RETURN ON MARKETING INVESTMENT
Can we talk about Marie Kondo for a minute? Yes, I am one of the many people who was drawn into her Netflix series, and I adopt her approach to cleaning. Well, really, I admire her respect for what she is doing, regardless of how mundane it may seem to some of us. (If it is worth doing, it is worth doing with respect.) I’m not one to collect clutter anyway, but I take time to clean up all the papers, files and data that accumulate within a year. It gives me a feeling that I have cleaned up my mess (and am ready to make a new one). Kindergarten rules – clean up after yourself!
This is a good frame of mind for reviewing your company’s marketing KPIs and analytics to make sure you are tracking and relying on data that is representative of the real return on your marketing investment (ROMI). At least once a year, do a solid sit down and clean up any messes, get rid of what’s not working anymore and consider new ways to look at your data. And, of course, keep anything that sparks joy, be it in the form of sales, engagement or clicks.
One might start the review of marketing analytics by checking to see if you are tracking ROMI with a wide-angle lens. Are you analyzing more than just your web analytics? Sessions, pageviews and bounce rates are useful, but they are only a part of the story of your ROMI. Consider adding in:
- What is your objective for your email campaigns? What metrics have you chosen to measure success? Are they still working?
- What is your objective for your Facebook strategy? How are you measuring that success? And how do you measure the role email has in driving Facebook success and vice versa?
- What is your objective for all your PPC campaigns? Are you raising brand awareness or trying to drive sales?
- Now, how do your website analytics consider both email and Facebook traffic?
- And of course, are you hitting your sales goals by customer segment (age, geography, services/products)?
Before you get too overwhelmed, remember Marie’s wisdom: declutter by category. Today, start with the web analytics. When you’re ready, move on to social and so on. The details are important in data analytics. Look beyond the metric you are used to – deep dive in the data to look for a problem you might not know you have. Analytics is almost never about reporting what you already know. The real value of analysis is looking for what you DON’T know.
The more you can hone your strategy, KPIs and dollars into what counts, the better marketer you’ll be.
Need a refresher on your KPIs? Check out our web analytics worksheet to help you get organized and focused.
Food for Thought: Espresso Panna Cotta with Cocoa Whipped Cream
After all that good work of tidying up your KPIs and data, make this wonderful and light dessert! Tyler Florence’s Espresso Panna Cotta is *chef’s kiss* delicious, and the cocoa whipped cream will make your brains fall out. Get the recipe here.
Bonnie Massa
Bonnie Massa is Founder and President of Chicago-based Massa & Company, Inc. She works with companies and nonprofits to make the best use of their information about customers, partners, donors and sponsors. With more than 40 years of experience in marketing and predictive analytics, Bonnie is passionate about helping clients make informed, data-driven decisions to increase the value of their customer base. She strongly believes that making pasta and ice cream from scratch are worth the effort, and she spends much of her free time testing and re-testing that theory.