Here’s the honest truth: If you’re investing in advertising, your provider owes you the right to know whether or not it’s working for your business. Tracking your marketing return on investment, or ROI, can seem intimidating, but that doesn’t mean it should be avoided. In an effort to simplify things, here’s our take on what you need to know about tracking marketing ROI in 200 short and sweet words.
Whether you use radio, TV, magazine, or digital products to market your business, the same is true no matter the medium: Marketing campaigns must start with setting realistic goals. We recommend SMART goals, or goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely.
Now, how do you track those SMART goals?
Here’s an example: The overall purpose of your marketing campaign is to promote a new product. You create a landing page on your website showcasing this product. You decide that you want that page to generate 300 unique page views each month. You tie this page in with your traditional advertising by featuring a specialized URL in your radio ads. You utilize Google analytics or HubSpot marketing automation to track your views and determine if the campaign is achieving that benchmark.
In a more general sense...
It is crucial to pay attention to any leads generated and revenue lifts achieved during your marketing campaigns. Accurately attribute these results to your campaigns by including catchy, short URLs (like the technique we mentioned above); Calls-to-action that include a code that can be entered when website visitors fill out lead forms; or hashtags for social media engagement. Avoid weak methods of attribution including the "mention this ad" strategy or "check off where you heard about us" forms, as these are unreliable methods for tracking ROI.
