Let’s face it. There are quite a few acronyms used within the digital marketing world and business as a whole that few people truly understand.

However, if you listen close enough, you’ll likely hear someone use the terms OKR and KPI.

What do these mean? Why are they important? And what is the difference between OKRs vs KPIs?

In this guide, we’ll go over what each term describes, why they’re meaningful to your organization, and how your business can use them both for better results.

Ready to get started? 

OKRs vs KPIs: How Are They Different?

When looking at performance metrics for your digital marketing, it is important to understand the difference between OKRs and KPIs.

As we’ve mentioned above, OKRs are the goals that you want to achieve over a specific time.

In contrast, KPIs are what has already happened based on the data associated with heading towards a target goal.

To put it in simple terms, OKRs are those things that sound good or you would like to see occur. KPIs are the reality check where the data explains whether you are likely or not likely to reach your goals.

Let’s go back to that New Year’s resolution goal. If you were to set an OKR for yourself, it might be to lose ten pounds and stop eating sugar.

But, come March, your KPIs show you only went to the gym three times in February and you’ve stopped by the local donut shop three times in the last week, so there’s a good chance you won’t meet your target.

Instead, you would need to use that data to make better choices and improve your chances of meeting your OKR before the deadline of December 31st.

See where they differ?

While they have similar duties in forecasting in that both are used to help set goals, anticipate results, and make appropriate changes, they are really two completely different concepts altogether.

OKRs vs KPIs: How Can They Work Together?

Even though OKRs and KPIs are different, the best course of action is to use them together. How does this work?

Essentially, your team needs to use KPIs to make a determination of what’s either happening right now or has occurred in the past.

Sometimes the lines get a bit blurry, but that’s kind of the point—OKRs push you forward, while KPIs prevent you from veering too far off course. It’s easy to get carried away with ambitious objectives, only for reality (read: disappointing KPIs) to smack you with a dose of what’s actually feasible. There’s something to be said for pairing wild ambition with grounded measurement, even if it feels a bit like mixing oil and water at first glance.

By looking at KPIs objectively, you can determine what’s possible and see areas where there might need to be a vast amount of improvement.

From there, OKRs are made in specific areas to help plan changes associated with meeting those benchmarks.

For example, if having each sales team member close seven deals a month is a priority — but the KPIs show they’re currently only doing three — then certain steps need to be taken to facilitate the new change.

Maybe that’s a new training program, better tools, or a special offer that gives customers greater incentive for signing a contract.

The most important part to remember is that your KPIs and OKRs are related in that they both involve setting goals, making changes, and using data to determine how close you are to getting where you need to be.

Honestly, it’s risky to rely purely on one or the other. Relying just on KPIs can turn things mechanical and uninspiring, like you’re always stuck in audit mode. Chase only OKRs, and you can wind up chasing rabbits you’ll never catch. In 2025, most businesses—at least the ones still hanging around—are pretty frank about blending the two, often tweaking the balance as they go. It’s less about theoretical frameworks and more about getting the blend right for your team, even if that takes a little trial and error.

The best part about understanding OKRs and KPIs is that it works no matter how big your company is.

Even single-person LLCs are able to find growth with targeting as well as multinational corporations.

It all just comes down to knowing how to use these two elements in goal setting to make more realistic and attainable decisions.

Wrap Up

When it comes to learning all of the different acronyms associated with digital marketing and business, two of the most crucial are OKR and KPI. 

Both work to make it easier to take stock of current status and make changes associated with growth. 

And, as we all know, when you’re aware of where you are currently at, it is easier to find ways to improve towards where you ultimately want to be.

If you’re looking to improve your lead generation process, we would love to help. Our Rock Content experts have put together a free eBook designed to help you boost your conversions. Check it out now!

 

}}