When leading a marketing team, you have a lot of decisions to make.

From bringing on new hires to making the final call on design and copy decisions, a marketing director will plot a course for your marketing and also set priorities for your marketing efforts.

There are a ton of individual decisions you need to make when you’re determining your marketing strategy, but before you can find success with any of them, you need to put yourself in a position for success.

And that means setting internal priorities. Which kinds of channels will you use? Which segments do you prioritize? Which marketing metrics matter to your team?

If that last one surprises you, it shouldn’t.

You see, there’s a common assumption that just because a marketing metric exists that your organization needs to focus on it. That kind of thinking is broad and often counterproductive to doing your best work where you need to.

Today, we’re going to help you start to determine which marketing metrics actually matter to you and your team. We’ll explore why it’s important to choose metrics that are relevant to your organization, how to separate buzzwords from meaningful terminology, and how to implement your new approach moving forward.

Choosing What Is Relevant to Your Organization

Your marketing mix depends, in large part, on your industry and customer base.

So, while certain marketing channels and metrics may be more universal than others, a specific channel’s popularity doesn’t mean you need to spend your time and resources on it.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you’re a financial services firm that mostly operates in the B2B sector.

While major social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter can be valuable to just about every business, should they be your first marketing priority? Probably not! So is it a wise marketing spend to build your community up on those sites?

On the other hand, LinkedIn is inherently more geared toward professionals, so building your followership could actually bring in leads and new business. In this case, using the metric of Facebook or Twitter followers is the wrong choice for your company’s goals!

Separating Buzzwords from Meaningful Information

In today’s marketing environment, it’s easy to get caught up—and lost—in the hype.

When you’re determining which marketing metrics are important to your organization, it’s really important not to get swept up in the hot, new buzzwords that can distract you from getting the most out of your marketing decisions.

Quick example:

Your company is interested in testing out an influencer marketing campaign to reach new clients through social media.

You may have outlined your budget and your goals for your campaign. You know what messaging you’ll use and how you plan to structure a partnership. Now you must simply find the right influencer to bring your campaign to life.

If you’re working with a talent management agency, you may run into terms like “nanoinfluencer.” However, if you look closely at the term, you’ll find it’s relatively meaningless—and that there are many accounts out there who meet the nanoinfluencer threshold but will bring your brand exactly zero benefit!

Plot a Course and Stay the Course

It’s very easy to get bogged down in the swirl of terms, platforms, and quickly evolving media landscape. Determining which marketing metrics are best to follow for your organization’s long-term goals is only the first step.

Once you’ve outlined which platforms, numbers, and messages to prioritize, you’ve only plotted the course of your marketing strategy. But you can rest easy knowing that when you cater these decisions to your company, you’ll be headed in the right direction.