What’s working
How do I know if my marketing is actually working?
Track what you can, change one thing at a time, and use the business, not a prettier report, as the scorecard.
Short answer
You are probably doing too many things at once to know which one is making the difference.
The details
The full answer.
Some marketing is easy to track: someone clicks an ad, calls, fills out a form, books an appointment, or becomes a customer. Other things take a less direct path. A person may see your name a few times, hear about you from a friend, and search for you weeks later.
The real mess starts when everything changes at once. A new Google campaign, Facebook ads, a new website, mailers, and a radio spot can all make it impossible to tell what helped or what to stop.
What we’d do first
Take inventory of what you are paying for. Track the path to a real customer wherever you can, fix missing tracking, then test one meaningful change at a time and give it a fair shot.
More questions
Related questions.
What’s working
My marketing report says we’re doing great. Why doesn’t it feel that way?
Activity can be up while the business is not getting better. The definition of working has to include the business.
Read the answerBudget
How much should I spend on marketing?
There is no magic percentage. Start with an amount you can learn from without making the business nervous.
Read the answerWhat’s working
How long should I give a marketing campaign before deciding it isn’t working?
Some offers create action quickly; familiarity campaigns take longer. The question is whether the campaign is learning and improving.
Read the answerWant help with your version of this?
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