you understand how your firm is doing at the department level (marketing, finances, business development, etc.). Think of KPIs as the doctor that regularly checks on your digital well-being.
Ultimately, these performance indicators are meant to help your firm track wins and show you what works to get more. It’s a simple yet effective way to incentivize hard work. There is no one right way to go by this task, however, and it’s best to handpick the most suitable indicators for your specific situation. By doing so, expect the following:
- Simplification of the decision-making process since you’re armed with analytical data.
- Presentation of how collective group efforts impact the firm’s progress.
- Ease to evaluate results.
- Identification of strengths/weaknesses within your current strategy.
- Alignment of the marketing and sales efforts.
- Money savings.
To reap the rewards to the fullest potential, it’s best to follow a plan of action. And we’ve lined one out for you here:
Step 1 – Establishing goals and objectives
It’s fairly easy to fall down the Internet rabbit hole when searching for possible KPIs to implement. There are virtually hundreds of different approaches you could take, and it all depends on your firm’s specific needs and your priorities. A good thing to keep in mind is that KPIs are flexible, and they can (and should) be adjusted as your goals and objectives change.
When interlinking KPIs with the targets, it’s fundamental to think about two factors:
- Analyze how your firm is different from the competition.
- Consider the target audience and what’s in it for them.
Once you’ve figured out these two elements, they can serve as the foundation of your goals and objectives section, a necessary ingredient in the recipe that is efficient performance measurements.
A goal is a broad statement of what you’d like to accomplish, in other words, where you see yourself in the future. If you had a roadmap to follow, goals would be your destination.
- Your goals are the equivalent of your mission and vision.
- They are focused on long-term solutions.
On the other hand, an objective is a narrow statement that defines the strategies that’ll help you reach set goals. Going back to the roadmap example, the objectives would be the route you take in order to get to the destination (your goals).
- It’s a short statement emphasizing what, when and how you’ll achieve the set targets.
- Provides exact actionable steps.
Step 2 – Tracking your KPIs
While there are hundreds of KPIs, it’s best to start small and scale from there. The following are 5 KPIs your law firm can begin with:
1. Organic traffic – This correlates with the SEO strategy. Here you can measure the monthly search volume of your firm’s name along with other primary keywords. High organic traffic is a good sign that people are searching your website on their own.
- How will this help the decision-making process? The level of organic traffic will indicate if your content is speaking to the right audience. Hence, helping you make smarter decisions with your content strategy.
2. Traffic to lead ratio – Knowing where traffic is coming from is key. Are they coming from social channels? Organic? Direct? Referrals? Paid ads? If traffic is high, but the lead ratio is low, this is a sign that perhaps there is some misalignment.
An example of misalignment would be if the user has different expectations of what happens after they click on a CTA from what actually happens (e.g. is the right content being sent out?). Analyzing these signals can help you identify which pages need further optimization, e.g., changing calls-to-action, design, copy, etc.
- How will this help the decision-making process? The pages where traffic turns into leads can guide you towards where you can invest a little more of your time and money.
3. Lead to customer ratio – This is a critical turning point from MQL to SQL. MQLs, marketing qualified leads, refer to a lead that is more likely to become a customer than other leads. In spite of this, only some MQLs turn into SQLs, sales-qualified leads. These are likely to convert to potential customers. An example of an MQL turning into a SQL would be a user filling out the contact form on your website.
- How will this help the decision-making process? This is the pivotal stage where the marketing and sales teams can fortify the bridge between leads and customers. It’ll also help you find out further information about the objections MQLs have.
4. GMB (Google My Business) insights – Not all visitors come upon your website immediately. Some turn to Google and may look into the GMB information you have provided. On account of this, you should evaluate the performance of:
- Online customer reviews.
- Phone call volume and click-to-call rates.
- Search rankings.
- Requests for driving directions.
- How will this help the decision-making process? Measuring the presence of your firm on Google’s SERP correlates with brand awareness. By looking into the GMB insights, you can actively optimize your it according to what works best – thus reinforcing the branding.
5. Mobile website performance – Mobile is king. In 2020, Mobile devices drove 61% of visits to U.S. websites, and it’ll keep growing. With that said, two mobile KPIs you shouldn’t miss out on are:
- Responsiveness: A responsive website adapts to any device: mobile, tablet, and desktop.
- Site speed: Page loading time should be under two seconds.
- How will this help the decision-making process? Your mobile performance will help you visualize the functionality and performance of your website. By monitoring this, you can actively adjust the site as you go.
Step 3 – Building a report with data visualization
How can you keep track of all your KPIs?
With a scorecard. Monitoring the performance supplies the entire team with valuable data, thus increasing productivity and making sure everyone is on the same (Google Sheets) page: the scorecard.
The KPIs have to work hand-in-hand with targets. For example, if you would like to increase active customers from 800 to 850 in the next 4 months, you’ll need to measure this progress on a weekly/monthly basis for the next 4 months, and beyond! Remember: this is like checking your pulse.
This is paramount for two reasons:
- It gives the entire team an easy-to-understand visual representation of where you all want to be.
- Empowers the staff to become better decision-makers.
Please keep in mind; a scorecard is different from a dashboard. A dashboard focuses on short-term, real-time data analysis, while a scorecard focuses on long-term goals measured through periodic progress.
Step 4 – Hiring experts that’ll do the work for you
Hiring and/or training your entire staff is possible, but it’s time and cost-consuming.
However, don’t lose hope. Say it with us: securing your firm’s present and future is possible today. How, may you ask?
When hiring digital marketing specialists, you’re not just hiring one individual. You’re dealing with an entire team that’s ideally 110% committed to your firm’s success and that is composed of web designers, copywriters, data analysts, PPC advertisers, social media experts, content creators, SEO specialists, and more.
More specifically, hiring a digital marketing agency focused solely on law firms, like Consultwebs, means investing and securing your firm’s present and future. Additionally, teaming up with a marketing agency means you are skipping the daunting path down digital marketing lane and heading straight to making smart driven decisions backed up by facts and figures.
With us, you can expect to:
- Get results without the headaches.
- Grow your client base.
- Save time, the most valuable currency of all.
- Rest easy at night, knowing experts are already handling everything.
The secret is in the sauce.
The ingredients for your success in decision-making should include 1 tablespoon of metrics, 1 cup of tracking, 1 scorecard… and the secret must-have ingredient? 1 full-flavored bag of KPIs!
Despite everything, there are hundreds of performance indicators mentioned on the web. For this reason, your firm must cook the secret sauce with the ingredients that are the most appealing to your consumers, the people eating from your plate.
Don’t leave your marketing investments on the back burner. Talk to us, and together let’s cook up the feast that is your success.
