Advertising is the bread and butter of successful businesses, and it is a wise business strategy for you to be able to test, track and measure advertising and marketing investments. In order to best track your advertising costs, it is important that you carefully document and keep records of every such expenditure.
It’s counterproductive to simply blindly advertise and market yourself; instead, you need to draw up a budget, figure out the best ways of marketing your company, and then make the necessary expenditures while adhering to the advertising and marketing budgets. If you are utilizing Internet sites like Google and Facebook, where you only pay when the other party clicks on the link, then you should document how many clicks you’re getting.
If there are only a handful, in which you would not be paying much in costs, then clearly there is a problem with the way you’re advertising. If there a lot of clicks, where you could potentially spending a lot of money, yet no new business is coming forward, then you need to figure out if the ad is the problem or the means by which you advertise.
The best business strategy for measuring your advertising and marketing returns begins with drawing up a document that includes all of your potential leads. You should document where the leads originated, if they have the potential to become qualified customers, and what are they are looking to buy.
Because you want to forecast the total number of sales and man hours per lead, you will want detailed information such as how the lead is connected to your company, is he affiliated or working with any of your competitors, and what is his role within their company.
It is also a good idea to invest in a contact management solution. This business strategy helps you measure advertising results by allowing you to document all relevant information, ensuring your staff will interact with all leads and form positive relationships, and capture information from each lead coming from the advertising sources
Of course, simply asking the lead how he learned about your company is a fine business strategy to measure advertising and marketing. This is a simple yet efficient means of attaining the desired information.
Measure and monitor your advertising and marketing. Find and invest in what’s working and cut everything else.
Post your low cost favorite methods of advertising and or marketing below.