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In life, men lie...women lie...but numbers... never lie. Good numbers like profit margin and bad numbers like those pesky ones we see on the bathroom scale tell the truth, regardless of when we want to believe otherwise. That's why tracking your marketing analytics or your data numbers in business is so important - you are able to factually measure and quantify your actual results. This will help you define the success of your overall marketing efforts and give you the information you need to know how to improve.
Numbers Are Not Subjective
It doesn’t matter who you are, how strong or resilient. At some point, all of us will have thoughts or emotions that fail us in the end. One thing we can all rely on, though, no matter what, are facts, or more specifically, the numbers. Therefore, key performance indicators and marketing analytics are much better ways to evaluate your rate of return on your marketing efforts. Everyone is a hero in their own story. In business, optimistic marketers and business owners will believe that their efforts are working. But just because you want it to be true doesn't mean that it is. Optimism absolutely has its place, but it should be balanced with a long hard look at the metrics. If the numbers tell a different story, adjustments need to be made in order to meet your marketing goals.
Response Versus Results
It can be tempting to put more weight on response to your business or advertising, rather than the results. It’s understandable. Response is great! Marketing response is an important indicator that people are hearing and responding to your marketing efforts - but you can't pay bills with response. You pay bills with results - when people work through the levels of response and end up making a purchase. Therefore, track response...but focus on results. Response metrics are things like like qualified leads generated, website organic traffic and CTR (click-through-rate). Results metrics include things like close ratio, average order and sales. Remember, brand recognition is crucial, but it must ultimately lead to results. The ultimate goal of marketing is to drive sales.
Track The Things That Matter
Every business is different and yours is no exception. Therefore, what you track will differ depending on your business' goals. For example, business may want to track new business or they may prefer to focus on customer retention. They may want to track net profit, average orders or focus on sales activity like closing ratio, conversions or lead flows, etc. What you track depends on what your goals are, and as goals change, so may the data you monitor. What marketing metrics could you be tracking now to better help you contemplate your overall ROI in your business? Begin with the end in mind: What do you want your end result to be? Then, work backwards and determine the steps that best help you get there.
Start Small
We get it. There are tons of different types of marketing metrics that you could track. This fact can be understandably overwhelming. It's important to focus. We suggest start small. Pick 3-4 of the most important metrics and be consistent. Time reveals trends and an important story begins to take shape. As you figure out what outcomes you want, expand from there. Remember, tracking numbers just to track them doesn’t actually help you that much. Hone in on key metrics and then work to help these numbers improve. Loads of data is overwhelming, not necessarily more beneficial.
Bottom Line: We Are Here to Help
Let our team help by guiding you in what and how to track results. Remember, the numbers won’t lie. Let our team of experts help you track the right metrics for your business, helping you become more successful. Then, sit back and see the results of your efforts. Contact us today for a no-obligation consultation. You don’t have anything to lose by letting us explain how the right numbers can help you improve your metrics and your results.
