Track Your Metrics: How to Launch Effective Visual Content Campaigns

Have you ever launched a visual content campaign only to wonder if that money could have been better spent elsewhere? Here’s a quick guide to using metrics to make the difference.

Visual doesn’t have to mean vague. If you’ve spent time specifically selecting visuals as part of your content campaign, you’ll need to know if your selection is effective, and to what extent. Indeed, any clever marketer knows that tracking the ROI of your campaign is key to determining what works and what doesn’t.

With countless items on your to-do list, however, another spreadsheet full of numbers may fill you with dread. The good news? You don’t need one. Four simple metrics will tell you if your content is effective, or if you need to rejig it.

The METRiCs Method

Monitor Click-Through Rates

Does your selected photo convert to clicks? And how often do customers actually click through to your site when they see a visual in your emails, web ads, or promotional material? Find out the answer by using custom URLs to track the performance of each medium and each image and filter out the content and the channels that don’t draw people in. You can also use this to measure how much time people spend on your page – are they bouncing out immediately, or sticking around to browse your content and, hopefully, making a purchase? We’ll get more into bounce rates in a moment.

Execute A/B Testing

Just like trying on several outfits to find your favourite, your brand can benefit from simultaneously testing two versions of your content. With the A/B method, you can compare different colour schemes, design layouts, and brand imagery. Simply launch your ‘A’ and ‘B’ visuals, compare their engagement levels, and stick with the one that comes out on top.

Track Social Media Analytics

The great thing about everyone being on social media all the time is that these powerful sites also come with powerful analytics tools. This is excellent news for visual marketers. If you’re posting regularly on any type of social media, whether it’s Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat, you’ll be able to easily useful analytics for each platform. We suggest following common metrics such as likes, shares, and comments to measure the levels of engagement and evaluate which visuals strike a chord with your audience.

Bonus: They all come with easy-to-follow tutorials. Watch or read through a few to quickly become an expert analytical tracker.

Check your Bounce Rate

In marketing, it’s not just about clicks, it’s also about customer retention. Your bounce rate tracks just that–how many of your website visitors click away from your website after viewing only one page. Tracking your bounce rate helps you identify your weak spots so you can adjust the visuals that improve the customer’s experience.

Hint: Key to enhancing the customer experience is ensuring all your content is optimised for mobile displays.

Bonus Tip: Set SMART Goals for Your Campaign

If you’ve stayed with us this far, we’ve covered the four main metrics you need to track for content success. However, there remains one question we’d like to ask you that we think will take your visual strategy to the next level.

What do you want this campaign to achieve?

That’s right–set goals. And not just any goals. Make sure they’re specific, measurable, and attainable (SMART). Following the SMART rule is essential to refining your focus and achieving your campaign targets. It’s like typing additional keywords into a Google search; by doing so, you reduce extraneous information and clarify which metrics matter most.

Imagine, for example, that you run the marketing department for a clothing brand that’s attempting to capture the attention of Millennials in Berlin. You set a goal of attaining a 15% increase in sales over a 12-month period. Now, instead of gathering useless data that includes, say, U.S. retirees, you can extract the essential ‘Berlin Millennial’ metrics and confirm whether you’re on track to meet your milestones.

Doesn’t that sound much simpler? We think so too.

All in all, tracking your metrics and setting targetted goals helps to keep your team driven and your campaign effective. By keeping tabs on the reactions of your customers and stakeholders, you’ll be able to respond to any unforeseen hiccups and stay on track to execute your campaign objectives.

Recap: Justify your Visual-Content Campaigns

Don’t forget our bonus tip: set what are called SMART goals – Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. It’s worked for us, and we promise it will work for you too.

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