Gold Nugget Series 2015 #002 – Measuring return on your marketing spend!
Measuring return on your marketing spend!
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Return on Investment
I hear this over and over and over again. “Elaine, how can we measure the money we spend on marketing?, the return on investment? ROI. Marketing is a cost!” Aarrrhhhhhhhh……… I hear myself ‘thinking’!
Ok, calm down Ball! Let me give you some tips on measuring your marketing spend. The return on investment. ROI.
Firstly, an overview:
Measuring marketing spend, return on investment (ROI) will continue to be a taboo in the marketing world. People still get all ‘het-up’ about it and it can be very simple indeed. A foundation needs to be set.
For any engineering type organization, you must choose what works for you! What metrics, Return on Investment (ROI) you want to measure.
As engineers, you know about numbers, what you are not so good at is the ‘intangible’ stuff! And this is where we can help with the marketing side! Return on Investment (ROI).
There are two types of marketing return
- What you can see working (what is measurable Return on Investment (ROI)
- What you can’t see working (the stuff that builds brands, which is priceless, the non measurable Return on Investment (ROI)
What you can see working (what is measurable Return on Investment (ROI)
As Daniel Newman writes in Forbes Magazine, “the more money you spend, the more new clients you make.” “This is an ideal situation”, as he explains, “and not reality”.
Its not complicated, its simple… so lets start with that. Lets keep it simple!
Keep your metrics simple. ROI. Start with some basic ones, which are easy to develop.
Website
Measure number of new clicks, time on site and referrals; such as Social Media Channels. What are they and are they going up or down?
The next step is to ‘convert’ this traffic to inquiries (you now need ‘call to action’ buttons (actions!) – what people need to do. For example, “click here for your free starter pack?” Or “Call Peter today and find out how it can help you”…
Number of quality sales inquires coming from exhibitions. If you know your ‘ideal’ customer, then you know what a good lead looks like. How many? Are they quality or not?
When you have some ‘foundations’ to measure ‘return on investment (ROI)’, you can then see what is working for you and against you.
Number of ‘click open’ on a direct mail campaign; the average in our industry is around 5%; however this depends on several factors from branding to type of offer. You can read more about click through rates (CTR) from Lisa Raehsler founder at Big Click Company, an online advertising company and GoogleAdwords Certified Partner.
You can measure anything, but be consistent in what you do!
Take away tips:
Make sure your marketing campaign is integrated, in other words; make sure its linked with the other things you are doing such as exhibitions, adverts, social media and editorial. Be consistent, relevant and timely!
What you can’t see working (the stuff that builds brands, which is priceless)
Brand ambassadors, yes ambassadors, those people that always re-tweet, like your Facebook posts, visit you at shows. They may not be buyers, but they spread the word about your brand! And are very profitable! You can’t buy this and its intangible!
Hard to measure directly:
Customers. How many of your customer base is ‘repeat’ business? 20%, 50%, 80%? The higher your score, the more successful you are at keeping your clients (a secondary part of marketing spend)
How? Good networking skills, great a building relationships! People person. Good quality service, consistent service, friendly and helpful. A reliable product and great after sales care. Yes, after sales care!
Customer happiness. Yes, how happy are your customers? The happier your customer the more likely they will tell others and spread the word! Ambassadors to your brand!
- How? Liaising with clients before and after a purchase, is it working for them? Anything we can do to improve? Being transparent.
Your people, how happy are your staff and how productive are they? Do they believe in your brand? Yes, I mean it!
Getting them involved, asking their opinions and acting on some of them that work for the business!
It is worth adding that if you are annoying your clients and always looking for new ones, it will take you approximately 6 times the cost of retaining your current customers! That’s hard work!
Take away tip 
You will have several brand ambassadors! These can be suppliers, friends and customers. Develop these relationships. They love your brand, so reward them. A simple compliments slip in the post “Dear Mark, thank you for sharing our content, its wonderful to have such a great follower. All the best”