What is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI)?

Key performance indicators(KPIs) are indicators that can be used to determine the performance of activities in companies. Which KPIs are used to classify the success or failure of a performance depends on the respective measure, its objectives and the company itself.

Key performance indicators can be used to obtain information, analyze workflows and monitor all processes in a company. This makes activities comprehensible and tangible in figures. Through consistent and continuous evaluation of measures, the processes involved can also be adapted or optimized accordingly.

The term KPI is often confused with the term key performance indicator or metric. A KPI can be a metric, but a metric is not always the same as a KPI. Put simply, the key performance indicator is not a directly measurable value, but merely indicates the degree to which certain objectives have been met. Therefore, measurable goals must be formulated for the determination of KPIs. For example, the metric "number of clicks" alone would not provide any information about the success of a campaign.

There are many different KPIs that differ from area to area. For example, different KPIs are used for accounting in a company than for online marketing or development. The KPIs therefore depend on the type of work on the one hand, but also on the platform. For example, the same KPI may have a different meaning on Facebook than on LinkedIn. These performance indicators can therefore be determined both within platforms and with the help of analysis tools such as Google Analytics or SISTRIX.