We are halfway through the year already, so now is a good time to review your marketing plan. Hopefully, you review your plan on a frequent basis. If not, today is a good day to start.
Reviewing your marketing metrics is an important part of reviewing and adjusting your marketing plan. Here are three tips that may help you get more from your marketing metrics:
Identify metrics to discard– I’m a big fan of metrics, so this one may seem a little odd. Once businesses start using metrics, I find that not having enough metrics is rarely a problem. It is common to have too many – to be measuring for the sake of measuring. If we have metrics that never spur us to action, why are we tracking them? Focus on the ones that help you improve your business.
Focus on what you can control – Metrics often focus on outcomes that you can influence but don’t control – sales, web visits, event attendance, etc. Don’t forget to also measure the activities you do control – things like blogging, participating in social media conversations, networking, etc. If you are doing the activities (networking) and not getting the desired result (sales), then it is time to evaluate your assumptions, skills and tactics to make the necessary adjustments.
Look for metrics that predict – Most metrics, particularly those tied to financial data, tell us what happened in the past. While this may be useful information, there is little we can do to change the past. What if you could find measurements that would help us see what is coming and take advantage of that knowledge? Do you receive more referrals when the number of referrals you give increases? What does the increase or decrease in the number of customer complaints tell you about next month’s sales expectations?
The planning process is more important than the plan. Use metrics in your planning process to improve your marketing and make the second half of this year even more successful than the first.
