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What is an OMTM?
La One Metric That Matters (abbreviation: OMTM) is the only metric you focus on in your daily life as a Growth Hacker.
Each daily task should contribute to the growth of this metric, hence the name “One Metric That Matters.”
WTOM is chosen as the metric on which a company expects to have the greatest impact on its growth in the next 2 to 6 months.
The concept from OMTM was invented in 2013 by Alistair Croll in his book Lean Analytics.
He worked with numerous startups and noticed that founders and marketing managers were quickly distracted by” vanity measures ” (vanity metrics) or other metrics that only distract you from your growth.
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OMTM examples
There are thousands of relevant OMTM examples.
They can be enough generalist or very specific.
The rule is that as a large company, you need to work on increasingly accurate metrics.
Here are a few examples ofOne Metric That Matters by business size:
1. Small businesses (< 50 employees)
As a small business, you are still very small and should focus on finding your first traction first.
That's why you want to choose an OMTM as one of the following examples:
- Number of website visitors per month
- Average percentage of clicks from the home page to payment
- Retention of new customers after 7 days
2. Medium-sized businesses (50 - 200 employees)
Medium-sized businesses should already have some success and should therefore focus more on specific segments within their audience.
So think of one of these examples of One Metric That Matters :
- Number of visitors per month to the website from SEO or the Blog
- Conversion percentage of website visitors from France
- Retention of new freemium customers after 7 days
3. Large businesses (> 200 employees)
For a large company, it's important to focus on the details of your funnel (Pirate Funnel), for example by accentuating the WOW moment or by focusing on more specific stages in the funnel.
That's why you want to choose an OMTM as one of the following examples:
- Number of website visitors/month via SEO around a specific theme
- Average CTR on the “Add to Cart” button on the “Price” or “Products” page
- Retention of new customers who have experienced the “WOW moment”
Importance of an OMTM
The importance of using One Metric That Matters (OMTM) in your growth strategy lies primarily in three key benefits:
- Focus on a single goal : OMTM creates a clear guideline for each team member, reducing distractions and hesitation. This allows everyone to focus on a specific target and work consistently towards achieving it.
- Fast and Effective Results : By having a single clearly defined goal, you can move more quickly and directly towards your goals. Each task and decision is evaluated in terms of its contribution to the OMTM, making the decision-making process more effective.
- Long-term impact : By deliberately focusing on a specific aspect of your business, you are more likely to work on things that have a significant impact on your long-term growth. This ensures that your attention and resources are invested in areas that really matter to the health and success of your business.
In summary, OMTM helps you to channel your efforts strategically, to achieve rapid results through targeted focus, and to ensure that these efforts have a lasting and significant impact on your business.
Difference between OMTM and North Star Metric
The measure that counts is often confused with the North Star Metric.
Understandable, because these are 2 important metrics where information on the web is sometimes wrong.
Let's look at the different characteristics of these 2 metrics together to better understand the differences:
1. NSM - North Star Metric
- There is no Only one North Star Metric In the company
- It is correlated with the benefits provided to customers
- Each member of the company contributes
- NSM always stays the same unless you radically change your business model
To find out more: What is the North Star Metric?
2. OMTM - One Metric That Matters -
- There may be several OMTMs In the company
- Each OMTM contributes to maximizing the North Star Metric
- Each of the iterations of rapid experiments aims to directly improve the OMTM (and indirectly the NSM) by rapid experiments on short/medium term objectives
- OMTMs change on average every 2 to 6 months as soon as they have been maximized
Les OMTM are metrics that act on the North Star Metric (NSM) and that are optimized at each iteration.
The bottlenecks to business growth make it possible to determine which OMTM to target.
The North Star Metric is unique and does not change, unlike the OMTM.
Find your OMTM in 4 steps
Let's start by determining the OMTM.
One of my most important tips is to involve all stakeholders at this stage so that they:
- see what the Growth Hacking team is doing,
- understand why you chose this measure as your objective
- and feel involved.
1. Discover the obstacles to growth
The first step is to analyze your Pirate Funnel.
You want to focus on the part of your business where you can have the most impact And who is often the least efficient.
Henry Ford worked in exactly the same way to build the most efficient car factories: If the factory can install 20 engines per hour, but can only paint a maximum of 10 per hour: 10 cannot be delivered. Is it better to focus on installing more engines or on how quickly to paint cars?
As Growth Hackers, we work with the Pirate Funnel (AAARRR) who cuts our company's customer journey into 6 steps:
- Awareness
- Acquisition
- Activation
- Revenue
- Retention
- Recommendation,
What stage is currently holding back your growth the most? A simple tool like Google Analytics could give you more information, but there are also other tools for Growth Hackers.
2. Determine a specific segment
If you are a startup or a young company, you can Skip this step, because you can probably make enough progress by focusing on one of the six AAARRR funnel stages alone.
More mature companies need to be more precise in defining their OMTM in order to be more effective over time.
For example, as a large company, you can segment your target prospects more precisely, such as:
- traffic from different countries,
- channels or demographics,
- or focus on smaller steps in your funnel (also known as “Baby Steps”).
For example: instead of “retention” in general, you can focus specifically on”Retention of customers who used the 7-day trial“.
The more specific you are, the more impact you will have on this metric.
If you can't make your OMTM more specific, you've surely found a good metric.
3. Set a S.M.A.R.T goal
I assume you're already familiar with the concept of S.M.A.R.T lenses, but why do you need them?
It is an acronym for the following English words:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Timely
In French: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely
If you're using a lens that isn't SMART, there's a good chance you'll be distracted to a lot of tasks that don't contribute enough to your OMTM.
4. Prioritize your experiments
Now you're going to start working on your experiment list.
You will evaluate all of your tests by answering a “yes” or a “no” to the question: “Will this experience contribute directly to our OMTM?
The word “directly” is very important for your purpose here.
If an experience has an indirect contribution to your OMTM, it is not wise to include it in your list of priorities now, as you are in fact working to improve another measure.
- For the Awareness phase, use the BRASS framework
- For the other stages of the Pirate Funnel, use the PIE or ICE framework (at your convenience)
Once you have rate and rank your ideas, you will have your OMTM in hand.
Read below what to do next.
Improving Your OMTM (One Metric That Matters)
OMTM, or “One Metric That Matters”, is essential in the field of Growth Hacking.
It's the unique metric you need to focus your efforts on to drive growth.
Here's how to effectively improve your OMTM using the method GROWS :
GROWS Growth Process
- Gathering Ideas (GATHER) : Identify potential strategies that can improve your OMTM. Ask yourself, “What actions can positively influence my key metric?”
- Rank Ideas (RANK) : Evaluate these ideas in terms of their anticipated impact on WTOM and the efforts required to implement them. Use methods like PIE or BRASS to prioritize your ideas.
- Describe Tests (OUTLINE) : Plan tests for the most promising ideas. Establish specific parameters for these tests to measure their effectiveness.
- Work : Implement the selected experiments. Ensure meticulous execution and monitor progress.
- Studying the Results (STUDY) : Analyze test results to determine their effect on OMTM. Use this information to refine your strategy and continuously improve your approaches.
This systematic method allows you to test and adjust your strategies in a structured manner, thus maximizing the impact on your OMTM.
Keep in mind that the success of your OMTM is not only an immediate performance measure, but a guide to sustainable and meaningful growth.
This process is a continuous cycle of experimentation, learning, and innovation.
FAQs
Can I have several OMTMs in my company?
Ideally, you should have only one OMTM at a time to maintain clarity and focus.
However, different teams may have their own OMTMs that all contribute to the global NSM.
How to measure the effectiveness of an OMTM?
Measure the effectiveness of your OMTM by regularly monitoring its progress and evaluating its impact on overall business goals. Use analytics tools to get accurate insights.
What role does the OMTM play in decision-making?
The OMTM serves as a reference for all growth decisions, helping to align actions and initiatives with the company's main objective.
How do I integrate OMTM into my marketing strategy?
Integrate OMTM into your marketing strategy by using it to direct all of your campaigns, advertising initiatives, and content tactics towards improving this specific metric.
Conclusion
Understanding and effectively applying OMTM (One Metric That Matters) is essential for the success of any growth-oriented business.
This unique indicator acts as a compass, directing the team's efforts towards a clear and measurable goal.
By focusing on OMTM, businesses can channel their resources and creativity to the most impactful initiatives, leading to significant and sustainable growth.
The OMTM is not only a performance indicator; it is a catalyst for change and innovation that can transform a business vision into a concrete and successful reality.
