“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” – W. Edwards Deming
Measuring the success, or perhaps the failure of a marketing strategy is critical to knowing if the plan you have in place is actually working. It is not a matter of opinion. Measuring the results delivers facts, which aid in defining where future money should be spent and in making decisions on upcoming marketing campaigns.
Let’s look at an example.
A Resort and Spa created a marketing plan including digital marketing, social media, billboards, and television. They targeted all their efforts toward women as potential buyers. Interactions were low and they discovered purchases were made by men- buying golf packages and gifts for their wives! As the plan progressed and they watched the actual results, they realized that they had failed to understand who the consumer actually was. They immediately fine-tuned the strategy and sales jumped 45%.
Measurement and analysis win over guessing and frustration every time.
How can we measure the results of our marketing strategy?
Measuring results requires a plan. If you don’t measure, you can’t modify, correct, or improve what you are doing. Here is our 5-step approach to measuring the success of a marketing strategy.
- Know what you are going to measure. It sounds simple, but you have to start somewhere by selecting the marketing tactics you will be measuring. Whether you are evaluating visits to the website, buyer conversions, or social media engagement, decide on the areas you want to measure and begin the plan.
- Set a goal. Be specific. For example, “I want to get 100 new Google Reviews this month”. Then ask the question, Is this attainable and relevant? It is definitely measurable but is it relevant to the overall success of the strategy?
- Do the creative work. Take a look at your overall business persona. Do your creatives reflect your message? Do you have the correct call to action to attain a goal of 100 new Google Reviews?
- Monitor the results. Don’t set it and forget it. Is the creative work doing its job and are the measurable results supporting the goal? If the results are positive, keep going. If the results are negative, step back, redesign, and then get going again!
- Report and repeat. How well did you do? If you are pleased with the results, continue on the plan. If you have not achieved the success you were looking for, create a new goal or two and repeat the process.
Can I apply this process to all of my marketing strategies?
Yes, you can. The discipline and process of measurement can be applied to every digital or traditional ad, direct mail campaign, blog post engagement, social media visit, or whatever marketing tactic you’re trying.
Please, do not fear measurement. Measuring your strategy ensures you are spending your time and money in the most efficient and effective manner. And measuring makes sure you catch potential issues before they become major problems.
Do you know if your marketing investment is generating the results you need?
At Cox Marketing Solutions we love the challenge of finding the perfect marketing strategy. Better yet, we love to measure how it works- no opinion, just facts.
Let’s schedule some time to talk about your marketing strategy and take the first steps to create a measurable and successful marketing plan. It’s our passion and we are here to help.