Track Marketing Results to Know What’s Working and What to Stop Investing In

Bylori

Marketing can be the single most important, and also the largest, expense for many businesses. It’s vital that you know if your marketing is working.

When you track marketing results, you’ll know which of your marketing techniques are working, where you should concentrate more effort and what you should abandon as a waste of resources.

  • Know your goals: Although it can be difficult to quantify the return on any particular marketing campaign, you can establish a working baseline for the results you expect. For example, you may want to attract a certain number of new customers, bring back a selection of old customers or reach a particular sales goal. Remember that the return on your marketing may not be immediately obvious and could likely accrue over time in the form of repeat purchases or customer referrals.
  • Track your revenue: Use revenue and income as a standard for marketing effectiveness. Find your current revenue amounts and make comparisons between current and historical periods to see if revenue increases are tied to particular events or seasonal trends. Make a rough estimate of the typical revenue during the period you plan to run a marketing campaign. When the campaign is over, compare the revenue amounts to see how much difference your marketing efforts made.
  • Measure online traffic and other data: Use an web-based analytics or measurement tool to analyze the data from your website. Check and track information such as site traffic and other data that would indicate a response to your marketing campaign. Compare the increases with the previous months and with the same period during the previous year. Noticeable upticks in traffic during a marketing campaign can indicate that your marketing is working.
  • Evaluate your online presence: Use a tracking tool or a web monitoring service to keep tabs on your online presence. Check for mentions in forum postings and social media conversations. Any increases in the number of mentions during a campaign can reasonably be attributed to your marketing efforts.

How could you make your business more efficient by using the appropriate tools and techniques to track marketing results?

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