Are you chasing volume over value? Alternative KPIs to measure success

There’s a lot of noise out there: Business gurus promising to 10X your turnover, agencies selling vanity metrics like ‘impressions’… don’t get me wrong, it feels good to say your traffic is up 45% or your Instagram reach is growing month by month… but so what?

Are these figures actually making an impact on your business?

What does success really look like?

Turnover is not the same as success. You can have record-breaking turnover and still be losing money. You can be racking up clicks and followers but without a single paying client in sight.

The problem is that many small businesses and marketers are measuring what’s right in front of them, not what’s meaningful. So what if we stopped chasing numbers for numbers' sake and started tracking what actually matters?

A smarter way to think about KPIs

In my mind, you can split KPIs into two camps:

1. Traditional KPIs

This includes metrics like traffic, bounce rates, number of followers and impressions etc. These are often easy to measure and great for quick wins - but they don’t always tell the full story.

Pros:

• These stats are readily available and easy to track

• They can provide early signals of interest

Cons:

• They’re often disconnected from actual business results

• They can rapidly become nothing more than vanity metrics

2. Meaningful metrics

This might include stats like client retention %, number conversions, the life-time-value of a customer (LTV), a quality score for each of your leads etc. These take more thought - but they give a clearer picture of how healthy your business really is.

Pros:

• These alternative KPIs are more closely linked to business goals

• They reflect actual value

Cons:

• They’re harder to track and tougher to calculate

• They require more complex systems or conversations

Here’s a new framework to consider:

1. Sustainability - Are you building something that supports you financially and emotionally, long-term?

2. Relevance - Are your efforts aligned with what your audience actually wants and needs?

3. Resonance - Are people responding in a way that leads to real conversation, not just passive views or likes?

4. Integrity - Are you measuring things that match your values, not just what’s trendy?

5. Impact - Are you doing work that leaves a positive mark on your clients, community, or the planet?

Alternative KPIs that measure the success of your business

Instead of the basics, look at what really defines success for your business. Is it creating margin? perhaps it's sustainability, opportunity or impact? 

Here’s a quick checklist of KPIs that could tell you the truth about how your business is doing:

• Client lifetime value (LTV) & Retention rate: Are you keeping the right clients? And how much revenue does a typical client bring in over time?

• Cost per lead: Are you paying more to acquire clients than they’re worth?

• Conversion rate: Is your traffic turning into business?

• Client satisfaction/referrals: Do people come back or refer others?

• Profit margin: After all your effort, are you making money?

• Happiness (yours and your team’s): Are you building a business you actually enjoy running?

• Number of worthwhile conversations: Are you spending time on relationships that matter?

• Impact on society and the environment: Is your business making a positive contribution beyond just profit?

Try this: a simple KPI reset

Here's a quick 5-step KPI sanity check for your next planning session:

1. List your current KPIs

2. Ask: what business goal does this support?

3. Cross out anything that just makes you feel good and isn’t really adding much value otherwise

4. Add at least one KPI related to client experience or retention

5. Review monthly

KPIs should be useful, not just impressive

You don’t need a dashboard full of noise - you need a compass. Something that points you toward the business you want to run.

Next time you review your metrics, ask yourself: does this measure help me build the kind of business I actually want? Or is it just adding to the noise?

You don’t need more numbers. You need the right ones.