“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

This is what John Wanamaker, one of the largest retail merchants in America in the late 1800’s once said…

I quoted this to my team when we were having a meeting on how to promote an upcoming exhibition for a client.

You see, we use a lot of different media to promote this event. And we test all these media – vigorously.

We asked every visitor when they come to the exhibition how they heard about it.

When a visitor downloads a ticket, they have to tell us how they got there.

We study our analytics, we can see which links are working and those that aren’t.

We use different direct dial numbers that are exclusive to specific ads.

We use different web links for specific promotions… The list goes on…

And after we’ve done all this – at best, like Mr Wanamaker – I know we’re still only 50% right. Should I be happy with 50%? Dam right I am.

Earlier this year we promoted a different exhibition and we added radio to our marketing mix – the results were there to see. Home run.

So now because of this “new media success” we are adding radio to promote this exhibition, but we haven’t taken anything else out – just trimmed here and there. Always testing, monitoring and tweaking.

Whenever developers change or modify their software, even a small tweak can have unexpected consequences. Automated regression testing is testing existing software applications to make sure that a change or addition hasn’t broken any existing functionality.

Are you doing the same with your marketing? Or do you just leave it to chance?
Times have changed, research into your business or your product can now be done, on the smart phone, anywhere. Buying decisions are now made long before a phone call to you is made or a visit to your store is done.

And whilst when asked, most customers will say to you “I found you on Google”
Remember this – unless you appear on page one of Google for the product you sell, or you are running a pay per click campaign, or there is another direct link to your site that you can measure and is directly accountable – something else got them there.

This is why perhaps that most traditional medias are often bypassed in favour of online medias and I can see why, online marketing allows you to monitor every single click, every like, every visit, there is a reason why people look for the best Los Angeles Facebook Ads Company. You can get a much more accurate feedback from online marketing and because you only “pay per click” and likes are “free” you may feel as though none of your marketing is being wasted.

If only that were true. Google Adwords has made it very easy for you to get visitors to your website, but at a cost and that cost is rising and if you want a good ROI (Return on Investment) you must constantly split test your account, research and fine tune. Do it well, build a good lead generator on your site, create a good follow up sequence and you can build a system using Adwords that will constantly bring you a stream of new customers on auto pilot. Also make complete utilization of backlinking services, and Facebook advertising because that is how customers find you half the time. You’ll know your numbers, you’ll know your conversion rate, but you’ll never be 50% right. You should also try to connect your Google My Business accounts and manage GMB properties from one dashboard as suggected at www.localviking.com/schedule-google-posts.

No I’m afraid, getting your marketing right 100% of the time is something that people like me and you will strive to attain 100 years from now. But if you know, really know your market, develop a strong message, test different media and develop a system for converting enquiries into customers you’ll know your numbers, you’ll know your cost to acquire a customer (and there is always a cost). Then you’ll have a starting point on which to improve on. And if you’re looking to take your existing eCommerce business to the next level, you can read eCom babes reviews here.