Are you tirelessly spearheading rock solid, jaw-droppingly creative marketing campaigns and getting nothing but, “So what was my return on investment for that?” as your feedback?
Business owners are often driven by two things and two things only: results and performance. They hired you with hopes of making the company more money…and the only way you can convince them that inbound marketing works is by literally spelling it out for them…in hard numbers.
In other words, your boss will believe in your methods if and only if he/she sees an influx of customers/sales/traffic…you get the picture.
You know that inbound marketing is the hot new way to reach out to your customers, build strong relationships and nurture potential customers faster than ever before; but if you want to convince others, it’s time to get serious about setting the right goals and providing visible evidence that those goals are being accomplished.
Here a few questions you can ask yourself:
- What do I measure when it comes to inbound marketing?
- Which metrics and numbers am I looking for?
- Do I need to analyze anything?
There is a plethora of metrics to choose from, but which ones matter? I mean think about it, there are clicks, likes, shares, leads, followers and so many more!
You can easily determine which metrics are most valuable to your company by looking at its key performance indicators (KPIs). In layman’s terms, KPI’s are simply the company’s objectives.
If you’re a video rental company, you measure your success based on information like how many people are renting videos from you and whether first time customers are regularly coming back for more. Of course, you’ll want to break these down into specific, measurable metrics…but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
It all starts with one amazing plan. To start that plan, ask yourself, “What are the right points to measure?” Then keep reading…the rest of this blog post will help you answer that question.
Not “The” Plan…YOUR Plan
First things first, what are you looking to accomplish? What are your goals around your brand, product and business?
For example, let’s say you want to have more website visitors (Who doesn’t!?). Be more specific – – more than what? Well, you can start with “more than last month.”
Last month’s numbers can serve as an anchor point. Make a realistic, specific goal of how many more viewers to accrue and, at the end of the month, compare the new number to the old number. If it’s growing, use this information to put a smile on your boss’ face!
Here are some common goals that you’ll want to consider:
- Increase brand awareness
- Increase website traffic
- Increase sales
- Build your list
- Increase customer engagement
- Build loyalty
- Build relationships
- Increase top of mind awareness
Still wondering how you would measure certain items on that list? Well, each of these goals requires a different analysis.
You always want to lean towards the most actionable metrics – the ones you can use to measure whether your inbound marketing is working.
So when does the “magic moment” occur for your customer? This is the moment when they transform from their current state to the happy state. It’s the moment your brand has earned a loyal customer.
For Gbox, this is the moment when the customer first makes money from their videos. That one moment provides the instant gratification and the rush of adrenaline that gets them to keep using the platform again and again. If you identify when this moment happens for your leads, you can get specific in your goals and drive your customers right to that moment as quickly as possible.
What Doesn’t Matter
“Vanity metrics matter”…said No One Ever!
You can create social media posts all day long but what’s the point if they are not ringing the bank account? Vanity metrics are those that look good from the surface but don’t do anything for you in terms of your business and what you’re looking to achieve. For example, gaining thousands of followers on social media may not be to your advantage if those followers are not targeted specifically within your market. It might look good to have 10k likes on Facebook, but it might not increase in sales if those likes aren’t coming from hot leads.
Don’t make the mistake of wasting your energy on activities that don’t lead to profitability for the company!
Once you have the points you want to measure in place you can then go about building a brand presence. This is where most businesses fall off because building a brand presence is not an overnight job; it may require a lot of patience!
You are essentially banking on getting found, making sales, and above all, building trust.
Just About Every Business Owner’s Top Goal
One word: CONVERSIONS
Let’s get back to the beginning for a second.
I’m sure your ads, blogs and marketing swag look pretty. But how many organic leads are these items converting into customers? How many current customers are performing the desired actions that you’re encouraging them towards?
Conversions are the ultimate measurement of how successful your overall marketing efforts are.
Google Analytics offers the most commonly used, straight-forward tool for tracking these important conversion metrics. In it you can set your objectives and then, once conversions begin, use its reporting feature to find out how you’re really doing with your marketing.
Engagement Metrics?
Take a quiet minute to think of some other words that come to your mind when you think of the term “engagement.
Unless you’re planning a wedding, you probably came up with words like, “conversation,” “participation,” and “relationship.” At first, it seems counterintuitive to try and measure something so intangible. Well, thanks to the worldwide web, increasing engagement really is a measurable, actionable goal.
Our goal with Gbox has always been to create conversation around our brand. We want video creators (our target audience) talking to us and about us (to their like-minded friends!).
Some of our best leads come from referrals, so we will do whatever it takes to get those mouths a’ gabbing and those fingers a’ typing “Gbox” all day long!
Pay attention to social media posts, blogs and similar items to see which ones get the most comments, likes, shares, etc. Keeping track of these items is the “metrics” part of tracking engagement, and the knowledge it provides you will direct your future topics and actions around your social activity.
ALSO – pay attention to which Social Media platforms get you the most shares or engagement! This is often different depending on your industry and your audience.
Use tools like BuzzSumo or SharedCount to track engagement.
Tip: Don’t get too caught up in how many people you’re reaching. We would happily take 100 target customers who engage over 10,000 followers who don’t engage and don’t purchase!
Organic is Good for the Body…Oh and Your Website, Too
As much as you enjoy your work, we know you don’t carve out precious time to post blogs, guest posts, tweets, and more just for the fun of it.
It’s all about those unique page views; specifically the ones you don’t pay for (via ads and promotional efforts). These items, when geared with a purpose, generate organic traffic.
At Gbox we make a point to pay attention to organic traffic separately from other leads. We want to know whether our efforts are reaching the right market.
One of the most important metrics to pay attention to comes back to conversions. Are these particular leads converting into revenue? Again, you can use Google Analytics conversion tool to decipher this.
Paying attention to these metrics has allowed us identify and focus on publishing/posting the types of content that generate the most successful leads. Follow suit and put a (huge) smile on that skeptical boss of yours.
It’s All About That LEAD GENERATION!
By now you get it – there are many different ways to generate leads and each of them need to be measured separately to gauge their success for your particular brand.
Sometimes the metrics hint at what you need to change in order to be more fruitful in your efforts. Other times they provide the “pecking order.” In other words, they help you determine which efforts to prioritize when allotting your time and budget.
Figure out which sources you should focus on first, and you’ll be able to deliver solid metrics that consistently remind your boss that “inbound marketing” is more than just a buzz word.
At Gbox, we recommend using tools like Moz Open Site Explorer, ahrefs or Majestic to find out where your traffic is coming from.
If you’re already running campaigns, utilize the reports in your CRM tool. Gbox uses Aweber. Check it out!
What’s the takeaway? By measuring and monitoring the right metrics, you can validate your inbound marketing and target it so that your tactics really work. What does this mean for the big boss?
More Leads. More Customers. Greater Insight.
That about covers it! What is your most successful inbound marketing action? Let us know in the comments below!
