The ill-deserved fate of marketing is it still has not figured out a way to be able to track itself. Yes, mediums like Analytics, call tracking and coupon codes have provided an avenue for businesses to begin understanding what they are doing. However, the nature of the market still has prevented many businesses from understanding how they get their revenue. Yesterday I was in a sales call where the prospect discussed how he was spending thousands of dollars a month and to this day he did not know if it was helping him sell his product. He told me it was the nature of business and that its hard to justify when you don’t know.
Just Because It’s Not Perfect, Doesn’t Mean You Can Skip It
This leads me to a more generalized discussion on Marketing. First off, you really should be tracking as much as you can. The difference between a good business and one that doesn’t make it is one that understands how it makes its money. So to all you small business owners and entrepreneurs, take the time to really implement tools and systems that will help you understand this. I know its scary because you don’t want to waste time or spend resources on trying to set up tracking systems that just seem like extra. However, you will never realize how much money you are wasting if you aren’t checking. Now everyone will say that to you and I’m sure you’ve heard it yourself as a business owner, but let me pose it to you in a way that may make more sense:
You’d like to make some more revenue on a new product you are about to launch. A variety of digital marketing opportunities now exist:
- Pay Per Click – Google AdWords: $250 a Month
- Mailer Program: $500 a Month
- Magazine Advertising: $1200 per Ad
- Social Media Advertising: $250 a Month
- Linkbuilding Campaign: $1000 a Month
Now before any of the Marketing pundits attack me for these inaccurate numbers, I want to say that I kind of just made these up. This is a hypothetical case. Well anyways, as a business owner if you are launching a new campaign, you have five options. This does not mean that you will ONLY be paying $250 a month if you go with the first option. This means you will be $250 a month in addition to what you are already paying for your current Marketing operations. So if you are currently paying $2000 a month for your marketing, your increasing with whatever you decide above.
Do You Have the Information to Make That Decision?
When you have that choice, do you feel confident enough to make a decision about the five? The pressure will be on if you already have $2000 coming out of your pocket. So I urge everyone, do your part and track your marketing to the best of your ability. Because if you have been tracking, you might figure out social media hasn’t really been bringing in much return. But AdWords has. Well, then you can subtract the $250 from Social Media and replace it with AdWords. Thus your saving money while making more money.
Tracking seems extraneous and a little impossible, but as a business, if you want to be successful, you really need to be putting these tracking programs in place. That doesn’t mean you need to go overboard and know that when people look at a billboard a month ago and they came in today, that you should know-how. But here are little things you can do. I’ve actually written on this topic before, so here are some surprisingly easy tips to get started tracking.
