Identify the real KPIs

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Supermetrics helps Stride-up move beyond conventional KPIs to focus on what really matters to their clients. According to Sophian, "Many agencies tend to focus primarily on advertising platform KPIs. 

These include metrics such as cost-per-click (CPC) and conversion rates, which are undeniably important and often tracked on a daily basis." He also points out that it's no longer sufficient to rely exclusively on Google Analytics for Macro KPIs, and that due to legal changes, Analytics' accuracy has declined over time.

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Sophian believes it's essential to understand what really counts for his clients, who are often brand founders or marketing managers. For them, the most significant figures are overall website revenue, the number of new customers acquired, customer lifetime value and the percentage of new customers in relation to returning customers. These indicators are all the more valuable if they contribute to revenue growth, which is the ultimate goal of these stakeholders. That's why it's essential for agencies to keep these metrics in mind when looking to achieve the desired results, and not just focus on reducing CPCs."

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Access to this data is essential for Stride-up to bring value to their customers. Supermetrics' ability to extract and analyze data from a variety of sources has enabled them to better understand customers' activities to make more informed decisions. It also enabled them to take a different approach, using both the advertising platform's KPIs and then the KPIs crucial to customers to deliver exceptional value and insights. This unique approach has helped Stride-up grow. 

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Sophian explains, "We extract data from Shopify and other platforms using Supermetrics. This provides us with the most accurate data to make good decisions as well as work as a financial team with a profit and loss view; our customers know we're doing well and not making bad decisions."

Improve agency efficiency

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Their team had two main objectives: firstly, to save time on manual work and use it for customers, and secondly, to standardize report templates to maintain consistency across all customers.

Invest more time in customers

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The first and most important objective for Stride-up as an agency is to "sell time", as Sophian puts it. Their vision is for each Account Manager to look after an average of four customers, as this number has been calculated to achieve optimum results for each of them. By limiting the number of customers each Account Manager works with, they ensure that each account receives the attention it deserves.

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He explains: "In fact, the big brands have traffic managers who, every morning, go to Google, Facebook and then do an export. This takes 20 to 30 minutes, and I think Supermetrics is an incredible tool for automating this task. In my opinion, it's a master application for a company".

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Sophian visual quote:

"For us today, Supermetrics is the best option because it offers comfort, is easy to use, is very economical, and I also think your customer service is very responsive."

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"We don't want to extract data manually, as this task has no value for development and customers," explains Sophian. By saving time, they can offer more useful services to their customers, which is the ultimate goal.

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Boris visual quote:

"If we save time with these unnecessary data extraction tasks, we can use it for strategy, business activity and to get closer to analyzing the numbers."

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Standardized report templates

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The second most important objective for Stride-up was to standardize all their dashboards. Instead of spending at least a day's work creating a 50-slide dashboard, they created templates for all their data sources. "Research and development takes a lot of time, but the return on investment today is huge for us," says Sophian. "We've saved a lot of time," he adds.

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Standardized templates are another way for Stride-up to save time and ensure consistency across its teams. "Everyone at Stride-up uses the same report, the same performance indicator, with the same color, column order and update," explains Sophian. By using standardized templates, it's easier for them to transfer knowledge between team members, adapt quickly to new accounts and easily duplicate reports for multiple customers, saving even more time. 

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Internal dashboards

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Stride-up uses a dashboard with two objectives. The first is to manage campaigns internally. The dashboard allows them to consult reports two or three times a day and analyze overall Shopify store sales.

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Sophian visual quote:

"We connect everything on Google Sheets. We consult them three or four times a day to understand the trend of our account. If there's optimization to be done, if we can get new revenue with good advertising, that's what I take away, or if we need to slow down a bit because it's not a good period. This allows us to be aware of everything as we work."

External dashboards

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The second objective of the dashboard is to share it with their customers, enabling them to manage their campaigns. Says Sophian: "Most of them like it and say, 'Oh, this is exactly the dashboard I needed. Thank you.'"

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A dashboard is an essential tool, as it gives them an overview of their cash inflows and outflows. It helps them understand their revenues, production costs, margins and profits, enabling them to make informed decisions about which products to promote and which ads to run.

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Achieving a "global vision

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The global view is a data-driven approach that Stride-up uses to analyze a company's performance, focusing on key performance indicators such as sales, return rates, average basket size and seasonality.

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The first step in the process is to extract data from the back-office, providing unsampled data in real time. This enables a return on investment to be matched to all expenses. Sophian explains, "You get a pure view in real time, and we can match that to all expenses to get a return on investment."

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Their approach is to analyze key performance indicators such as average basket, return rate and sales figures. By looking at returning versus new customers, they can better understand the cost of acquisition and retention. "This is one of the best KPIs for brands to use, and many don't," explains Sophian.

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Sophian visual quote:

"The question of retention is the subject of much debate. Thanks to this KPI, you can know whether the number of your returning customers is increasing or whether it's stable, and of course it's very important to calculate your cost per new customer. That's what we use at Vision Globale."

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Sophian explains: "We analyze key performance indicators for each product category, comparing their performance over time to identify the best-performing products. This analysis includes factors such as the most profitable products, based on their cost of goods sold (COGS), and their potential margin."

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At Stride-up, they also take seasonality into account and determine the most effective time to sell each product. This data-driven approach enables them to make practical decisions for their customers, such as reducing advertising for products that don't perform well during certain periods.

Global analysis of this data enables companies to identify the best-performing products, the most profitable categories and the most optimized marketing strategies. This approach can help companies make more informed decisions on resource allocation and operational optimization.

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The impact

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One of the key factors in an agency's success is understanding the value perceived by customers. As an agency, they've always been able to see this impact, even if they can't measure the before and after. Although not the most expensive, Stride-up is at the high end of the price spectrum, a crucial factor when making initial contact with potential clients. As they explain to their potential customers, this exchange allows them to understand that they are experts in our field.

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Boris explains, "During the first call with potential customers, we present an example of the data we use, with the orientation of always understanding their business and providing them with a strategic approach." In initial discussions with customers, this helps them understand our expertise in the field.

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They don't just offer execution services, such as ad launches, but propose a more holistic approach. Sophian explains, "Understanding our customers' businesses takes a lot of time and experience." With the help of data and tools, the agency can quickly show customers the value it can bring them.

The agency gives priority to research and development, even if it takes time to perfect everything. In the early days of the agency, the founders had to buy time, carry out tests and then learn how to develop their methods. Today, the team is organized with a group of three data experts led by Boris, who has fewer clients to manage and can concentrate on processing data and creating models for everyone. Boris points out, "We keep research and development as our top priority."

Future scope of application

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In the future, they plan to take it to the next level. Sophian says: "We want to go to the next level with a BigQuery or data warehouse to extract data faster and have more time to talk."

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Sophian visual quote:

"We are very satisfied with Supermetrics. If it no longer existed, we'd have to find another solution very quickly, because it's a major element of success in our work. It's the most important tool for us at Stride-up."

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"Our ultimate goal at Stride-up is to evolve as a 360° digital partner integrating paid media, SEO, creative and email into all strategies. In a perfect world, we would integrate loads like COGS, logistics and human resources to have a holistic P&L approach for brands," explains Sophian.

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To see the Supermetrics article: https: //supermetrics.com/case-studies/stride-up 

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