That’s a great old saying about being prudent. And, if you boil it down, it is one of the core principles of Dog Star Media’s marketing philosophies. Almost everyone will tell you that they measure their marketing results. But in a vast majority of those cases, that measurement invites and is built on human error.
So, why not measure twice... that second time being with a technology that verifies for a fact what the metrics are for real. And, once you know what is really happening, you can make one clearcut decision on how to adjust or proceed with your marketing and sales strategies.
Dog Star Media offers some basic, inexpensive and yet invaluable strategies for this sort of measurement. These measuring tools should be at the heart of decision-making, replacing the guesswork and inaccuracy that happens when you use imprecise evaluators, such as opinions. Here are three measurement tools you cannot live without if you are going to do this right.
1) Tracking Telephone Number
This basic tool is the most inexpensive item we offer but it is by far the most important. At a cost of $40/month, a tracking telephone number will tell you exactly the results you are getting from a particular media placement. The unique number is placed in only one location and calls are routed to your main number, recording all the details of the call. This includes the option to record the calls for training and review purposes. Clients who use tracking telephone numbers waste fewer marketing dollars and understand their results better.
2) Competition Ranking Report for SEO.
This new DSM offering is only $100/month and offers head-to-head competitive information about your web site’s organic rankings versus your direct competition. SEO is one of the most necessary and misunderstood services out there. Nearly all business owners feel at least a little out of control about their SEO because they do not understand the techniques to accomplish better rankings. And, the fact that results are heavily influenced by market response and competition does not help. We believe the key to understanding the value of your SEO is understanding how your site stacks up against your main competitors on specific terms. Our Competition Ranking Report specifically delivers that information. Do you need to be a Dog Star Media SEO client to get a report? No. This report can evaluate anyone’s SEO efforts independently. This is a great way to begin understanding where you really stand on searches as they relate to your direct competition.
3) Google Analytics
Sure, Google Analytics is a free service but is it installed on your site and are you using the information it gathers? Many hosts still offer server stats, which are not the same as measuring the user experience. Google Analytics breaks down the user experience in fine detail and it is easy to use with important information easily accessible. For instance, the most important measurement in the last year has related to the measurement of mobile device use on web sites. Google Analytics identified not only the gross volume of mobile visits, but it breaks down the number of visits by which device is being used and compares the user experience on mobile to the general user experience on the site. This has illustrated very clearly for our clients the need for mobile web sites. Now, with the emergence of the iPad as a more popular method of accessing the Internet, it is showing clients the need to add an iPad-specific mobile site.
So, if you are ready to try a tracking telephone number, subscribe to a Competition Ranking Report or look at your Google Analytics to determine the need for such augmentations as a mobile web site or an iPad mobile site, please email me at donald@dogstarmedia.com for more information. These are all very inexpensive tools that can cause you to have remarkable efficiency in your marketing by eliminating human error.
