The Importance of Testing Tracking and Tweaking Your Marketing

Article Written By: Steve Vale

A colleague mentioned the other day that a large company was keen on the testing and tracking marketing strategy. Sounds like a positive move I said. That was until he mentioned that they were to only use marketing options that they reckon they could track.

Basing your marketing spend and decisions on real numbers rather than gut feel is the concept behind the test, track, and tweak marketing strategy. You start by running a campaign and tracking the response you get, such as leads generated from it. You then make small tweaks and re-run the campaign, again tracking the results. As this continues you keep what works and cull what doesn't.

Back to the story. So as not to embarrass this business, we'll pretend they sell widgets. They don't sell the cheap widgets, nor the best quality ones. They do deliver on what they say and have been growing their sales over recent years. A new manager joins the business, head strong about only doing marketing that they can be tested and tracked. Net result, sales drop, and not just by a small amount, they're down by 25% all within the last six months. Granted the current economy is not the most favourable for the widgets they have on offer and there are other big players in the market.

Really though, the big change was not the economy, it was the change in marketing. Basically what they did was slash and burn any marketing they deemed un-track-able. I know, crazy. So now, yes they can track the marketing. Trouble is, sales have plummeted. Here's the kicker. Can you imagine what the new marketing plan they have put in place it all about? Grow it back to least what it was doing and some, I hear you say. No. No, their grand plan is to stabilise the plummeting and stop it dropping anymore; I shake my head in disbelief.

The saner, safer, and ultimately more profitable tactic would have been:

1. Include tracking where possible.

2. DON'T stop any of the existing marketing campaigns, even those not being tracked yet.

3. Put your thinking cap on because there is always a way to track where the sales are coming from.

4. Add further tracking as ideas come to light.

5. Tweak and testing existing marketing.

6. Continue doing what works.

7. Do it again and again.

8. Cull stuff that gives low Return on Investment on time and or money - after you have proof.

The real mistake the new manager of this company made was killing off all the marketing campaigns they perceived that they could not track. When I heard what campaigns they were culling it was immediately clear how with very little effort that they could in fact track them. The sad thing is that one of the campaigns they killed off was a highly target market specific. They were marketing to a captive audience. Although I don't have the actual numbers (and nor does the company), however, thinking about the tactic they were using I'm confident it was a significant source of their leads.

If some marketing wiz comes along and suggests you cull marketing campaigns you can't track, then I suggest you run, they are a danger to your business. If someone said to you to stop using the Yellow Pages book for advertising and you hadn't been tracking the results, then it's another year before you can get back in.

What if you get leads from the Yellow book and you don't know because you don't track it as a source of leads? Hey, you've got to know the numbers before you make a decision like that. Last words: do it by the numbers, base your marketing decisions on the numbers.

About the Author

Learn more about business marketing. Stop by Steve Vale's site where you can find out all about marketing and what it can do for your business.

You Can Link Directly to "The Importance of Testing Tracking and Tweaking Your Marketing" by using the url:
http://www.allbestarticles.com//business/marketing/the-importance-of-testing-tracking-and-tweaking-your-marketing.html

This Article Has Been Published on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 and Read 93 Times

Find All Best Articles at http://www.allbestarticles.com

Rating: Not yet rated

Comments

No comments posted.

Add Comment

You do not have permission to comment. If you log in, you may be able to comment.

Related information on Marketing

Don't Neglect Face-To-face Marketing Techniques
Hire Cheap Voiceovers with Exceptional Voice Talents
Putting Your Money In Small Business Marketing Ideas
Can SEO Be Part Of A Medical Marketing Strategy
Sales Outsourcing vs. Handling Sales Internally This Christmas
Tactical Field Sales Solutions and Your Business
Using technology to become a better realtor!
Fixing online marketing strategies of your wholesale business to get the right kind of visitors
How to Find the Perfect Presentation Folder
Tips on Creating a College Catalog
Benefits of CAD Services
Get Expert Help With Exhibition Designs
Using Customized Perfume Dispensers As Marketing Freebies
Important Rules in Business Card Marketing
Gift With Purchase Strategy : How To Make It Work?
Choosing The Best Inbound Telemarketing Businesses
Video Production - The Modern Marketing Strategy
Competitive Market Analysis - Understanding the Competition
Creating Business Cards that Work
How to Choose the Best Sales and Marketing Companies
How Channel Marketing Can Help in the Success of any Business
Creating Unique Selling Proposition for Business
Advantages of Male Voice Talent
Exhibition Stands For All Events
Marketing Materials for Thriving Businesses