« back

Track Your Marketing

By Jacqueline Drew
START Marketing Inc.
www.startmarketing.com

Where do your clients come from? The amazing answer to that question is, 99 out of 100 times, you probably don't know! I'll tell you why. It's because like almost every other business I've ever encountered, you've never tracked it.

And then I have to point out: Why do any marketing at all if you don't know whether it's working? Just because you felt too guilty to say no to the advertising rep?

As George Bush would say “LET ME BE PERFECTLY CLEAR” there is no point in marketing if you are not going to track the results!

Why? Because let's face it, there are infinite ways to market any business. Take a look at the number of marketing books and ideas out there. Everything from calendars to vehicle graphics, to personalized chocolates, to charity sponsorships to superbowl ads. And you know what? Any of them could work to some degree. If you keep trying out everything, and tracking nothing, you could literally go on forever, never knowing whether you are doing the right thing! And with the vast majority of businesses doing just that, we have nothing but millions, billions or trillions of wasted marketing efforts every year!!

So for all you businesses out there who spend their marketing budgets without tracking them, I'm going to offer you one piece of simple advice. Keep a notebook by the phone. For every new customer that calls in, ask them “How you found out about our company?” and then write the name of the customer, the date, and how they found out about you. If it's a personal referral, ask the person who they were referred by, and note that down as well.

At then end of the year, tabulate how many leads you got from each of the advertising and marketing activities you did all year. If there are word-of-mouth referrals, send thank you notes to the people who referred. And for all other paid advertising and publicity, you will now know what to eliminate and what to keep in your budget for next year. With the things you decide to eliminate, try something new with that money, and once again, track everything for another year.

I believe that sometimes the simplest ideas are the best ones. And even without a top-notch marketing consultant like me helping you, I can guarantee that if you diligently track your marketing efforts every day, they will improve annually. So that in a few years time, you'll have a marketing system that works. And a much healthier business.