Today’s challenge isn’t finding the data to share with stakeholders: it’s making sure that you’re not leaving your stakeholders to flounder in oceans of irrelevant numbers. After all, it’s not the page views that matter or even the economic spend – it’s how these numbers translate against the desired outcomes of your place.

Understanding which KPIs stakeholders care most about is the key to cutting through the data noise and proving the return on the investment in your activities. Here are eight key questions you should be asking of your data – as verified by place branding and marketing experts.

How does your work support the objectives of your stakeholders?

Stakeholders care about the KPIs tied to their own accountability, not ours. A civic leader answers to residents, so resident sentiment and net migration matter more than impressions. An economic development board answers to the council, so investment committed, jobs created, and cost per job carry the weight. A CVB board watches yield and seasonal spread, not just volume.

The metrics that hold attention tend to be brand consideration among target talent and investors, share of voice relative to competitors, partner activation (how many local organisations use the brand without being asked), and earned advocacy from residents and businesses.

The strongest proof is alignment. When partners stop running conflicting messages and start telling one story, that consolidation is visible, fundable, and hard to fake. Tie every metric to a decision a stakeholder has to make. A number that shifts how budget gets allocated or how a vote goes will always outrank one that only proves the campaign ran.

Matthew Kruchko, Head of Global Operations, Gravity Global

How are changes in perception driving results in visitor and investment attraction?

Stakeholders ultimately want to see impact, and the KPIs they value most reflect their own accountability—typically spanning perception, civic engagement and economic and fiscal benefits. They need to understand whether the work is shifting how people think and feel about the place, and how that shift is driving tangible results like investment, visitation or talent attraction.

Because those outcomes take time, the most effective place brand teams take a full-funnel approach to data tracking and reporting, anchored in a clear baseline to provide context for performance. Headline metrics such as reach and engagement only resonate when connected to that bigger picture: are we seeing brand lift, growing consideration, integration, and converting that interest into real-world outcomes? The strongest teams bring this to life by linking short-term signals to mid- and long-term impact, always leading with the answer to the stakeholder’s core question: why does this matter?

Robyn Domber, Senior Vice President, Research, Development Counsellors International

Where are you influencing discovery and decision-making?

For investment promotion and talent attraction teams, stakeholders usually care most about leads generated and skilled workers relocated. The challenge is that place brand teams rarely control those outcomes directly. Location decisions can take 3 years, not 3 months, and they involve dozens of interactions along the way. That's why stakeholder education matters. We recommend helping stakeholders understand where marketing influenced the journey and how it helped move decisions forward. As AI pushes those early moments of discovery even further upstream, the ability to clearly tell the story of influence and acceleration will only become more important.

Steve Duncan, Managing Director, C Studios

Can you connect your leading indicators to outcome metrics?

What stakeholders value most often depends on the destination. DMO structure, funding source and board composition can all shape and influence what people actually care about. But we see attention on both ends of the KPI spectrum. Leading KPIs include media performance and on-site behaviour, reach, engagement, sessions and conversions — things you can actually act on while a campaign is running. Meanwhile, lagging KPIs today include post-campaign arrivals and in-market spend, which is where the real accountability conversation happens. The goal is holding both in the same framework, where short-term signals tell you if the machine is working, and outcome metrics tell you if any of it mattered.

TJ Walz, SVP, Data Strategy & Analytics, MMGY

Are you attracting committed partners?

It’s always reassuring for clients to see a boost in web traffic or engagement on social channels, but they are superficial indicators for any place brand. Building loyal brand champions among stakeholders is a far more substantive, valuable return on investment that delivers long-term impact.

When Niagara Benchlands launched its regional brand strategy at a “Tourism Summit” in 2022, over 100 area businesses—including vintners, retailers, restauranteurs, hoteliers, arts groups, and local growers—eagerly participated in the day-long workshop. They identified numerous practical tools and resources to amplify the brand through their own marketing channels. That ongoing B2B collaboration has enabled the area to exponentially expand its marketing muscle and quickly establish itself as a “must see” destination… Niagara’s other natural wonder. Are you attracting committed partners? That’s a KPI that really matters.

Jeannette Hanna, Chief Strategist, Trajectory

Are you building awareness of lesser-known attributes of your place?

KPIs should be directly tied to each place’s unique goals. There are typical digital metrics such as site traffic or social media engagement that help to show an increase in awareness and consideration. And there’s economic data that shows an increase in sales or meal tax revenue, heads in beds, or average night stay increase. But others are more specific. For example, a client of ours known for historical attractions asked us to showcase their modern amenities. They were interested in increasing meeting room reservations, golf tee time bookings, and scheduled spa stays. And voila, we achieved those goals.

Jessica McCarthy, President, Joy Riot

How far and how deeply do your travellers explore?

Stakeholders care about dispersal. The headline question is always what percentage of visitors actually did something in the destination beyond the venue itself. Location data and insights are what make that measurable. Heat maps and visitation percentage metrics show where tourists actually go, and the place teams we work with tend to focus on neighbourhood-level visitation because that is where the real economic spillover happens. Success means driving broad traffic across well-known areas and the less-visited ones that benefit most. People do not come just to watch an event, they come for the energy around it, and location data tells you whether the whole destination captured that spend.

Evan Saunders, SVP of Travel, Azira

Are you transparent with your stakeholders?

TOPOSOPHY's 15 years, and counting, working with destinations, places and teams across the UK, Ireland and the EU has given us a front-row seat to the KPIs that place stakeholders prioritise, and how those KPIs build trust and transparency. The key word is "seeing." Stakeholders want to know that place teams are monitoring key performance indicators, but they also want teams to be transparent about what those KPIs mean for a city long-term. Citizen approval, local sentiment, share of voice, visitor numbers, and revenue all matter, but often it's sharing them openly that stakeholders most want to see.

 Barry Rogers Director of Destination Strategy, TOPOSOPHY