BUILDING YOUR MARKETING PLAN - STEP 4: MEASURING THE SUCCESS OF YOUR EQUINE MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

Let's face it - marketing is time consuming and can be expensive. But without a doubt, it's necessary for the overall success of your business. Further, considering the details of your marketing results will help you gain insight into what’s working, what isn’t, and how to adjust your efforts as needed.  Luckily, since so much of today's marketing is focused on inbound, digital campaigns, we now have clear-cut methods for measuring success.

WHAT METRICS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED?

The results you choose to track will depend on the goals you have set and the strategies you have in place. Here are some examples:

Growth in organic web traffic – how many website visitors did you have?
Social engagement – how many new page likes, post likes, comments and shares were gained on FB and other social media platforms?
Lead generation – how many new subscribers have you received?
Conversion rate – how many new customers or inquiries did you earn and where did they come from?

TOOLS FOR TRACKING RESULTS

Google Analytics is by far the most valuable tool available to you as a marketer (and yes, unless you have a professional, paid staff to handle your marketing efforts, as a business owner you are a marketer.) It is an extremely robust platform and can be somewhat complicated, however learning the basics will be well worth your time.

Aside from the standard dashboard and statistics provided by Google Analytics, it also offers a a powerful tool called “Link Builder”. This allows you to create unique URLs (called UTM parameters) for each specific link you wish to track.  For instance, if you want to place a link to your most recent blog article in your email signature line, in an email campaign, in a Twitter post and in a Facebook post, you would create 4 specific links, all pointing to that one webpage. This VIDEO by KISSMETRICS explains exactly how to create your own UTM parameters.

SOME OTHER HELPFUL TOOLS INCLUDE

Surveys - Ask your customers how they found you.
Promo Codes - Request that your customers enter a code to get a certain item or discount, and use different codes with different campaigns.
Email Analytics - Use services such as Constant Contact, Mail Chimp and others which provide excellent link tracking services.
Social Media Analytics - Utilize Facebook business page and other social media platforms statistics on your individual posts and page engagement.
Google Alerts - Receive email notifications when your business name or blog post titles are mentioned online.

PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER - CREATE A MARKETING DASHBOARD

Excel is an excellent tool for tracking and analyzing your marketing results. List each individual campaign on the left side, then assign a column to each metric you want to track, then be sure to include the title of each campaign, the linked URL and the date.  Of course you'll want to list your goals either monthly, quarterly or by campaign, so you can compare them to your results to determine where you may need to adjust your efforts. 

Setting goals and systems for tracking your marketing results is critical to assure your progress is based on informed decisions rather than squandering your time and money without a clear path for success.   If you need help creating a plan or implementing smart strategies with measurable results, contact Carol@equineofficesolutions.com.  Then contact us to schedule a personal strategy session to learn how you can take your business to the next level and beyond. 

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Carol Aldridge is an Inbound Marketing Strategist & Business Support Specialist serving the equine industry for over 20 years. Her clients across the United States and Canada enjoy customized services designed to relieve workload pressure, streamline office procedures and maximize marketing results.
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