Why measure results?

Any business, no matter its size, needs to be aware of the importance of measuring campaign performance. It goes without saying that most businesses don’t have an unlimited fund for marketing campaigns, so it is vital that they establish what methods of marketing their audience prefers and what brings them the most success. Though results ideally need to be observed over the course of a few months to a year, they will be extremely valuable in the long run.

Why Measure Results?
As already stated, by keeping on top of the performance of marketing campaigns, you are learning more about your consumers’ likes and dislikes, enabling you to better interact with them going forward. However, it is not only helpful for communication and perception, it also allows you to significantly reduce your expenditure. By working out which marketing methods work best and when (some campaigns may be responded to best during peak periods), you can help to tailor your marketing strategy accordingly.

How to Get Started
The main objective of measuring results is to be certain that your marketing programme is supporting your business goals. To do this, you need to put a measurement programme in place which will collect data for you to ultimately assess. To begin with, it is worth deciding how often you wish to collect this kind of data and then set up a spreadsheet that incorporates this along with the data you want to monitor: marketing goals and strategies, key performance indicators (or KPIs) and who the responsibility will lie with. No matter how tedious this seems, by putting the information down on paper, you will facilitate the process. Also, don’t forget that you can change any of the data as required.

Ways to Track Effectiveness of Marketing Campaigns
Though each and every business differs in terms of its business goals and KPIs, if you have a website or a magazine then you might want to start off by finding out where your subscribers are coming from. For instance, are you drawing them in through search engines, your blog, webinars or somewhere else? Also, by knowing where exactly you are most popular, you can set about planning more of the same events or marketing strategies but targeting specific areas of the country. Other important factors to consider are what it is that attracted them to you (content, strategy or visual content, for example), and how many people are opting-out of your services. One of the best sources for this type of data collection is Google Analytics, which can be set up and monitored easily.

Planning for the Future
With this data to hand, you should be looking to evaluate and take action on your findings. Be sure to make measurement a priority in your business plan, and let the process evolve as needed to incorporate any changes to your business structure. You should also ensure that you take time to measure results, and not waste the golden opportunity to continually learn what works best for your business. As a result, you will find that your business achieves better management and much happier customers.