It's not enough to just advertise your products and services. You also need to track the performance of each promotional campaign to make sure you're spending your advertising budget wisely.
If you've never measured the success of your business promotion before, then you might be wondering where to begin. In this article, we'll share with you the most important metrics to measure the success of any business promotion.
Why should you measure the success of your business promotions?
The answer is simple: because it helps you manage your marketing efforts more effectively. If you know what works for your business, then you can use that knowledge to create new campaigns and improve existing ones.
Measuring the success of a business promotion allows you to determine whether or not your current marketing strategy is working. This will help you decide if you need to change your approach in order to get better results.
In addition to helping you make changes to your marketing plan, measuring the success of your business promo will give you an idea of how much money you are actually saving by using one particular method over another.
This information can help you save money on future marketing campaigns as well. For example, if you find out that your current business promotion isn't generating the desired response from customers, then you won't have to spend as much money on other types of marketing. Instead, you'll be able to focus all your resources on creating a successful new marketing campaign.
What metrics should you use to measure the success of your business promotion?
There are two primary ways to measure the success of a business promotion: quantitative and qualitative.
Quantitative measurements include things such as clicks, visits, and conversions. Qualitative measures include things such as comments, feedback, and ratings.
Both types of metrics are extremely useful, so it's important to measure both. However, there are some situations where only one type of metric makes sense. For example, if you're selling physical goods, then you probably wouldn't care much about qualitative data.
However, if you sell digital downloads, then you would definitely want to look at qualitative data.
Let's take a closer look at both types of metrics.
Qualitative Measures
These metrics help you learn more about your customers. They give you insights into their preferences, buying habits, and overall satisfaction.
For instance, you could ask customers to rate your website on a scale from 1-5 stars. You could also ask them to leave a comment explaining why they chose to buy from you instead of another competitor.
When analyzing qualitative data, you'll need to do a little bit of research first. Your customers may not be willing to tell you exactly why they bought from you. So, you'll need to figure out what questions to ask beforehand.
If you want to make sure that you're asking the right questions, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
- Ask open ended questions - These questions allow your customers to express themselves freely. Open ended questions typically start with "Why?" or "How?".
- Ask follow up questions - When people answer these questions, they often provide additional details. Follow up questions usually begin with "Can you explain further?" or "Do you mean this specifically?"
- Listen carefully - Pay attention to the tone of your customers' answers. Do they sound excited, angry, or indifferent?
Quantitative Measures
These metrics let you know how many visitors you have, and whether they converted into buyers. In other words, they show you how effective your marketing efforts were.
Here are some examples of quantitative metrics:
- Clicks - A click is simply a mouse action. If someone clicks on an ad, that means he saw it.
- Visits - Visits are counted by tracking the number of times someone enters your site. This includes page views, but does not count repeat visits.
- Conversions - Conversions happen when someone buys something from you. Conversions can occur through different channels. Here are some common ones:
- Direct - Buying online without going through any sort of intermediary (i.e., clicking on an advertisement).
- Indirect - Buying online via a third party website (i.e., shopping cart).
- Other Conversion Channels - Buying offline, buying multiple items at once, etc.
The most important thing to remember about conversion rates is that they vary depending on the product being sold. For example, if your goal is to sell books, then you should expect lower conversion rates than if you're trying to sell software.
In addition to knowing how many conversions you've had, it's also helpful to know which channel was responsible for each conversion. That way, you can focus your future promotions on those channels.
So, now that we've covered both types of measures, let's talk about how to use them together.
Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Metrics
You might think that combining qualitative and quantitative data would be difficult because they measure two different things. But, actually, there's no reason why you can't combine the two.
For example, suppose you wanted to find out which parts of your website convert better. You could conduct a survey where you ask customers to rate certain aspects of your website. Then, compare the results to the results of your quantitative analysis.
You could even go one step further and ask your customers what they liked best about your website. From their responses, you could determine what features of your website worked well.
This technique is called customer feedback analysis. It's especially useful if you don't have access to quantitative data.
Another option is to look at your competitors' websites. If you notice that they have higher conversion rates than yours, then you can make changes to your own site to increase its performance. This is called competitive research.
Of course, you'll want to do this only after you've determined whether or not your business promotion has been successful. Otherwise, you won't learn anything new!
What should you keep in mind in measuring business promotions?
- What are the goals of your business promotion? Before you choose any marketing strategy, you should know what your ultimate goal is. For example, if you're running an online store, then your goal might be to sell more products. If you're promoting a new product launch, then your goal may be to get as much exposure as possible so that people can learn about your product.
- How do you plan to measure the success of the promotion? After you've decided on your overall goal, you need to decide how you will measure the success of your business promotion. There are three basic ways to do this as discussed above — By using qualitative metrics, By using quantitative metrics, By combining qualitative and quantitative metrics.
Which method should you use? The answer depends on what type of promotion you're conducting. - How often will you measure the results of the promotion? The frequency at which you measure the results of your promotions depends on two factors —your budget and your time constraints.
For example, if you only have one day left in your current quarter, then you probably won't want to spend too much time tracking down data. Instead, you'd want to use the limited resources available to you to focus on other important tasks.
On the other hand, if you have several months until the end of the year, then you may want to set up regular reminders to check in on the progress of your promotions. - Who will be responsible for collecting the data? When you first start planning your promotions, you should think about who will be responsible for gathering the data. For example, if your company has multiple departments, then you may want someone in each department to collect the data.
- When will you evaluate the results of the promotion again? You don't necessarily need to wait until the end of the promotion to see how well it performed. In fact, you can reevaluate the results of your promotion anytime. However, there are times when it makes sense to hold off on evaluating the results of the promotion until after the promotion ends.
Here are three reasons why you should wait until the end of your promotion to evaluate the results:
a. You may find that your promotion didn't perform as well as expected
b. It may take longer than anticipated for your promotion to reach its full potential
c. You may not have enough time to make changes before the next promotion - What should you do if you find that the results aren't meeting expectations? If you find that the results of your promotion aren't meeting expectations, then you'll need to adjust your approach. Here are a few ideas for adjustments:
a. Change your goals
b. Change your strategy
c. Re-evaluate your promotional budget
d. Start over with a new promotion - Should you run more or fewer promotions? There is no right answer to this question. It really depends on what kind of business you're running and what type of customer you're trying to attract.
If you're selling products or services where people are willing to pay for them, then you should definitely run more promotions. On the other hand, if your product or service is free or requires users to register for access, then you should probably run fewer promotions. - Do you need to track the performance of every single promotion? No. While it's tempting to try to track the performance of each individual promotion, this isn't necessary. The reason is because you can get a lot of information from looking at the overall performance of your entire marketing campaign.
For example, if you're using Facebook ads to promote your website, then you can look at the number of clicks, impressions, conversions, etc. This gives you an idea of whether or not your ad was effective. - Are there any special considerations when measuring the success of business promotions? Of course! If your business offers subscriptions or memberships, then you'll want to be sure to include those in your calculations. Also, if you offer discounts or rebates, then you'll want calculate the value of those discounts so that you can compare their impact on sales.
- How do you determine which types of promotions work best? The key is to test different types of promotions to figure out which ones work best for your business.
To start, you can simply ask yourself some questions like:
a. Which types of customers respond best to my promotions?
b. Which types of promotions generate the most leads?
c. Which types generate the highest conversion rates?
In conclusion, if you're looking to promote your business, you should measure the results of any promotion before you spend too much money. This will give you a better idea of which promotions work and which ones don't. Once you have a clear picture of what works, you can use that information to plan future promotions.
How We Can Help
Colonial Promotions has been helping businesses grow through our promotional products. Our goal is to help you achieve your business objectives by offering high-quality products at affordable prices. However, we will not simply provide promotional products for you. We will also be your partner in understanding if your promotions using our products are working. We will make suggestions based on our experience and knowledge of how to maximize the effectiveness of your promotions. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you with your next promotion!