I recently read the current issue of Deliver Magazine. This is a terrific magazine for generating innovative and effective marketing ideas. It does tend to promote Direct Mail since it is a USPS publication. The associated website is chock full of great info as well, including this article about measuring Social Media.
Now, to tackle the challenge of measuring the effectiveness of media, especially traditional sources. (i.e. Newspaper, Radio, TV, magazines, etc.) Call Source is an excellent service. It lets you purchase an exclusive (1-800) telephone number to use in your marketing. By placing a different (1-800) telephone number in each of your ads, you can quickly determine which source is generating the most calls. Try using it on a variation of different ads to fine tune your campaign. One other nifty feature offered is the ability to record calls so you can review them later. This allows you to provide useful feedback to your sales and customer service staff. This service works great for print, radio, tv, and the internet!
For internet marketing, there are tons of analytic tools available online, many for free. One simple idea for tracking your results is creating a customized URL and associated landing page for each advertisement. For example, if you were to advertise on the CBT website, you would create a customized webpage on your own website that has the URL www.yourdomain.com/CBTwebsite. Just change the name behind the backslash after the domain name to indicate which source it represents. Your website operator should be able to provide you with a report on the number of landings, and other relevant information.
Finally, one other word of caution. For years I have heard, “We ask our customers how they heard about us.” I hate to burst your bubble, but it’s a good bet the answers you received were inaccurate. Many people don’t know why they finally chose your business over a competitor. They pay far less attention to marketing than you and I do.
There is a popular story amongst marketing professionals that dates back to the 1980’s. Company XYZ did a tracking study to determine where customers learned about the grand opening of its newest store. The store manager asked each person how they learned about the grand opening event. Most people responded they had seen the TV ads. The company didn’t run any TV ads. It had primarily focused on using radio and a small print schedule.
Human nature causes many people to not be willing to admit they don’t know when asked a direct question. Or even worse, they tell you what they think you want to hear. (Coke found this out when they did market research before launching New Coke.)
If you prefer, there are many fine advertising agencies in Columbia that would love the opportunity to work with you and help devise an appropriate course of action
Tags: Call Source, Direct Mail, internet, marketingCategories: Advertising, Business Development, Marketing.
