KPI
Key Performance Indicator — a measurable value demonstrating how effectively an objective is being achieved. Good KPIs are specific, measurable, and tied to business outcomes. Bad KPIs are vanity metrics that feel good but don't drive decisions.
Related Articles
More Strategy Terms
A/B Testing
A controlled experiment comparing two versions of a page or element to determine which performs better. Requires statistical significance (typically 95% confidence) before drawing conclusions. Tools: Google Optimize, VWO, Optimizely.
Account-Based Marketing
A B2B marketing strategy that focuses resources on a defined set of target accounts, treating each account as a market of one. Aligns marketing and sales around the same accounts. Effective for enterprise and high-ACV sales.
API Integration
Connecting two or more software applications through their APIs to share data and functionality. The plumbing of modern tech stacks. Challenges include authentication, rate limits, data mapping, error handling, and version management.
Attribution Model
A framework for assigning credit to marketing touchpoints that contributed to a conversion. Models: last-click, first-click, linear, time-decay, position-based, and data-driven. No model is perfect — each creates different incentive structures.
Business Intelligence
Technologies and practices for collecting, integrating, and analyzing business data to support decision-making. Includes dashboards, reports, ad-hoc queries, and data visualization. Tools: Looker, Tableau, Metabase, Power BI.
Churn Rate
The percentage of customers who cancel or don't renew within a given period. Monthly churn of 5% means losing half your customers within a year. Reducing churn by 1% often generates more revenue than acquiring new customers.