PROJECT STAGE 4 : KPI DEVELOPMENT & CAMPAIGN DASHBOARD DESIGN 1 UAB Collat School of Business Digital Marketing Review Sarah L. Minor Collat School of Business, University of Alabama at Birmingham MBA 657 - QL: Special Topics in Digital Marketing Dr. Parker J. Woodroof April 30 , 2025 PROJECT STAGE 4 : KPI DEVELOPMENT & CAMPAIGN DASHBOARD DESIGN 2 KPI Development KPI 1: Website Traffic Growth Percentage One of the key metrics I will track for this campaign is the website traffic growth percentage. This KPI helps measure how successful we are at getting people to visit our campaign landing page. It is a straightforward way to see if our messaging is grabbi ng attention and leading people to take action by clicking through to the site. Why does this matter? Because traffic is one of the first signals of awareness. If people are not showing up to the site, we know something is not connecting — either our content is not compelling enough, or we are not reaching the right audience. By keeping a close eye on this metric, we can pivot if needed and focus on what is working. To calculate it, I will compare the number of unique site visitors from this period to the last one using Google Analytics or a similar platform. The formula looks like this: (Current Period Visitors – Previous Period Visitors) / Previous Period Visitors x 100 For this campaign, my goal is to boost traffic by at least 25% within the first three months. One challenge I anticipate is that traffic can sometimes give a false sense of success — if people are visiting but not taking further action, we will need to dig d eeper and reassess. This KPI aligns with best practices in digital marketing, where consistent monitoring of traffic trends is essential for optimizing performance (Chaffey & Ellis - Chadwick, 2019). KPI 2: Social Media Engagement Rate Another essential KPI for this campaign is the social media engagement rate. This one tells us how much people are interacting with our content — are they liking, sharing, commenting, saving, or clicking? Engagement is the heartbeat of social media success, and it gives us direct PROJECT STAGE 4 : KPI DEVELOPMENT & CAMPAIGN DASHBOARD DESIGN 3 feedback on what is resonating. High engagement means our content is not just being seen — it is being felt. It indicates that the audience finds our messaging relevant, relatable, or valuable. In today’s social landscape, engagement often matters more than raw follower counts. To measure this, I will take the total number of engagement and divide it by the total reach or impressions, then multiply by 100. The formula looks like this: (Total Engagements / Total Reach) x 100 Our target is to maintain at least a 5% engagement rate across our platforms. That might sound modest, but in higher education marketing, it is a solid benchmark (Digital Marketing Institute, 2023). Some of the hurdles here include dealing with algorithm c hanges and the fact that engagement varies widely by platform. If we notice a dip, it may mean our content strategy needs tweaking — either in visuals, tone, or timing. KPI 3: Event Registration Numbers Lastly, I will track even registration numbers for things like open houses, webinars, or virtual info sessions. This KPI is all about action — it tells us whether our campaign is inspiring people to take that next step and show up. Registrations are more tha n just numbers — they reflect genuine interest. They also give us a tangible way to connect with potential students or supporters in a more meaningful, face - to - face (or screen - to - screen) way. If we are seeing strong registration numbers, it likely means our messaging is working and people are curious to learn more. Measurement is simple here: I will track the number of confirmed registrations through Eventbrite, Zoom, or university - hosted forms (Qualtrics, etc.). For this campaign, the goal is 150 registrants per event, with a 50% attendance rate. One possible obstac le is that life happens — PROJECT STAGE 4 : KPI DEVELOPMENT & CAMPAIGN DASHBOARD DESIGN 4 people register and forget, or something comes up. So, part of the strategy will be sending reminders and maybe offering incentives to attend. Event - based KPIs like this are a common and effective way to assess campaign engagement in educational marketing (Hanover Research, 2021). Campaign Dashboard Design Explanation To bring our KPIs to life and make them easier to monitor and act on, I designed a visual dashboard that tracks the three key metrics for our Collat School of Business campaign: website traffic growth, social media engagement rate, and event registration n umbers. The dashboard serves as a real - time pulse check on campaign performance, giving the marketing team a quick way to spot trends, successes, and areas that may need improvement. Each KPI is visualized with clear, intuitive charts — like a line graph showing traffic growth over time and bar charts tracking engagement rates and event sign - ups against goals. Status indicators ( , , ) make it easy to see at a glance where we’re on track and where we might need to pivot. Each section also includes a notes field to capture insights, trends, and recommended next steps based on the latest data. The Collat Digital Pulse Dashboard was built using Vite, TypeScript, React, shadcn - ui, and Tailwind CSS. From the start, it was designed with flexibility, accessibility, and future growth in mind. Users can easily toggle between light and dark modes, makin g the dashboard adaptable to different working environments and personal preferences. Hosting the dashboard on GitHub allows Collat’s marketing team to collaborate seamlessly, track all updates and edits, and maintain a clean version history. As campaign d ata evolves, the team can update the dashboard regularly through pull requests, keeping the project organized and transparent. Future phases will PROJECT STAGE 4 : KPI DEVELOPMENT & CAMPAIGN DASHBOARD DESIGN 5 include adding API integrations — such as connecting to Google Analytics, Meta’s Graph API, and Eventbrite — to automate data updates and eliminate manual entry. In day - to - day use, the dashboard will serve as a live performance snapshot during weekly marketing meetings and campaign reviews. It allows the team to quickly diagnose what’s working, spot early warning signs, and make informed, strategic adjustments in r eal time. Designed to be both practical now and powerful later, the GitHub - based dashboard positions Collat’s marketing team to work smarter, move faster, and stay fully data - driven throughout the campaign. See Figure 1. PROJECT STAGE 4 : KPI DEVELOPMENT & CAMPAIGN DASHBOARD DESIGN 6 Figure 1 Collat Digital Pulse KPI Dashboard https://pulse - point - visuals - hub.lovable.app/ PROJECT STAGE 4 : KPI DEVELOPMENT & CAMPAIGN DASHBOARD DESIGN 7 References Chaffey, D., & Ellis - Chadwick, F. (2019). Digital marketing (7th ed.). Pearson Education Limited. Digital Marketing Institute. (2023). What is a good engagement rate on social media? Retrieved from https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com Hanover Research (2021). Marketing strategies for higher education: Trends and insights. Retrieved from https://www.hanoverresearch.com