Start free trial Share this post 5 KPIs Every Brand Manager Should Be Tracking Home Blog Digital Marketing 5 KPIs Every Brand Manager Should Be Tracking Posted on April 22nd 2024 Raïssa Sidio | 8 min read Brand managers ensure their brand performs well in the market and resonates with their target audience. To achieve this, they need to track key performance indicators (KPIs) that help them measure the success of their brand management strategies. With so many metrics, however, it can be challenging to determine which ones to focus on. In this article, we will explore five KPIs every brand manager should track to understand their brand’s performance better. KPIs Brand Manager Should Be Tracking Earned Media (Or Volume of Brand Mentions) Earned media refers to the publicity a brand earns through word-of-mouth or third-party sources such as social media, press coverage, reviews, and other websites. Measuring the volume of brand mentions is a crucial KPI for brand managers, as it provides insights into how well the brand resonates with its target audience and how successful its marketing efforts are. Various tools, including social media monitoring tools and media monitoring services, are available to measure the volume of brand mentions. These tools can help brand managers track mentions of their brand across various channels and platforms, and identify trends and patterns in the data. Brand managers should measure the volume and sentiment of brand mentions. Positive mentions can help build brand awareness and loyalty, while negative mentions can damage a brand’s reputation. Brand managers can identify potential issues and proactively address them by monitoring sentiment. Another critical aspect of measuring earned media is identifying the key influencers driving brand mentions. Influencers can significantly impact a brand’s reputation and help amplify its message to a broader audience. Identifying and engaging with these influencers allows brand managers to leverage their reach and credibility, enhancing brand awareness and driving conversions. Overall, measuring the volume of brand mentions is a crucial KPI for brand managers, as it provides insights into the effectiveness of their marketing efforts and helps them identify potential issues and opportunities. By tracking sentiment and identifying key influencers, brand managers can take proactive steps to build brand awareness and loyalty and drive conversions. Related Posts: Earned Media, Explained in 400 Words or Less [Examples] Ratings/Feedback Customer ratings and feedback are among the most critical KPIs for brand managers. This information can provide valuable insights into how customers perceive the brand and its products or services. Monitoring customer ratings and feedback enables brand managers to pinpoint areas for improvement and adjust their strategies accordingly. One way to track customer ratings and feedback is through online reviews. 90% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase decision. This means that online reviews can significantly impact a brand’s reputation and sales. Brand managers should monitor online reviews regularly and respond to both positive and negative reviews promptly and professionally. Another way to track customer ratings and feedback is through surveys and feedback forms. Asking customers to rate their experience with the brand and provide feedback help brand managers gain valuable insights into customer satisfaction and identify areas for improvement. Surveys and feedback forms can be conducted through email, social media, or the brand’s website. Brand managers should establish clear goals and metrics to effectively track customer ratings and feedback. For example, they may aim to increase the overall customer satisfaction rating by a certain percentage within a specific timeframe. They may also track metrics such as the number of positive and negative reviews, the average rating, and the sentiment of customer feedback. Share of Voice Share of Voice (SOV) is a metric that measures a brand’s visibility across different marketing channels against its competitors. It gives an overview of a brand’s position in the whole market. SOV is a crucial KPI for brand managers, as it helps them understand how their brand fares against competitors regarding brand awareness. To calculate SOV, a brand manager needs to track the number of mentions their brand has received compared to their competitors. This can be done using tools such as Mention or Sprout Social. Once the number of mentions has been collected, the brand manager can calculate their SOV using the following formula: Brand Mentions / Total Mentions (Brand Mentions + Competitor Mentions) x 100 For example, if a brand has received 500 mentions, and its competitors have received a total of 1,000 mentions, the brand’s SOV would be 33.33%. Brand managers should track SOV across all marketing channels, including social media, organic search, and paid search. The same SOV formula applies across all marketing channels, with slight variations on the specific metrics. For example, while brand mentions are tracked for social SOV, link clicks determine organic search SOV. By tracking SOV, brand managers can identify areas where their brand is falling behind competitors and take steps to improve their brand’s visibility. For instance, if a brand has low SOV on social media, it can increase its social media activity to improve its visibility. Overall, SOV is a powerful metric that provides insights into a brand’s visibility and helps brand managers make data-driven decisions to improve their brand’s performance. Related Posts: Share of voice: What is it and how to increase yours | Mention Sentiment Sentiment is one of the most important KPIs every brand manager should track. Sentiment refers to a brand’s overall tone and perception among its target audience. It is essential because it can directly impact customer behavior, including their likelihood to purchase, recommend, or engage with a brand. Several ways to measure sentiment include manual analysis of customer feedback, social media monitoring, and sentiment analysis tools that use natural language processing (NLP) to automatically analyze and categorize customer feedback. Tracking sentiment over time allows brand managers to identify trends, areas for improvement, and potential crises before they escalate. One way to measure sentiment is through Net Promoter Score (NPS), a customer loyalty and satisfaction metric. NPS asks customers to rate their likelihood of recommending a brand to a friend or colleague on a scale of 0 to 10. Customers who rate a brand 9 or 10 are considered promoters, while those who rate a brand 0 to 6 are considered detractors. The NPS score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. Another way to measure sentiment is through social media monitoring. By monitoring social media channels for brand mentions and analyzing the sentiment of those mentions, brand managers can gain valuable insights into how their brand is perceived online. Social media monitoring tools can also help identify potential crises before they escalate by alerting brand managers to negative mentions or spikes in activity. Sentiment is a critical KPI for brand managers to track because it can directly impact customer behavior and brand reputation. Related Posts: Sentiment Analysis: Understanding Perception for Better Marketing Reach One of the most critical KPIs for brand managers to track is reach. Reach measures the number of people exposed to a brand’s message or content. It is a critical metric because it helps brand managers understand the size of their potential audience and how many people are engaging with their brand. Reach can be measured using several methods, including social media followers, website traffic, email subscribers, and advertising impressions. By tracking these metrics, brand managers can determine which channels are most effective at reaching their target audience and adjust their marketing strategy accordingly. For example, suppose a brand has many social media followers but low website traffic. In that case, it may need to improve its website’s user experience or create more compelling calls to action. On the other hand, if a brand’s email campaigns have a high open rate but a low click-through rate, they may need to improve the relevance and personalization of their content. Overall, tracking reach is essential for brand managers to understand how many people are exposed to their brand and how effective their marketing efforts are at reaching their target audience. Using a combination of metrics and channels, brand managers can optimize their reach and drive more engagement with their brand. Track all your essential KPIs with Mention Mention reports comprehensively view branding campaign effectiveness by combining qualitative and quantitative data. Digging into the complex landscape of public perception through sentiment analysis offers brand managers invaluable insights into the impact of their campaigns on public opinion. This enables proactive adjustments to messaging and strategy, ensuring alignment with audience expectations and values. Moreover, our reports serve as a crucial tool in crisis management, allowing brand managers to identify and address communication crises swiftly. In addition to qualitative analysis, we meticulously measure key performance indicators such as earned media, reach, and impact by country. These metrics offer insights into campaign resonance across markets, identifying areas of strength and opportunities for enhancement. By pinpointing rewarding channels and highlighting areas of improvement, we empower brand managers to allocate resources wisely and maximize impact. With real-time data and actionable insights, brand managers can confidently navigate turbulent waters, safeguarding brand reputation and fostering trust. Raïssa Sidio Raïssa is a Product Marketing Manager at Mention, enabling her to combine her passion for marketing with her love of digital. When she's not exploring new ways to bring products to market, she enjoys indulging in her favorite treats like chocolate, travel, and asian food, as well as watching her favorite sports. Product Manager @Mention