Finding new and exciting ways to increase your brand exposure online is always a good idea. You’re going to be meeting with your teams or agencies and spending a good amount of time brainstorming and strategizing to get the best possible ideas out to your marketplace as efficiently and operationally sound as possible. You’re also going to want to get these out to your market within the fastest possible timeframes too because after all is said and done, time is money, and sure, we all want to make our businesses more professional but we want to be smart about it too.
So that’s what we’re expanding on today. How do you quantify all of the time you’ve spent brainstorming and strategizing? How do you attach a dollar value to those pursuits and more importantly, how do you ensure that you’re getting more out of your projects in revenue and turnover than what you’ve put in?
It’s the best possible time of year to be thinking about these things because in just a few short moments we’re going to usher in 2022 and that means that there is going to be tons of new year energy and positivity around to harness, and we all want to snatch as much of that as we can.
KNOW THE NUMBERS, WORK THE NUMBERS
So we have to start where the process is going to end, financially speaking anyway, and this means that you have to look back over the previous year’s performance numbers. This is a slightly unorthodox way of doing this but stick with us. Work your way through your quarterly performance this past year and determine which marketing campaigns contributed what dollar amount - it doesn’t have to be exact but this process will allow you to understand your successes and which strategies fall into the “not so much” column.
Once you’ve completed this process you’ll have both a base from which to plot your new year strategies and you’ll know what worked for you and what didn’t. Hindsight is 20/20.
If you haven’t recorded the amount of time spent in meetings, zooms, conference calls, etc. - then make it your priority moving forward, because without this information it’s tough to break down your hourly cost ratios versus what each campaign yielded. Now, it’s not an exact science, but it’s not a bad way to keep your eye on the ball.
Even small businesses can benefit from doing this and if you’re bigger than small, keeping it simple can be a precious game changer for you if you have overly complicated or inflated marketing and sales plans. Learning how to create the formula that will guide you along the way to understanding your spend versus yield is a great place to start.
NOW, GET SMART ABOUT IT
As you begin setting your ROI goals, be certain that your goals follow the SMART strategy:
They must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timed. SMART. This is another reason why it’s a good idea to look back before moving forward because you’ll be able to cut through the clutter and waste with an honest reflection. As a general rule of thumb, a good ROI is getting $5 in sales for every $1 you spend, this is a widely accepted goal in business but moreover, is considered achievable.
PAID ADVERTISING - YOU’LL WANT THIS
An effective strategy for most business models, “paid advertising” when executed correctly and intelligently can form a solid bedrock for your online marketing strategy and deliverables. Now, it can be challenging to figure out what pay-per-click (PPC) platforms are the best ones for your particular business model or sector, but regardless of those considerations budget is ultimately going to be the kingmaker. Some ads can cost a few cents per click, but this number can increase dramatically to as much as $200 per click, so know what you’re doing and with whom.
Remember that you only get what you pay for - while you’re paying for it, so the only way to measure the success of paid advertising is to analyze the contact you enjoyed from specific ads and how much of that contact resulted in conversations.
GET YOUR WEBSITE DONE, RIGHT
This cannot be stressed enough as there are still far too many businesses with ineffective or improperly designed websites that are simply not fit for purpose. You don’t want a website that looks great and feels great but has so many moving parts that visitors click the “x” button before they’ve even seen the “contact us” page. So take a look at your website, analyze all of the “machinery” that makes your site work and try to experience what your potential customers will experience when interacting with your site, and then find ways and get some help to improve your website.
SHARPEN YOUR FOCUS
There are at least half a dozen more areas that we can expand on to better understand the ROI percentages that you should be reaching for, but all of these areas don’t mean anything to you as the business owner if you don’t have your focus in the right places first.
This begins with knowing who you are as a business owner and what your business does - really does. The spaces in between will always be fluid and that’s great, but don’t get sucked into elaborate and complicated online marketing deals and strategies with endless companies all vying for your business. This could lead to costly spending that you won’t always get back, and more to the point, might not know how to track success anyway.
So, be sure that the time you’re spending calculating ROI doesn’t have an impact on your ROI for starters, and then focus on setting up your first quarter marketing plans as soon as you return to work in the new year. The good news is that no matter how early or late you are to the party, it’s never a bad idea to know what your business is doing with its money, right?
Harnessing the power of the new year’s vibes is an awesome tool for our businesses, as our teams come back from vacations refreshed and refocused, don’t kill those spirits with boring and antiquated meeting strategies - get busy redesigning your marketing ideas and processes into innovating and real solutions, that work.