Episode 5: Marketing goals and KPIs
Turning a vague “grow sales” into clear, measurable goals, and choosing the right numbers (KPIs).
If you drive without entering a destination in the GPS, you’ll run out of fuel and still get nowhere.
The goal is the destination. The KPI is the meter that tells you whether you’re on the right road.
What is a goal and an objective?
“I want more sales” is a wish, not a goal. A goal is clear, measurable and time-bound.
Vague
“I want to grow on Instagram.”
Clear
“Grow monthly orders from Instagram from 25 to 60 in 90 days, within a ₹15,000/month budget.”
SMART goals
| Letter | Meaning | StyleStreet |
|---|---|---|
| Specific | What exactly do you want? | Grow online orders |
| Measurable | In numbers | 25 → 60 orders/month |
| Achievable | Possible with this budget and team? | Yes, stock and team can handle it |
| Relevant | Does it matter to the business? | Directly grows revenue |
| Time-bound | By when? | 90 days (Jan–Mar) |
How do you check that 25 to 60 orders is achievable?
Work backwards. For 60 orders, if 30% of DMs become orders, you need ~200 DMs. Right now 80 come in. Can ₹15,000 of ads and better content bring 120 extra DMs? If one DM costs ~₹60–80, yes, it’s possible. This reverse calculation makes the goal realistic.
What is a KPI?
The important number that tells you whether you’re making progress towards the goal.
Not every number is a KPI. Likes are a number, but if the goal is sales, likes are not key.
Think of cricket: total runs (goal), run rate (KPI), and ball speed (just a metric).
KPIs by funnel stage
| Stage | What to measure | Example KPI |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | How many people you reached | Reach, impressions, new followers |
| Engagement | How much interest | Saves, shares, engagement rate |
| Leads | How many enquiries | DMs, WhatsApp chats, cost per lead |
| Sales | How much you earned | Orders, revenue, conversion rate, ROAS |
| Retention | How many came back | Repeat purchase rate |
Essential formulas (simple maths)
| Metric | Formula | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Engagement rate | (Likes+comments+saves+shares) ÷ reach × 100 | 240 ÷ 8,000 × 100 = 3% |
| Conversion rate | Orders ÷ leads × 100 | 25 ÷ 80 × 100 = 31% |
| Cost per lead | Ad spend ÷ leads | ₹6,000 ÷ 90 = ₹67 |
| Average order value | Revenue ÷ orders | ₹24,000 ÷ 25 = ₹960 |
| ROAS | Revenue from ads ÷ ad spend | ₹30,000 ÷ ₹10,000 = 3x |
Don’t panic. All of this comes back in detail in Stage 7.
Avoid vanity metrics
Vanity metrics are numbers that look good but don’t grow the business.
Vanity
Followers, likes, views (on their own)
Actionable
DMs, orders, conversion rate, revenue, repeat customers
Views aren’t useless. But always connect views to the next step: “How many profile visits and DMs came from 50,000 views?”
StyleStreet’s real problem
Neha counted likes every day
One Reel got 1,200 likes and Neha was thrilled. But that week only 5 orders came in. Another simple post got 90 likes, but 14 DMs and 6 orders.
By likes, the first post was the winner. By business, it was the second. Without the right KPI, you’d double down on the wrong content.
Practical example: StyleStreet’s goal tree
| KPI | Now | Target (90 days) |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly reach | 40,000 | 1,50,000 |
| DMs / leads | 80 | 200 |
| Lead → order conversion | 31% | 30–35% |
| Orders | 25 | 60 |
| Reply time | 4–24 hrs | < 1 hr |
Now Neha looks at just 5 numbers every week, and immediately knows where things are stuck.
Your mission: Build a goal sheet
Prepare a 1-page goal sheet for StyleStreet:
- Write one SMART goal (check S, M, A, R, T separately)
- Use reverse calculation to get the leads and reach targets
- Choose 1 KPI for each funnel stage
- Make a table of current numbers and target numbers
- List 3 vanity metrics you won’t highlight in reports
- Fix a day and time for the weekly review
Quiz
-
Which of these is a SMART goal?
- A. Make the brand famous
- B. More sales
- C. Grow monthly orders from 25 to 60 in 90 days
- D. Grow on Instagram
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Grow monthly orders from 25 to 60 in 90 days
It’s specific, measurable and time-bound.
-
The goal is sales. Which KPI matters least?
- A. Conversion rate
- B. Likes
- C. Orders
- D. Cost per lead
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Likes
Likes are a vanity metric when the goal is sales.
-
₹6,000 of ads brought 90 leads. Cost per lead?
- A. ₹15
- B. ₹67
- C. ₹540
- D. ₹90
Show answer
Correct answer: B. ₹67
₹6,000 ÷ 90 = ₹66.67 ≈ ₹67.
-
₹10,000 of ad spend brought ₹30,000 revenue. ROAS?
- A. 0.3x
- B. 3x
- C. 30x
- D. ₹20,000
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 3x
ROAS = revenue ÷ ad spend = 3x.
Output for the client project
Your project file now has a Goals & KPI Sheet:
- SMART goal: 25 → 60 orders/month in 90 days
- Goal tree: reach → profile visits → leads → orders
- 5 weekly KPIs: reach, DMs, conversion rate, orders, reply time
- Review: every Monday, 15 min
Golden rule: What isn’t measured isn’t improved. But measure the wrong thing and you’ll improve the wrong thing.