When it comes to your marketing strategy for your business, it can sometimes be tricky to know where you should be spending your money, and what is actually working for you. That’s why it’s essential that you’re measuring your marketing efforts and tracking that spending very closely.
What is marketing measurement? Marketing measurement is the tracking and analyzing of your marketing data to determine what is working and what isn’t. This makes it possible for businesses to know where they should be spending their money, and where (if) there money is being wasted. According to Marketo.com, a whopping 1 in 5 business owners do not track any of their marketing efforts whatsoever. That’s a big deal, considering most small businesses spend about 10% of their annual revenue on marketing and advertising alone.
Lots of business owners know that they should be measuring their marketing results, but they just aren’t sure how. Here are some important factors to consider while you’re measuring your marketing, that are pretty simple to track:
Where are Your Customers Coming From?
One of the first questions you should ask about your marketing is, “Where are my customers coming from?” Are they finding you through organic search or paid ads on Google? Or are they finding you through social media? Maybe it’s through an email or text campaign you launched. Either way, your first step is finding out where your customers are going to find you. If you find that your paid ads on Google really aren’t bringing any customers through your door, it might be time to stop spending your marketing budget there. On the other hand, if your customers are coming back when they’re sent a text or email campaign, you know that you want to continue down that avenue. You can easily find out where your customers are coming from by having analytics set up on your Google account, tracking your Facebook ads, and of course utilizing your click rates on whatever platform you are sending your text and email campaigns through. Another great way to find out where your customers found you, is by simply asking them!
What is Keeping Your Customers Coming Back?
What is it about your business that keeps your customers coming back? Do they love your prices, customer service, quality of work, or maybe all of the above? It’s important to track which products/services of yours are selling the best, and where you’re making the most revenue. If you can pinpoint which of your offerings is bringing the most customers through your door time and time again, you’ll be able to know what you what you should be marketing. Be sure to read through your online reviews and find out what it is that keeps your customers coming back, and what you could work on. Keeping your customers coming back is the key to success for businesses. If you don’t already track this now is the time to start!
How Much is an Average Customer Spending with You?
Are you tracking your transactions so you know how much each customer is spending with you? If not, this is a big marketing effort that should be measured. You want all of your customers to keep coming back, but knowing who is spending the most with each transaction will give you a great starting point. Transaction data is a very valuable piece of marketing information that all businesses need to be monitoring regularly. This can be tracked through your CRM, and most POS systems as well.
How Many Followers do You Have on Social Media?
It’s not just teenagers who are worried about how many social media followers they have anymore! Business owners should be paying close attention to how many followers they have, how many are interacting with their posts and what types of social efforts are helping them to gain followers. Knowing which posts are most effective for you in getting people to interact with you online will help you gain followers and build a position reputation online. Social media is a free and necessary piece of marketing for all businesses-especially local business. Your social media following is a good indication of your online reputation, and nowadays, that’s almost everything.
For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, subscribe to the FreshLime Newsletter here. Connect with Jay Bean, Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert on LinkedIn and Twitter. And last of all, if any of these tips have helped you or if you have anything to add please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!