20 Ways to Measure Marketing Effectiveness

Marketing without measuring is wasting money.
Do you know much your marketing is really worth? And, how much it is costing you? Without measuring and analyzing your marketing’s effectiveness, you won’t know whether it is extremely valuable or a misguided drain of resources. Marketing supports sales, but is measured differently. Marketing affects sales, but sales alone are not the true measure of all marketing effectiveness, since sales are affected by additional factors. Plan, track and analyze—and choose wisely. Here are 20 ways to get you started.

BEFORE:

1. Determine your goals and make sure they are realistic.
2. Develop tactics that provide lead generation.
3. Integrate your CRM strategy with marketing lead generation.
4. Set different goals for each tactic to measure the direct outcome of each, and remember: the simpler the metric, the clearer the impact.
5. Develop your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) prior to beginning, for a consistent analysis.
6. Only collect data you can actually use and have the ability to take action on.
7. Figure out who will be responsible for collecting and reporting your data.
8. Do brand identity analysis prior to and after the completion of a campaign, for a ‘before-and-after picture’ of your success.

DURING:

9. Know that not all marketing efforts are trackable/measurable as lead generators; for example, print advertising may build brand awareness, authority and thought leadership, but not measure as immediate sales.
10. When e-blasting, your click-throughs should be identifiable and reported to sales.
11. Track earned impressions (PR) and paid impressions (media placement).
12. Measure monthly web analytics.
13. Follow web conversions to actual customers.
14. Check impressions of your online advertising.
15. Determine click-through rate on online advertising.
16. Analyze open rates on eblasts.
17. Be ready to adapt as needed (must truly analyze, not just track, to be able to determine what actions to take).
18. Monitor tradeshow booth traffic patterns.
19. Ask your sales people what they are hearing about your marketing, and adjust accordingly.

ALWAYS:

20. Rely on a great agency partner like ColinKurtis to do all this for you.