Digital marketing is a big investment. Even though you’re busy, that doesn’t mean you should be left out of the loop on your digital marketing strategy. Your agency should be able to show you that you’re getting results that count. If you’re wondering how you can tell whether or not you have an effective marketing strategy, here are four things to look for.
Do You Have An Effective Marketing Strategy?
#1: Measurable Goals
Your goals, and the metrics used to measure them, will be unique to your business. A truly effective marketing strategy doesn’t use cookie cutter goals. The best way to make sure you’re getting results is to know exactly what you want. Make sure your goals are specific, clear, realistic and measurable.
So what do you want? A 10% increase in web traffic this year? To reach 5,000 Facebook fans by next month? 4 more leads this quarter?
Sit down with your digital team and set some goals!
#2: Regular Reports
You need to be kept in the loop. A good agency will involve you in the important decisions made on your strategy – they are there to make your life easier, but not to the extent that you’re kept in the dark.
We stay in touch with our clients and make sure they know that their strategy is working through regular reporting. (Want to see an example? Here’s a real report we did for Tytanium Ideas!)
Each month, quarter, or whatever time works for you, check in on your goals – how many Facebook page likes do you have? What’s your web traffic looking like? Do you need to make any adjustments in order to meet your deadline?
#3: Flexibility
What works for other companies your agency has worked with may not work for you. That’s okay. If you need your agency to track a different metric to prove ROI to your boss, just ask for it to be included in your report.
We create custom strategies for all of our clients in order to meet their goals. Some focus exclusively on building their brand on social platforms like Facebook, others get regular case studies to show off their great work, etc. An effective marketing strategy will be as unique as your business.
#4: An Evolving Strategy
Effective marketing doesn’t happen overnight. When you meet with your marketing team, evaluate what kind of progress you’re making towards your goals. What’s working? What’s not?
Replicate Success
If something is working, don’t mess with it. Your team should know what worked, and why.
Doing AB testing is a great way to know when something is working and when it isn’t. For example, when we make advertisements for our clients on Facebook, we only change one thing at a time from month to month. That way, when something goes well we know exactly which change had a positive impact so we can replicate it the next month.
Learn From Failure
Failure isn’t necessarily a bad thing around here – it means you tried something new and are still fine-tuning your strategy. If you don’t nail one of your goals, look at why your strategy didn’t work and what can be done better. Not meeting a goal doesn’t necessarily mean your marketing is ineffective, but it DOES mean your marketing team needs to adjust going forward.
If you find yourself asking whether or not you’re really getting effective marketing, take a minute to evaluate what you want out of your marketing. Are you getting the ROI you should be?
Ready to learn what effective marketing feels like? Give us a call!