How do you stand out online, offline, in advertising, networking? I know I have written about branding for visibility before, but as the internet has expanded our reach for branding seems more difficult. There are the social media sites, more targeted advertising like Google and Facebook, a big push on content, both original and curated. But with all of this the big question is are you making money???Are you reaching the goals you set?
Investment of time and money in marketing for any of the above is only as good as the ROI, the actual business you derive from it. And knowing the metrics for that return is where I see small business owners losing out. Tracking your numbers is the most important aspect of entering any of the above realms of marketing and sales.
What will the metrics tell you?
- How effective are you at converting marketing investment into revenue and profit growth?
- That your specific goals and objectives for marketing investment are giving you a return.
- Which channels convert the highest, generate the most loyal users?
- How much does each new customer cost you?
There are so many tools to help you identify what you need to track so there is no need to just do what is “easy”. Even using the free methods for your marketing efforts requires time, that may seem easy, but how does that content, email, or post affect your return? There’s a very distinct difference between being busy and being effective. From tracking even these metrics, you can see if your activity is actually effective.
Here’s my suggestion: Identify the two to five key metrics and key indicators that are important and essential for your business. Set up an active system to measure and track these indicators. How else can you do a good job of following up? Put charts and graphs of these indicators on the wall of your office. Make your interest in these metrics very active and visible.
What Key indicators will you add to your tracking?