Product Marketing Metrics: The KPIs You Need to Know

Nearly all product marketers have a sense of fear when it comes to product marketing metrics. Either the data feels overwhelming, or the metrics don’t immediately connect to clear actions. 

But this shouldn’t be the case. When you know what to measure and why, metrics become powerful tools for growth and alignment.

Over 100 years ago, John Wanamaker said the famous line: “Half the money I spend on marketing is wasted—the problem is I don’t know which half.” The sentiment remains true for many businesses even today. The solution lies in tracking the right KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and using them to bridge the gap between efforts and outcomes.

In this guide, we’ll break down the essential product marketing metrics you need to know. 

What Is a Product Marketing Metric/KPI?

A product marketing metric is a quantifiable measure used to track and assess the success or progress of a specific process or activity. For product marketers, these metrics provide insights into:

• how their product is performing,
• how well marketing strategies are working,
• and where improvements are needed.

Metrics are the broader set of data points that provide a snapshot of performance. In contrast, KPIs are a subset of metrics that directly align with your business objectives. For example, “website traffic” is a metric, but “conversion rate” might be a KPI tied to a specific goal of increasing sign-ups.

Why Are Product Marketing Metrics Important?

Product marketers can’t fix what they don’t know is broken. Many rely on guesswork instead of data, leaving their marketing strategies without a solid foundation. 

Product marketing metrics replace assumptions with clarity—a reliable way to understand what’s working and what isn’t.

As Ian Brodie aptly says, “Without the right marketing metrics, you are essentially shooting in the dark.  The only way to know if things are working for you or not is those metrics.” 

They provide an evidence-based approach to managing marketing strategies you can consistently rely on.

Key Product Marketing Metrics to Track

Each product marketing metric tells a specific story about how your product is performing in the market. The metrics can be divided into:

Awareness Metrics

Awareness metrics evaluate how effectively your product gains visibility among your target audience. They can tell a lot about how well your marketing efforts are turning into brand recognition.

Here are some examples:

• Brand impressions
• Website traffic
• Social media reach

Tools to Measure: Google Analytics, AHREFs, Brandwatch, Hootsuite, Facebook Ads Manager, etc.

Engagement Metrics

Engagement metrics measure how actively your audience interacts with your marketing efforts. They reveal how well your content and campaigns resonate with your target audience.

• Email open rates
• Click-through rates
• Content downloads
• Time spent on page
• Social media engagement (likes, comments, shares)

Tools to Measure: Google Analytics, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Buffer, etc.

Conversion Metrics

Conversion metrics focus on tracking the effectiveness of your efforts in turning prospects into customers. These metrics are crucial for understanding how well your sales funnel is performing.

Here are some examples:

• Lead-to-customer conversion rate
• Trial-to-paid conversions

Tools to Measure: Google Analytics, Unbounce, Optimizely, Salesforce, Marketo, etc.

Retention Metrics

Customer retention metrics highlight how well you are maintaining your existing customer base. These metrics are especially critical because loyal customers are often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones.

Here are some examples:

• Customer lifetime value (CLV)
• Customer churn rate
• Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Tools to Measure: Google Analytics, ProfitWell, Baremetrics, Qualtrics, Zendesk, HubSpot Service Hub, etc.

Revenue Metrics

Any product marketing strategy is just incomplete without talking about revenue. Revenue metrics evaluate the financial success of your product marketing efforts. These metrics directly tie your marketing efforts to the company’s overall financial performance.

Here are some examples:

• Revenue growth
• Return on investment (ROI)
• Average revenue per user (ARPU)
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC) to CLV ratio

Tools to Measure: Baremetrics, QuickBooks, Salesforce, Tableau, etc.

How to Set KPIs for Product Marketing Success

Now that you have the relevant metrics, it’s time to set your KPIs for the next marketing campaign so that you can achieve your goals.

Align Product Marketing KPIs with Business Objectives

Only focus on KPIs that are good for your business (in the short and long run). 

What is the specific business objective this KPI supports? What impact will this KPI have on the overall strategy? This alignment will make your marketing efforts more purposeful and measurable.

Prioritize Actionable Metrics Over Vanity Metrics

Vanity metrics are numbers that might look impressive but don’t provide real insights or drive decision-making. They often inflate performance but don’t tell the whole story or lead to actionable insights.

For example, having 100,000 website visitors might seem like a big win, but if none convert into paying customers, that traffic doesn’t help your business grow. 

Instead, focus on actionable metrics—data that directly influences your strategy and helps you make informed decisions. These could include conversion rates, customer acquisition costs (CAC), or customer lifetime value (CLV).

Limit the Number of Metrics Tracked

More metrics to track = more noise and less clarity. Just like not every marketing channel is your friend, not every metric is worth tracking for your business. 

Trying to monitor too many metrics can overwhelm your team and dilute your focus, making it harder to act on the insights that truly matter.

Integrate Contextual Relevance

Metrics without context can mislead you. Seasonality, market trends, or even short-term external factors can skew results and lead to misinterpretation. For example, a spike in website traffic might look like a win, but if it’s due to a viral post unrelated to your product, it doesn’t reflect actual interest or long-term value.

Always analyze metrics within the broader context of your business environment. Ask questions like: Why did this number change? What external factors could have influenced it?

Assess Customer Engagement Depth

If customers aren’t exploring most of your product’s functionalities, surface-level engagement metrics can give you a false sense of success.

Go beyond the basics by analyzing how deeply customers interact with your product. Here are some key metrics to measure customer engagement depth:

• Feature adoption rate
• Frequency of use
• Time spent on product
• Advanced feature engagement
• Workflow integration

Common Pitfalls in Measuring Product Marketing Metrics

Even the best metrics can fail to deliver value if they’re not measured or interpreted correctly. Product and sales teams should avoid these pitfalls to ensure your metrics drive meaningful outcomes.

Measuring Activity Instead of Results

Tracking your own activity, like the number of emails sent or posts published, may seem productive but doesn’t always reflect meaningful outcomes. 

The goal is to measure results-driven metrics like engagement, conversion rates, or revenue generated to truly understand the effectiveness of your efforts.

Confusing Correlation with Causation

Just because two metrics move together doesn’t mean one causes the other. For example, an increase in website traffic alongside revenue growth might suggest a connection, but it could be coincidental or influenced by a third factor. Always dig deeper to uncover the true cause-and-effect relationships.

Neglecting the Customer Journey

Isolated metrics without considering the customer journey create blind spots. Metrics should be tied to specific stages of the marketing funnel:

• Awareness
• Engagement
• Conversion
• Retention

Infrequent Analysis and Optimization

Metrics aren’t “set it and forget it.” Regular analysis is essential to understand trends, identify issues, and refine strategies. If product marketing teams review metrics only at the end of a campaign, they miss opportunities for mid-course corrections that could improve outcomes.

Unrealistic Expectations

Growth takes time, and goals must reflect this reality. A product marketing agency can help by providing expert guidance, realistic goal-setting, and actionable strategies for sustained success.

Conclusion

Tracking all these product marketing metrics while running your business can feel like a lot to handle. It’s tough to find the time and focus to manage everything without dropping the ball somewhere.

That’s where a professional product marketing agency like Aventi can make a difference. We’ve been delivering strategic product marketing solutions for B2B companies. Our work speaks for itself—we deliver measurable results and real ROI for our clients.

Let us do the heavy lifting so you can stay focused on growing your business. Contact Aventi today!