Some say that marketing is more of an art than a science. When it comes to the creative side, I agree with that but strategy is entirely a science. And, like anything else that has objectives, you are either doing it well or you are not. Here is a Smart Marketing Checklist of what Dog Star Media thinks is vital to understanding the science of your marketing. Having and using this knowledge increases effectiveness and reduces waste. And, just to be clear, we consider these must-haves. Otherwise, you have a lot of guesswork on your hands.
1) Web Site Metrics
This seems common sense but I find that these stats are widely ignored and therefore not used. Your web site is the most important marketing tool you have. People go there first to check you out. Running regular reports on your web site metrics (traffic and how users click through the site) will tell you a great deal about how your site is being used. A good site metrics program (and they are free such as Stat Counter) will tell you where visitors came from (direct access, search engines, referring sites), what pages users clicked through and much more. This information is vital in making content adjustments to the web site, understanding how people are finding you and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your site. Without this knowledge, you have one hand tied behind your back. If you want to talk to me about adding Stat Counter to your web site and the benefits of using such a strategy, email me here.
2) Tracking Telephone Numbers
The worst mistakes I see practices make is overspending on mass media. The second worst mistake is putting any credence in asking prospect where they saw your ad or heard of you. Taht is anecdotal information and is almost always flawed. Tracking telephone numbers eliminate both of these issues and replace them with hard, reliable data of where calls are generated. A tracking number is a unique number that is placed only in one medium, say a print ad or a web site. When that number is called, it routes directly to your main number and records vital information about the call such as call length, answered or not answered and Caller ID information if it is available. To address the two problems I mentioned, you get an exact number of responding calls from each number, telling us EXACTLY where people got your number when they became ready to call in. My clients who use these numbers routinely sharpen their marketing and reduce their waste by using this knowledge. The best part is that tracking numbers are very inexpensive: $480/year. Just email me here to start your tracking number order. If you are spending thousands each month on marketing, shouldn’t you spend $40/month to measure it properly. This, too, is a must have.
3) Listing Service Measurements
If you are listing your service on a web site like Liposuction.com or LookingYourBest.com, you want to know specifically how many clicks and calls are being generated for your subscription. If reports are not provided (and to me, this is a red flag), then you can gather this information with the use of proxy URLs and tracking telephone numbers. A proxy URL is basically a copy of your web site hosted at a separate location. In other words, when you link from one of these services, you link to a specifically hosted web site. This allows you to track the click-throughs from a given location specifically. And, of course, I would recommend using a tracking phone number to track calls from this sort of medium, too.
I have recently been asked about using social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to promote practices and services. Of course, this is a good idea. And, those services are free. What is not free is the time you (or someone on your behalf) would put into using the services to network and promote. In these cases, we recommend the Proxy URL strategy to measure specific click throughs that occur due to Facebook networking. If you have this, you can determine whether or not the networking footwork is worth it.
Using these strategies can validate effectiveness and expose ineffective marketing steps and expenses. If you are interested in this sort of measurement including Facebook and MySpace strategies, email me here for more information.
4) Optimization Rates and Ranking Trends for SEO
The struggle with SEO is that it is so hard to explain and understand. I have seen clients purchase SEO services that ran them more than $3000/month who, despite results, still did not fully have confidence in what they were doing or getting. As most of you know, our service is Keyword SEO only and focuses on groups of 10, 20 or 30 words and it starts at only $300/month. The goal with our program is to get your results but also help you understand what you are getting. The single biggest mistake people make with SEO is not being realistic. Our program helps you realistically understand where you are and your options.
We rely on two reports that clients can see each month. The 30,000-foot view from these reports tells you (and us) to what degree your site is optimized in your market for the terms selected. Plain and simple in a percentage form. When your percentage is high, everything possible is being done on those terms. If that high degree of optimization on the site is not moving you up fast enough, it makes it really easy to evaluate Pay Per Click on those terms. By taking the confusion out of SEO, we are able to show you where you stand. SEO is the cost of doing business on the Internet. You have to do something. We believe that an understanding of how this works is the key to clients having the patience required to stick with an SEO strategy. If this sounds like the way you want to approach SEO, email me here to discuss it.
All of these strategies are scientific and measurable. They are the Smart List if you want to improve your marketing with very little expense. I wouldn’t do it any other way.
