One challenge that every marketer, in any industry, must face, is measuring the success of their campaigns. The latest CMO Deloitte survey, released in February this year, calculated that businesses spend, on average, 11% of their total operating budgets on marketing. That’s a significant chunk. Given the amount of time and money involved, it’s no wonder companies expect a healthy return on investment (ROI) from their marketing efforts.
Marketing spends are predicted to increase by 127% on mobile devices alone in the next three to five years. Emphasis on analyzing outcomes is greater than ever - the same survey found businesses are anticipating spending 375% more on marketing analytics over the same timeframe.
Fortunately, even for small businesses, there are a number of affordable tools out there to help you be proactive in monitoring the success of your marketing strategy and get the most bang for your buck:
Track the Success of Your Email Campaigns
Google Analytics has been a useful source for tracking email campaigns since its launch in November 2005, but it does not give you the complete picture. MailChimp and SendGrid are two well-known examples of email service providers (ESPs) who offer an analytics package but SalesHandy has the ability to measure conversion rates and track emails in greater detail.
SalesHandy allows sales and marketing teams to track the level of interest from particular clients or groups. This enables them to be more efficient in targeting and converting potential leads, while saying goodbye to prospects who have demonstrated a low level of interest.
Making Content Work for You
Content is the hot topic in marketing right now, with 70% of B2B marketers saying they were creating more this year than in 2016. Producing fresh and relevant content is no easy task, particularly for small businesses with limited resources.
ContenTools is a platform that helps companies to manage and organize content through a wide range of features including calendars and distribution tools. One of the key elements of the software is the ability to measure the performance of each written piece, which can be invaluable in producing quality content that delivers results.
Optimize Your CRM
Relationships are changing but their importance remains the same.
In the digital age, it can be easy to overlook the importance of customer service, especially over the phone. Even if we can get the answers we want on online, many customers still prefer to deal with a person rather than a digital algorithm.
The appeal of interactive back office support centers such as Open Access BPO is an understandable one for businesses who do not have the resources to build a full in-house customer service team. Open Access offers a variety of multilingual support solutions, from call centers to content moderation.
As you would with any outsourced work, it’s important to implement a process where your service provider measures and reports on their results. If they are unable to provide the data or they underperform, take the necessary steps to resolve the issue.
Another common challenge lies in tracking communication with your customers and ensuring their information is up to date. By aggregating customer data into one platform shared across your company, a service like SuperOffice can have a significant impact on resolving the issues that impede efficient Customer Relationship Management (CRM). SuperOffice gives your team access to every customer interaction: from sales history; to phone calls; to emails, all in one place. It is a great way to see how your business is performing in CRM and - added bonus - help you to identify your most valuable customers.
Tracking Brick and Mortar Customers
With so much emphasis on analytical solutions for e-commerce, tracking CRM for “brick and mortar” stores has been somewhat overlooked. But there are a number of comprehensive platforms which enable retail stores to track and monitor patterns of customer behavior.
ShopperTrak and Blix are two such companies providing smart insights into customer behavior. Using Bluetooth and other advanced tools, their software can measure conversion rates, how much time people spend per visit, and even the effect of marketing campaigns.
The results of this data can then be used to identify areas where retail stores can improve.
Conclusion
Until recently, it was a given that determining the success of marketing strategies and customer service initiatives could be vague due to the challenges of gauging accurate results. Technology has made that assumption obsolete.
You can now measure ROI using a number of metrics including content performance, foot traffic, and conversion rates. Software platforms make it easier than ever before to collate and organize sales and customer data. Businesses can then analyze different aspects of customer behavior such as the duration of customer visits, how often they come to the store, or how much they spend.
Developments in technology have also led freelancers and outsource companies to provide compelling evidence of ROI from their work. This can be leveraged to the advantage of your business and empowers you to make sure you’re getting value for money.