Year after year, digital marketing becomes more intricate in its complexity. Not only are there increasing numbers of channels for customers, but more sophisticated data tools exist for digital marketers to utilize.
For example, by collecting multi-channel data and creating a unified customer profile, brands can now better target individuals to create personalized experiences for their ideal customer. Marketers can reach customers via their preferred channel or channels, be it web, email, social, mobile or a combination, and engage with them throughout the entire customer journey.
However, in the excitement for all of these new channels, tools, and data-gathering methods, marketers can fall into a trap of focusing too much on the “how” without considering the “why”.
Raising follower counts and brand attention through social media channels is wonderful – but then what? What is the reason behind the brand reaching out to customers that way? What’s the objective or goal of that specific B2C digital marketing strategy? It’s true that digital marketers have more tools and channels than ever, but without a goal, what’s the point?
For digital marketing experts, setting and measuring against goals is critical for qualifying the success of digital marketing initiatives. But defining what those goals are, and how to measure them, can be tricky. Here are some tips to help marketing experts better define and measure effective goals for digital marketing.
1. Money Spent Vs. Conversions Earned
This is perhaps the simplest goal for marketing experts to define and measure. Is the money spent on the marketing initiative converting leads into paying customers?
Many marketing experts devote a substantial amount of budget to acquisition strategies. Those strategies can include Facebook Ads, Google Adwords, banners, partner affiliations, or email blasts, all of which have an associated cost. Marketing teams must measure how much budget they spend per channel on these initiatives compared to lead conversions. Attribution, or assigning monetary value to acquisition channels and looking into those conversions, can provide valuable insight into whether or not a strategy is effective.
Determining an appropriate lead conversion goal is the first step. Once the target is set, marketers must measure the budget spent against that number. If, for example, the goal is “15% of leads convert into buyers each month”, that goal should be set with the spend in mind. Then, once the initiative concludes, that goal can be measured and evaluated.
The good news is that by using smart data tools, brands can better reach customers where they are, and through the channel that will best catch their attention. They can then enjoy the reward of ensuring, whether through email, web, social, or ads, budget is being spent most effectively to best convert leads.
2. Customer Retention
Marketers hear time and time again that acquiring new customers, as discussed above, is a much more expensive investment than retaining current buyers. Nearly seven times more expensive, in fact. Because of that, there should be a significant effort made to keep those buyers returning again and again.
There are many reasons retaining customers is a more profitable investment than continually acquiring new ones. Returning customers tend to spend more overall, and a study done by Gartner shows that 80% of a company’s future revenue will come from just 20% of existing customers. Part of the reason for this is due to the fact that every sale made going forward will yield larger gross margins because the purchase cost is no longer measured against the buyer acquisition costs.
In defining this goal, marketers can look at the increase in average purchases from the existing client base as well as engagement measurements. Given the importance of retaining those customers, marketers should consider retention goals critical to the success of digital marketing plans. Marketing technology and data can be used to create retention strategies such as personalization, retention emails, and loyalty programs that can make hitting the strategy goals much more manageable.
3. Win-Back Ratio
Customers often revert or lag at some point within the customer lifecycle. Working to pull them back in or slow down the customer churn, should be an objective that marketers set and work towards by measuring win-back ratios and working against improving that number. Tactics such as abandoned cart emails, product suggestions, special offers, or personalized benefits can keep customer churn down and help to meet the marketing goals set.
Final Thoughts
Defining goals and measuring them carefully is how a marketing team determines the success of digital campaigns. Marketers can see, adjust, pivot, or even turn off campaigns that aren’t meeting the set goals. In addition, it allows teams to sharpen those goals and focus on what will be truly profitable for the brand.
Regardless, before a campaign kicks off, the specific goal or goals of that campaign, should be set and planned. If each of the steps is followed closely, digital marketing campaigns are more likely to have a successful outcome.
Related Articles:
