What am I paying for? It’s usually the question that you ask after you write the check. That’s not a good thing.
Return on Investment (ROI) shouldn’t be a mystery, but when it comes to the return on marketing dollars, to paraphrase Churchill, ”It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” Every business markets itself, and most will market across multiple channels. Radio, television, and print sales folks will tell you what the latest ratings are, extrapolate a rough number of viewers/listeners/readers, and then spur your imagination with a vision of throngs of people clamoring for your products and services. After this first adventure in media buying, most owners are filled with hope. And then you wait and wait for those mythical throngs. And the second guessing begins.
In the digital age, the mystery of marketing ROI deepens. An increasing number of consumers depend on digital marketing to make most of their decisions. This has created a dramatic movement of marketing dollars from traditional media to digital media. So why is it so difficult to quantify the ROI. Duke University’s CMO Survey of the top businesses in the country last fall revealed that 90% utilize digital marketing and social media, 80% percent use primarily for branding, only 15% say that they can actually quantify ROI.
Branding is hugely important but most business owners want to cut to chase. See the commercial. Jump in the car. Buy stuff. Busy humans aren’t wired that way. They want to be reminded continually in a digital language that they understand and talk to others about their buying decisions. You can certainly track the last click that goes to your website or calls from the smart phone, but what about the first click? When was the first time they heard about you, or did they just make their decision based on a person-to-person recommendation? Even the best digital marketers in the country can’t quite figure the mystery out.
Before we throw up our hands and surrender to the Unknowable, let’s try a few things to put your mind at ease.
- Find out why your customers are patronizing your business. Chances are you thought that information was being collected through a short customer survey by the nice person at your front desk. Check it out. Maybe you need to reevaluate the ROI from your personnel dollars! If you can get the customer info, you are much closer to solving the marketing dollars mystery.
- Turn your customers into a sales force. Give them ways that they can share their good news with their friends like special invites, a short video testimonial, some free stuff, etc. You will increase your sales and create a sales conduit that you can easily track for ROI.
- Look at utilizing a good Customer Relationship Management System. It will help you organize and track all of the touches between you, your customers, and potential customers.
- Make sure you have a digital marketing plan pay attention to it.
- Hire a knowledgeable digital marketing person you can trust to help you make prudent marketing decisions.
You now have taken the first steps in solving the mystery. Call us to help ensure your journey at 702-682-8300.
