We work with a Tulsa-based electric utility company to help their customers use less energy. They offer rebates, tips and online tools so customers can understand how their home or office uses energy and what changes they can make to manage their monthly use.

For their business specifically, here are the factors we look at to measure effectiveness:

• Volume and quality of inbound inquiries: We monitor the number of residential and business customers who call or email about energy-saving opportunities each month. We look at applications submitted for rebate services, as well as the number of customers who contact a participating service provider in their area about energy-saving updates to their home or office. Of those inbound inquiries, how many actually follow through to take advantage of what the company offers?

• Use of online tools: We can see not only the number of customers who visit the website pages containing online tools but also profiles they’ve set up and energy-saving projects they’re interested in. Giving customers a way to personalize, save and revisit their energy-saving plans online offers them great convenience and us great insight about how to communicate with them further.

• Engagement with content: What pages on the utility’s website are people reading most often? Are they viewing multiple pages on each visit and then “converting” – taking actions we’ve outlined for them to move them further along in the process? We look at open rates of the monthly newsletter distributed to residential customers, as well as monitor what articles people read most to adapt future content to what they like.

• Energy saved: At the end of the day, this is what matters most. If all our communication with customers doesn’t translate into them using less energy, we’re not doing our job. So, we look regularly at kW and kWh saved by customers using the available rebates, implementing tips or buying energy-efficient light bulbs the utility discounts.

We track all of these key performance indicators month over month, so we can identify spikes in activity that correspond with marketing initiatives – and do more of what’s producing results.

The key performance indicators that are important to measure vary for each industry, and really for every company. But regardless of your industry, you need to be paying attention to more than just website traffic.