Marketing Metrics to Review Before Q3 Begins
The halfway mark of the year is a critical checkpoint for any marketing team. Before diving into Q3, it’s time to take a step back, look at the numbers, and assess what’s working, what’s not, and where you need to pivot. Metrics aren’t just vanity stats, they tell a story. And that story determines how you spend your time, team energy, and budget for the next half of the year.
Let’s break down the key marketing metrics you should be reviewing right now.
1. Campaign Performance KPIs: What Actually Drove Results?
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Before planning new campaigns, go back and evaluate past ones. Whether it’s a product launch, email drip, or influencer activation, check these:
Conversion Rate: Did your campaign inspire action? Whether it’s purchases, signups, downloads, or bookings—track what percentage of people moved from interest to intent.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): High impressions but low clicks? That’s a sign your message or creativity may need work.
Cost per Lead (CPL) or Cost per Acquisition (CPA): Are you getting value for your spend, or bleeding budget?
Look for patterns; certain creatives, channels, or offers might be driving higher returns.
2. Website & Landing Page Analytics
Your website is your digital storefront. It needs to do more than look good.
Bounce Rate: Are people leaving your site too quickly? High bounce rates may signal poor UX, slow load time, or irrelevant landing pages.
Average Session Duration & Pages Per Visit: These give insight into how engaging your site is.
Traffic Sources: Where are your visitors coming from—organic search, social, email, or paid campaigns? This shows you where to double down.
Also check mobile vs. desktop performance—are you optimizing correctly for how people browse?
3. Social Media Engagement Metrics
More followers don't mean more impact. Review:
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Engagement Rate: A high follower count with low engagement is a red flag.
Saves, Shares & Comments: These metrics reflect deeper interest than likes alone.
Follower Growth Rate: Are you attracting the right kind of audience, or just inflating numbers?
Use this time to audit what kind of content performed best—was it storytelling posts, product carousels, reels, or live sessions?
4. Email Marketing Metrics
If email is part of your channel mix, look beyond open rates:
Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR): This shows how compelling your email content is after it’s opened.
Unsubscribe Rate: A spike here can mean messaging fatigue or poor targeting.
List Growth: Are you nurturing and expanding your audience list consistently?
Also segment your results by audience type—existing customers, leads, or cold contacts—and see who responds best.
5. SEO & Content Health
Content is a long game, but Q2 performance can guide your Q3 content planning.
Top Performing Content: What blog posts, videos, or guides drove the most organic traffic or conversions?
Keyword Rankings: Are you ranking better for your target keywords? Any drops worth flagging?
Backlinks and Referral Traffic: Are others citing your content and linking back?
These tell you how well your content is building authority and where you can create more value.
6. Paid Media ROI
If you’ve been running Google Ads, Meta ads, or influencer partnerships:
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): This is your golden metric. What did you actually make back?
Frequency & Ad Fatigue: Are your ads overexposed? You may need creative refreshes.
A/B Test Performance: What variables (copy, creatives, audiences) gave you the most lift?
This helps refine your media buying strategy for Q3, with less guesswork.
7. Sales & Marketing Alignment Metrics
Don’t review marketing in a silo. Meet with your sales team to ask:
Which leads are converting?
Which leads aren’t qualified and why?
What messaging is resonating in conversations?
You can also review lead velocity rate and marketing-sourced pipeline to see how much momentum marketing is truly generating.
Make Data-Driven, Not Gut-Driven Moves
This isn’t just about measuring for measurement’s sake. Reviewing these metrics helps you make smarter creative decisions, spend more efficiently, and build campaigns that don’t just look good—they work.
As you head into Q3, let data be your GPS—not a rearview mirror.
Next Step: Run Your Mid-Year Marketing Audit
Need help pulling your numbers together or turning insights into action? Our team at Aura Digital Media can help you do a performance deep-dive and build a refreshed roadmap for Q3.
