What is month-over-month growth?

Month-over-month growth, often shortened to MoM growth, is a way to measure how much something has changed from one month to the next. Think of it like comparing your progress in a game from January to February. If your score went up, you had positive growth. If it went down, you had negative growth.In marketing, MoM growth helps teams understand if their efforts are moving in the right direction. For example, if you're tracking website visitors, you'd compare the number of visitors you had in April to the number you had in March. This simple comparison gives you a quick snapshot of recent performance and helps you see trends over short periods. It's a key metric for understanding the immediate impact of your marketing campaigns and strategies.This measurement is super helpful because it provides a timely look at performance. Unlike yearly comparisons, which can hide recent issues or successes, MoM growth highlights what's happening right now. It allows marketers to be agile, making quick decisions and adjustments based on the latest data.

Why it matters

Month-over-month growth is important for several reasons. First, it helps you spot trends early. If your website traffic or sales are consistently growing each month, it suggests your marketing activities are effective. On the flip side, if you see a dip, it's a signal to investigate what might be going wrong and fix it quickly.Second, it's great for setting and tracking short-term goals. Many marketing teams have monthly targets for things like leads, conversions, or social media engagement. MoM growth shows you if you're on track to meet those goals or if you need to adjust your strategy. It provides a clear, actionable way to measure progress and report on performance to stakeholders.Third, MoM growth allows for quick decision-making. If a new ad campaign launched at the beginning of the month, you can use MoM data to see its immediate impact. If it's not performing as expected, you can pause it, change the messaging, or reallocate your budget before too much time or money is spent. This agility is crucial in the fast-paced world of digital marketing.

How to improve it

Improving month-over-month growth means focusing on strategies that can deliver quick, measurable results. Here are some practical steps you can take across different marketing areas.

Digital marketing strategies

• Optimize your website for conversions: Look at your website analytics to identify pages where visitors drop off. Improve calls to action, simplify forms, or enhance page loading speed to encourage more visitors to complete desired actions.
• Run targeted ad campaigns: Use platforms like Google Ads or social media ads to reach specific audiences with tailored messages. Test different ad creatives and headlines to see what resonates best and drives more clicks and conversions.
• Improve email marketing: Segment your email list and send personalized content. Offer special promotions or valuable resources to encourage subscribers to engage more and make purchases. A/B test subject lines and content to boost open and click-through rates.

Content marketing tips

• Create timely and relevant content: Produce blog posts, videos, or infographics that address current trends or answer common customer questions. This can attract new visitors looking for specific information.
• Promote your content widely: Don't just publish and forget. Share your content across social media, email newsletters, and relevant online communities to maximize its reach and drive traffic back to your site.
• Update existing popular content: Refresh old blog posts with new information, statistics, or examples. This can give them a boost in search engine rankings and bring in new organic traffic.

Paid advertising adjustments

• Review ad spend and performance daily: Monitor your paid campaigns closely. If an ad group isn't performing, pause it or adjust its targeting. If one is doing exceptionally well, consider increasing its budget.
• Refine targeting: Make sure your ads are reaching the right people. Experiment with different demographics, interests, and behaviors to find the most responsive audience segments.
• Optimize landing pages: Ensure the pages users land on after clicking your ads are highly relevant to the ad copy and have a clear call to action. A consistent message from ad to landing page improves conversion rates.

Best practices

When tracking month-over-month growth, keep a few best practices in mind. Always look at the data in context. A 100% growth might sound amazing, but if you only had 1 lead in January and 2 in February, the absolute numbers are still small. Conversely, a 5% growth on 100,000 website visitors is a significant increase of 5,000 visitors.Also, consider seasonality. Many businesses experience natural peaks and valleys throughout the year. Comparing December sales to January sales, for example, might show a dip that has nothing to do with your marketing efforts but rather with the holiday season ending. Compare apples to apples when possible, or at least be aware of external factors.Finally, don't rely solely on MoM growth. While it's excellent for short-term insights, combine it with longer-term metrics like quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) or year-over-year (YoY) growth to get a more complete picture of your business's health and sustained trends.

Key metrics to track

• Website traffic: Number of unique visitors, page views, and sessions.
• Lead generation: Number of new leads, marketing qualified leads (MQLs).
• Sales and revenue: Total sales, average order value, revenue from specific channels.
• Conversion rates: Website conversion rate, lead-to-customer conversion rate.
• Social media engagement: Follower growth, engagement rate, reach.
• Email marketing performance: Open rates, click-through rates, conversion from email.

Month-over-month growth is a fundamental metric for any marketing team. It offers a clear, timely view of your performance, allowing you to quickly identify what's working and what's not. By regularly tracking and analyzing this growth, you can make informed decisions, optimize your strategies, and drive continuous improvement in your marketing results. Start by picking one key metric and tracking its MoM change today.