KPIs - Key Performance Indicators for digital content creators | Blog

You can't manage what you don't measure.

Peter Drucker, business management expert

As a digital content creator and entrepreneur, measuring the success of your efforts is crucial.

That's where KPIs—Key Performance Indicators—come in. These metrics are essential for evaluating your content's performance and identifying areas for improvement.

Whether you're selling a course, downloadable files, running a "buy-me-a-coffee" page, writing a blog, or offering any other digital content, KPIs help you stay aligned with your goals—even if you're still in the process of building your audience.

What is a KPI?

A key performance indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that indicates how effectively you're achieving your objectives. For digital content creators, KPIs could include metrics such as new sign-ups, revenue, or social media engagement levels. Tracking these metrics enables data-driven decisions that improve your content strategy.

Leading vs. lagging KPIs

When choosing KPIs, it's important to understand the difference between leading and lagging indicators.

Leading KPIs are predictive. They help forecast future success and allow corrective actions in advance. For example, the number of logged-in visitors to your website can predict future sales as it indicates interest.
Lagging KPIs are backward-looking, outcome-based metrics that reflect past performance. For instance, revenue is a lagging KPI—it shows how much money you've made but doesn't help predict future sales.

To simplify, think of driving: the total number of miles you've driven is a lagging KPI, as it reflects what you've already accomplished. On the other hand, the number of miles remaining until you run out of fuel or battery charge is a leading KPI, as it helps you anticipate future outcomes. As a driver, your focus would naturally be on the latter to ensure you don't end up stranded in the middle of the road!

But both types of KPIs are crucial for a comprehensive view of your performance. Leading KPIs allow early strategy adjustments, while lagging KPIs help assess outcomes and identify what worked, what didn't, and why.

Examples of leading and lagging KPIs

Here are some examples of leading and lagging KPIs to help track your progress:

Leading KPIs

KPI	Description
New Sign-Ups	The number of people subscribing to your website, waiting list, or newsletter, signaling future engagement.
Free Downloads	The number of users downloading your freebies, predicting potential future sales.
Social Shares	The frequency of content shares on social media, indicating new audience reach.
Page Visits	Visits to your landing page or "link-in-bio," which can forecast upcoming sales.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)	The percentage of clicks on links in your bio, emails, or blogs, indicating purchase interest.

Lagging KPIs

KPI	Description
Revenue	The total amount earned, reflecting past sales performance.
Course Enrollments	The number of enrollments, showing the effectiveness of past marketing efforts.
Customer Retention Rate	The percentage of repeat customers, reflecting loyalty based on past performance.
Conversion Rate	The percentage of visitors completing a desired action (e.g., purchase, signup).
Net Promoter Score (NPS)	A measure of customer satisfaction and likelihood of recommending your content.

Tips for digital content creators: How to select and track KPIs

We suggest identifying three actionable KPIs aligned with your content goals:

Top of the funnel: Metrics related to awareness, such as impressions, CTR, or unique visitors.
Mid of the funnel: Metrics related to consideration, like sign-ups to your newsletter, website, or waiting list.
Bottom of the funnel: Metrics related to revenue, including conversion rates, average order value (AOV), or cross-sells.

If you’d like to learn more about these terms, check out this blog post.

7 steps to tracking your goals and performance

1. Define your business goals

Identify your objectives—grow your audience, increase sales, or boost engagement. KPIs should align directly with these goals. For example, if you want to increase sales, track leading metrics like new visitors and sign-ups.

2. Focus on engagement metrics

Engagement often reflects content quality. Useful KPIs include:

Impressions, likes, comments, and shares on social media
Visitors and sign-ups on your digital content pages
Click-through rates (CTR) from social media, emails, or blogs

3. Track conversion rates

Conversion rates measure how many people take desired actions (e.g., purchases, sign-ups). Useful KPIs:

Sales funnel conversion rates
Lead-to-customer conversion rates

4. Monitor traffic and reach

Understand your audience size with traffic metrics such as:

Website or landing page visits
Unique visitors
Referral sources (organic search, paid ads, social media)

5. Customer retention metrics

For paid content or subscriptions, customer retention is critical. It can be both:

A leading KPI: Subscription renewals or initial engagement predict retention.
A lagging KPI: Past retention rates reflect the success of prior strategies.

6. Set benchmarks and use historical data

Compare current metrics to past performance to identify trends and areas for improvement.

7. Leverage Sherpo’s tools

Use Sherpo’s AI-powered features to analyze your KPIs, such as insights on past sales and customer feedback or reviews. Sherpo’s customer journey tools help track behavior, while freebies can boost lead generation.

Conclusion

KPIs are essential for digital content creators who want to optimize their strategies, grow their audience, and achieve their business goals.

By selecting the right KPIs, tracking them consistently, and using actionable insights, you can make smarter decisions and unlock your full potential. Start tracking your KPIs today and try Sherpo to distribute freebies, gather leads, or monetize your audience with digital products!