How to Measure the Effectiveness of Your Marketing Efforts

We do spend marketing dollars on trade shows, advertising, conferences, events, webinars, and campaign materials.

How do we know what we get back? How can we measure marketing results to ensure they are worthwhile?

Contents

1. Setting of Goals

• Budget for Campaign
• Quantitative and Qualitative Goals
• Fulfilment and Response Strategy
• Campaign Tracking and Testing Criteria
• Follow-up Plan

2. Cost Calculation

1. Setting of Goals

This may seem like a simple question, but it is frequently asked. We’ve seen companies who don’t track their marketing. That’s a big mistake. While marketing is often a game of trial and error, you can reduce errors by using calculations to determine which campaigns deliver the best value for money.

Without a consistent plan and marketing strategy, you are simply marketing blindly. This is a costly business blunder.

Each marketing campaign must have a plan and strategy that includes:

• Budget for Campaign

How much will you spend to achieve your qualitative and quantitative objectives? What is your desired budget outcome? What defines a successful spend?

• Quantitative and Qualitative Goals

Qualitative goals are distinct from quantitative goals because they focus on benefits rather than numbers. Describe how customers perceive your product or service. The position of your product or service in relation to your competitors is also qualitative. You improve your product’s position by educating others on its quality. Also, target a specific niche or market and present your specialty as an expertise. Qualitative data require awareness as well. You must promote what you have to offer. This is vital to getting the consumer to buy from you. Advertising can often raise awareness. Quantitative marketing is about the numbers. How many units were sold, how many attendees, or how many leads were captured.

• Fulfilment and Response Strategy

How will you fulfil orders, provide services, and respond to customers based on your marketing strategy?

• Campaign Tracking and Testing Criteria

Most goals can be effectively measured using one of three methods. These include cost per sale, qualified lead, and visitor.

• Follow-up Plan

How do you follow up? Will you use drip marketing or lead nurturing to stay in touch with customers who don’t buy right away? How will you follow up if they don’t buy?

2. Cost Calculation

Calculating is simple once you’ve decided which outcome to measure and the associated costs.

Using the appropriate formulas, along with a campaign plan, will help you determine the success of a campaign or event. If it was, congrats! If not, go back to the campaign’s efforts and figure out why it didn’t work and how to improve it next time. Is it the venue or the marketing? Maybe your materials didn’t have a strong call to action?

Marketing campaigns can fail for many reasons, but determining the reasons will help you succeed in the future.