Tracking Campaign Success or Failure

There are some things they don't teach you in school. I remember professors stressing that tracking is an important part of  your marketing plan, but I never really knew what that meant at the time. Most of the plans I wrote in school were hypothetical, so I just had to write down how I would track the results, I never ACTUALLY had to do it.

A simple rule of thumb, when writing your marketing plan, is that for every objective there is a strategy, many tactics, and a tracking component.

Let me tell you one little secret, hypothetically plannig how to track your marketing campaign is nothing like the real thing... but then again, nothing is. Real life marketing plans require more in depth tracking strategies, especially if you work for a large organization that has tried very few new strategies.

If Digital Marketing is new  to your organization, then the comprehensive tracking of results is required in order to determine its success. How do we do this, you ask? Anything you post online can be traced (read further for details)

Videos get hits, display ads get clicked on, and websites generate traffic.

Even traditional marketing can be tracked, however it may just be a little more difficult to do. For instance, radio ads will never truly go away but how do you know if your customer came to buy your product or service because of your ad on the radio? By asking them.

The same can be said for print ads or direct mail; however, in both cases you should have a strong call to action. Your contact information will be on the ad, so why not create a landing page for that particular ad which can be tracked with Google Analytics. In case you don't already know, Google Analytics is a site designed by Google which allows you to see where your website traffic is coming from, and if you have organic or referral traffic going to your website.

It even allows you to see where your referrals are coming from; it's a beautiful thing.

In order to simplify things, you can have a specific call to action for different advertising mediums. For instance, you can encourage your print (if you are still using print to advertise) customers to call a certain number (which can be tracked), you can have your radio customers visit your website or social media pages (which can also be tracked), and you can have your online display ads go to a designated landing page(you guessed it, it can be tracked as well)

It's all a matter of organization, and planning ahead.

Tracking your campaign doesn't have to be time consuming, apply my suggestions and you will save some time before your next launch. If you must write a year-long marketing plan, do it from a 30 thousand foot view and individualize your campaigns on a monthly or quarterly basis depending on your goals. Of course, these plans will require more details but can be properly executed.

Don't be afraid to try something new, it's a good way to learn what works best for your business. If you need help with your next marketing plan, execution, or tracking, send me a message and I will guide you throughout the process.

Fearless PR Services