A few weeks ago I went over some of the high level metrics that are common in the world of digital analytics.

From impressions to clicks (or taps) to views & conversions – there are many ways to track different paths different users may take to getting in touch with you about your products and services.

At the very end of these paths lies conversions — when a user goes from a passive “viewer” of your digital assets and “converts” into a “lead” by filling in a contact form, calling/texting or any other way you choose to let customers reach out to you.

While this is likely not new for most small business owners, tracking & collecting important metrics about each lead might be.

Lead metrics can get very complicated, but for most small businesses there are a few really simple things you can track that can give you a clearer view of your digital marketing efforts (and, in turn, any other complementary offline marketing efforts).

One of the first things you can do is define what a “lead” is.

If you’ve been in business long enough you know that not everyone that reaches out qualifies as a legitimate “lead”.

From solicitors to spam, there can be a lot of “noise” that can be mistakenly taken for a lead if there’s no proper definition.

Part of the work of your digital marketing (and marketing in general) is tuning some of that noise out so that more of your time is spent on what you consider to be a valid “lead” for your small business.

“Valid” in this case, is your definition of a quality “lead”.

Definitions can include:

1. Inside your desired service areas
2. Projects/services of a certain category, size or other scope
3. Some other characteristics (demographics, behavior, etc.)

This is where having a very clear picture of your perfect – or ideal – customer will help you properly define what a “lead” is and (more imporantly) what isn’t a “lead”.

Understanding Lead Sources (Channels)

I’ve written about the different layers of the digital world: from the Open Web (everything online) to the Organization Layer (search engines like Google, Bing and AI platforms like ChatGPT) to the Group Layer (social media sites like Facebook, Instagram as well as forum sites like Reddit) to the Personalization layer (direct messages and email, as examples).

Knowing where your leads originate can help you identify potential strengths (or weaknesses) within those layers.

As mentioned in the post above on digital analytics, leads can take several steps before finally reaching out, making attribution “fuzzy”.

If you want to make things simple by using the “last step” the user takes before reaching out: through search, social, email, direct or other referring website, you can certainly do that.

Doing this may mean you miss understanding the effect of “upstream” activities from that “last click/tap” (some activities may take longer to develop or some users may use multiple channels to find/explore your small business services), but it does keep things simple.

However you define the different lead sources, be sure to keep it consistent so that you can compare your data accurately (apples-to-apples, so to speak).

Paid Leads (Measuring Return On Ad Spend – ROAS)

If your small business grows to the point to where you can start leveraging paid advertising (PPC, Google Local Service ads and other paid spots), you’re going to want to be very strict with measuring lead data.

If you’re entering more traditional paid ad spaces, you’re going to want to make sure the leads that are generated/captured are producing downstream revenue – otherwise you’ll potentially be wasting money, essentially.

A metric known as Return On Ad Spend (ROAS, for short) is something you’ll want to take note of here.

There are many other metrics in the digital paid ad space, but the important point is here that leads that come through paid channels require much more attention and precision to ensure your hard-earned ad dollars are returning in the form of revenue (and profit).

Using Lead Data: Trends, Alignment & Adjustments

Lead data is one of the most important windows you have to understanding how well your digital marketing efforts are performing.

If you’re like many small businesses, you’ll likely have definitive seasonality trends – times of the year when lead activity is the highest, so it allows you to understand how much demand you’re capturing from year to year.

If you’re running more granular, short-term campaigns, they can tell you how effective those campaigns are at generating leads (some of which may take more time to measure, depending on campaign type and goals).

Lead data can also be a source of alignment (or re-alignment in some cases).

Perhaps you’re noticing leads coming from a service area or neighborhood that you may have overlooked, allowing you to realign some of your focus on those areas.

Perhaps your leads are mentioning a particular service (within the services you offer) more often, which could indicate a trend you can use to create updated, fresh content to attract more potential leads for that service.

I could go on here, but the point is clear: while it’s possible to function without lead data, over time you won’t be able to spot important trends within your market – something that can keep you from making the moves you need to establish consistent, sustainable growth.