How to Determine Internet Marketing ROI
Internet Marketing ROI or return on investment can be a very strange thing to analyze because it is a very slow planted seed that takes time to sprout. Content you distribute today could bring in traffic 6 months from now which is why trying to analyze your internet marketing ROI right out of the gates can be very difficult at times. There are however ways you can track certain activities that could allow you to make an educated guess on how well things are working for you.
Analyze Your Analytics
If you conduct a variety of online marketing efforts on a weekly basis get into your analytics account a few times per/week to see how things are working. If you are active in a location that never delivers any traffic it might make sense to eventually look for somewhere else to hangout.
Website Elements
Sometimes it is difficult to track conversions so try leaving a mandatory field on either your shopping cart or your lead form asking people how they heard of you. As long as you don’t make the form too complicated it will allow you to understand how people are finding you.
PPC Tracking
If you are doing PPC marketing online you could very easily set up tracking to see how well it is working for you. The steps require setting up a “thank you” page after the consumer makes their purchase and piece of tracking code on the thank you page will trigger a conversion allowing you track all your ad dollars spent and how well they are working for you.
Simply Asking
If you take all your sales and leads through an incoming call you simply need to start asking how people found you. Some will not really remember but many will and they will be glad to tell you how they bumped into your website.
Internet marketing ROI can often times be difficult to isolate for every little thing you do online but it is important to try and analyze where you traffic is coming from. If you are not equipped to set up all the technologies to track every little piece of movement start by looking at your analytics information so you can see how people are interacting with your website.
5 Responses to “How to Determine Internet Marketing ROI”
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1) Tag any/all URLs. See Google URL Builder for details
2) Open a bit.ly (or similar) account so you can see what links you’re publishing (even to sites other than your own) are generating clicks (read: interest).
3) Read “What Sticks” by Briggs and Stuart. In short, marketing should and can be measured like every other biz discipline. (BTW, I have a chapter by chapter summary on my website for those who are curious.)
4) Personally, I wouldn’t put too much faith in “Simply Asking.” Sure it won’t hurt but the fact is most people’s recall is average at best. The better question would be to ask *why* they contacted you. Improving your message distribution mix is meaningless if your presumption about motivation is off target.
That’s a very simple method Nick, but it’s a great way to get started.
Cheers!
[...] to Determine Internet Marketing ROI” by Nick Stamoulis on Search Engine Optimization Journal.http://www.searchengineoptimizationjournal.com/2011/01/04/marketing-roi/Left a comment…Hey Nick. Thanks. Four quick thoughts:1) Tag any/all URLs. See Google URL [...]
What is most frustrating is that online provides business with the most detailed analysis of their customers movements and emotions available and yet unless it directly converts to a sale it’s not considered worth it.
Selling online is generally only a small function of a website and yet it is all that most businesses seem to care or look at.
How about using the information gathered about product interaction online to help in determining product mix in store. Do customers enquire or view the same products online as they do in store. If not then why?
By monitoring what customers browse on your website you can gain insight into emerging trends.
How about using the site for feedback on a new product. Before sinking large amounts of money into a new product in store(s) you can monitor the feedback from it online and possibly avoid an expensive flop.
IMO if you track your information over time you will see the benefits of your online presence and when I say tracking information I mean doing a comparison analysis of online statistics with in store statistics. E.g Traffic to the website vs traffic in store etc.
What is this information worth? A lot more than just sales, that’s for sure.
Your website is more than just a sales channel but while business look at it for purely online sales I think they are missing the true understanding of what online represents.
Thanks Shaun for reading and sharing your thoughts!
The reason why so many people focus on marketing ROI is because that IS the most important factor. Let’s face it if you spend money and you do not generate any business (conversions, leads, sales, etc.) then what good is it? Yes, I think that other things are important (building a brand, learning how to improve content, usability, etc.) but with building new business, there will not be any additional budget to test and build an online presence. So there is a balance of shorter term business and longer term ROI, it is different for every business…this is why I always recommend a diversified approach to marketing so it can build (while getting a great ROI) as well…
Thanks again for reading and your comment!
Nick