What is One Metric That Matters and how to find your OMTM?

All brands have an ultimate goal they want to achieve. They’ll need to collect a ton of data about everything that happens in the business.

This much data can be overwhelming, and brands might lose focus and get diverted from their main goal.

This is why each team needs to have a specific goal to focus on at a given period. This metric is called the One Metric That Matters (OMTM).

Through OMTM, brands can navigate toward their growth one step at a time without any breaks or bottlenecks.

Continue reading this article to learn more about what an OMTM is and why it is important for the growth of a business.

What Is OMTM?

One Metric That Matters (OMTM) is the one metric that a brand focuses on at a given period. It provides a singular goal that a team should focus on for the overall growth of their business. 

Having an OMTN doesn’t mean the brand doesn’t need to focus on other metrics. Brands use different metrics at different points of a customer’s journey for marketing and growth. 

The OMTM changes as the customer’s needs for the brand change. 

An OMTM focuses on achieving rapid, short-term growth that contributes to the brand’s overall growth. It is a sub-metric of the North Star metric (NSM).

While a North Star Metric provides a single goal for the whole company to focus on, the OMTM provides a single goal that each team should focus on to achieve the North Star Metric.

Why Is OMTM Important for the Growth of a Brand?

The most important advantage of OMTM is that it draws the company’s focus and energy to achieve a single goal. An OMTM is important for a brand’s growth for various reasons. 

• An OMTM aligns the entire team towards a particular goal. They have a single metric to focus on and know what to do to grow a business.
• Carefully analyzing and selecting the right OMTM for your team can help create a long-term effect on the business. It lets teams focus on the aspects that have the most impact on the business. 
• OMTM allows brands to identify the primary issue they need to focus on and get results more quickly. 

Examples of OMTM

There are several OMTMs that a brand can focus on at a particular stage of its growth. The OMTM can be a massive help for startups as it gives them a sense of direction on what to focus on at a particular stage of their business. 

The OMTM changes as the brand grow. Here are some examples of OMTM that a brand needs to focus on at a specific stage of its growth.

OMTM example for startups

As a startup, brands are in a growing phase, and their primary goal would be to get more traction. Having an OMTM like the ones given below will help them achieve their goals.

• Total number of website visits per month
• Average click-through rate (CTR) from the home page to the checkout page
• Retention of new customers after 7 days

OMTM for scale-ups

Scale-ups should already have some traction and a small customer base. At this stage, they should start focusing on targeting customers with a specific persona.

Metrics like those mentioned below will be good examples of OMTMs for scale-up companies.

• Total number of website visits per month from the SEO of a blog
• Conversion percentage of website visitors from a specific persona
• Retention of new, freemium customers after 7 days

OMTM examples for larger companies

Larger companies already have established traction and brand awareness, so they should focus more on finding the bottlenecks in a pirate funnel and rectifying issues. They should go in-depth into the pirate funnel and understand their customers. 

They can have OMTMs like the ones mentioned below.

• Total number of website visits per month from the SEO of a blog around a specific topic
• Retention of new customers after 7 days and how quickly they experience their WOW moment with the brand

One Metric That Matters (OMTM) vs North Star Metric (NSM)

Most brands confuse OMTM with NSM. Given that both are metrics that have the brand’s growth as the end goal, it is understandable for marketers to think they are the same.

But there are some differences between OMTM and NSM. They are as follows: 

Who is OMTM and NSM for?

OMTM is a metric that is only used within a growth team, while NSM is used by the whole company and intended to serve as the one goal the entire organization aims to achieve.

Size 

OMTM is more specific and, at most, involves metrics around a single stage from the pirate funnel. The NSM covers the entire company and serves as an umbrella for each team to contribute.

Duration

The OMTM of a company changes as the company grows. An OMTM remains for 2 to 4 months and changes when the issue is rectified.

On the other hand, an NSM stays with the brand for a longer period and only changes when the core values of a brand change. 

How to Find the OMTM for Your Brand?

An OMTM can help your brand achieve its goal quickly and more effectively. It can aid you in analyzing how each team is doing and where you need to focus your attention. Follow the below steps to create an OMTM for your brand.

What business are you in?

The goals of a brand vary based on the industry they are based upon. So, first, analyze what business you are running to determine what goals you would like to reach for your business. 

What stage is your business at?

As shown earlier, the OMTM is different for startups and well-established companies. So, determine which stage your brand is in. Is it a start-up, a 4- or 5-year-old company, or a stable and well-known corporate brand?

Discover the “bottlenecks” in your pirate funnel

Carefully analyze your pirate funnel. Find the stage that you want to make the most impact on but don’t get the desired results.

For example, you might find it easy to bring people to your website (awareness), but it might be difficult to convert them into customers (activation).

Here, you must focus on creating an OMTM for the activation stage that can convert visitors into customers.

Select success metrics and goals for your brand

Have a clear idea of your business goal and align your metrics accordingly. Select goals that have a direct impact on your ROI and growth. Don’t get distracted by other metrics and choose the one that results in growth.

Set up a regular reporting schedule for OMTMs

This is the final step of the process. Once you have selected an OMTM for your team, create a regular reporting schedule so that you can analyze your progress toward your goal.

This step ensures that your team members work with the OMTM in mind. You can quickly reach your goals and shift to the next OMTM.

Conclusion 

• One Metric That Metric is an important metric that brands can leverage for substantial and long-term growth for their business.
• Each team can have an OMTM that they can focus on to increase their efficiency and lower the time it takes to reach their goal.
• OMTMs change from time to time and are dependent on the company’s goals during a given period of time.
• So choose the right OMTM for a specific goal and improve the growth of your business.