Have You Checked Your Marketing Results?

As we set our business goals each year, it’s a good time to see just how well our marketing worked last year. Have you checked your results recently?

In small business marketing, it’s crucial to see whether or not you’ve reached your goals. You want to get the most out of every marketing dollar spent, right?

Knowing what’s NOT working is just as important as knowing what is and what you should continue doing.

Let’s walk through steps that’ll help you assess your marketing. We’ll tell you what to look for and where to find it.

If your business is just getting started and doesn’t have a marketing history to look back on, see our tips on building a marketing action plan.

What is (or was) your goal?

The overall question we’re answering here is: Did we reach our goal?

So, of course, the first thing to ask is what was your goal? What goal were you trying to reach with your marketing in the past year?

You might say it was to increase sales, but by how much and in what way? If you read our post on “Why a contractor (or any small business) needs a marketing strategy,” you’ll know a goal should be specific and measurable.

If your goal is to increase sales, it can be measured in different ways. Here are just a few:

• By percentage increase
• By total dollar amount increase
• By the number of new customers
• By an increase in average order value

Decide on your specific goal, if you haven’t already, then look for indicators.

What should you look for?

With your goal in mind, the next question to ask is what metrics or indicators will tell you you’ve reached that goal?

Here are a few standard metrics for various goal types.

To assess if sales increased:

• Check year-end sales figures
• Check sales numbers online (if you use ecommerce)
• Track number of customers or average order value internally

To measure lead generation:

• Track inbound phone calls from leads
• Track inbound emails or contact forms from leads
• Also, track conversions (number of inbound leads vs. closed sales)

To measure client retention or loyalty:

• Track how many clients have bought more than once in the past year and compare percentage to previous (or future) years

To measure referrals or reviews:

• Check number of new reviews vs. number of clients
• Compare number of referrals to previous/future years
• Check review ratings online

To measure visibility online:

• Check site ranking in Google
• Check website traffic increases or decreases
• See impressions or the number of views in social media over time
• Check social sharing of your posts or articles
• Measure website traffic by source (i.e. percentage of visits from Google searches vs. from social media, emails, etc.)

There are many other, more detailed, metrics, but this list will get you started. Choose the ones that are most important to measuring the success of your goal. Then keep your list accessible so you can check monthly, quarterly or yearly.

If you work with a consultant like us, you’ll get a monthly report with these metrics or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as we call them.

Now that you know what kinds of information to look for, let’s talk about where to find this information.

Where can you find the metrics you need?

Various sources will help you check your results and they depend on where you’re marketing.

If we assume you have a website (with Google Analytics installed – ask your web developer) and you’re using social media, you can count on the sources below to check the goals we mentioned.

For sales metrics, check:

• Your P&L statement and internal accounting records
• Website or ecommerce platform for online sales (Shopify, WooCommerce, Stripe, PayPal, etc.)
• Internal records for the number of customers or average order value

To measure lead generation:

• See website for number of inbound emails or lead forms (You can also set a goal to track this in Google Analytics)
• Track inbound phone calls with a manual call log (Ask prospects where they heard about you)
• Can also track inbound calls with a phone number used only for promotions or on your site with systems such as CallRail or CallTrackingMetrics.
• Track conversions (inbound leads vs. closed sales) manually or check site data if sales are online
• Track leads from clicks that came from email newsletters or promotions.
• Manually log leads from other sources, such as private messages on social media

To measure client retention or loyalty:

• Use internal sales records to track repeat clients
• Use website data if sales are online

To measure referrals or reviews:

• Track referrals with a manual log and/or online system
• Claim your profiles online to get notifications of new reviews on Google Maps, Yelp, Facebook and others
• Check review ratings online manually or use a system like Trust Pilot to collect them.

To measure visibility online:

• Use tools like SEMRush or Ahrefs to see how your site ranks in Google for a few keywords (Free versions are limited, but show enough to give you an idea.)
• Check website analytics for number of visitors and their source or where they came from, i.e. from Google searches vs. Facebook
• See reports on social media dashboards in Facebook, Instagram or others for impressions, views and engagement

This is an example of what you can do to assess overall goals. As you can see, your main sources of data include your company’s internal records, your website and its analytics, and other marketing sites, such as social media or email/call providers. If you’re promoting your company in print or on TV or radio, you’ll need data from those sources as well.

Tie it all together

All of your information should come together to paint a picture that tells you how your marketing is performing. If sales are up, check to see if online leads or forms contributed to that.

Are marketing efforts helping you reach your goal? Is there a good return for your marketing budget or investment?

You might be surprised at the kinds of insights you’ll gain from this process.

Don’t discount marketing’s supporting role

While you’re at it, don’t discount the value of the supporting role marketing often plays. Some tactics might not lead to sales right away, but will put your name in front of a broader audience – leading to sales later on. These long-term tactics are still worth using.

We hope this gives you an overview of what to look for when assessing your marketing.

Need help? Contact us for help tracking results or to start on a new marketing plan.