Smart Marketing

                                                                              May 2009

 
"They can conquer who believe they can."  - Virgil
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RESOURCES
Marketing Profs
www.marketingprofs.com is one of my favorite resources. They send me weekly snippets of marketing inspiration, many of which can be read in 60 seconds.  Click on my website to review their past articles on:
  • Small Business
  • Marketing Inspiration
  • Customer Behavior
  • B2B Marketing
  • Email Marketing
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Greetings! 
This month's newsletter focuses on the importance of measuring your marketing efforts. 
Is your advertising effective? 
How do you know?
Is your communication cutting-edge?
How can you tell?
Is your marketing on target?
Who says?
It doesn't matter what parameters you use, but you've got to agree on a baseline and goal for measurement and comparison. Then, whatever metric you use, give yourself at least a year to track the results.
Pick your standards. Pick your measurements. Set your standards as high as your dare - then live up to them. If you live up to your standards, it will change not just your business, but your life. 
You Can't Manage What You Don't Measure
All the best,
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Don't Compare Apples and Oranges
apples and oranges
"When marketers focus on what others in the industry are achieving," says Kollas, "they are spending less time focusing on their own programs.  To me, it shouldn't matter what others are achieving; it matters what you are achieving."
The Debate Between Hard and Soft Marketing Results
 
dashboard A recent blog post discusses an ongoing debate between "Hard" and "Soft" marketing proponents on the best way to measure ROI.
The Hard Marketing Camp  wants to tie everything to sales metrics saying anything that doesn't result in a revenue measurement doesn't count.
The Soft Marketing Camp, on the other hand is focused on initiatives that drive engagement, conversations, interactions, awareness and brand.
The blog writer argues that you need both. "In [any sale] you can't get to revenue without Soft Camp initiatives. In fact, the more 'social' marketing becomes, the higher a degree of Soft will be needed to generate Hard results."

Try Analytics The Natural Way

Google Analytics

There are a number of simple ways to filter through the numbers when you are measuring the success of your natural search campaigns. Try taking these straightforward steps:
Compare current-month data to previous-month data. This can provide a quick snapshot of how your site is doing from an organic-search perspective.
Examine past-quarter data. These types of comparisons (1Q09 to 4Q08; 1Q09 to 1Q08) may provide greater insight than the normal month-to-month comparisons.
Compare Year-over-Year (YOY) data. Doing YOY comparisons by month will bring to light any emerging trends your site is experiencing, whereas a full YOY comparison can highlight the longer-term impact of a new product or service.
Review Year-to-Date (YTD) data to identify interesting and meaningful trends that are more recent.
Look for discrepancies within trends. Identifying a weird spike or unlikely dip can help you adjust your online efforts.