This week, we are pleased to share part five of a special five-part
series from The Marx Group on marketing metrics. We thank The Marx Group
for sharing their insights with us! If you’d like to view parts one
through four, scroll down to the end of the article. 
In
our last article we talked about search engine optimization (SEO) and
why it is important. This time we are going to look at email marketing
and social media, which are the fourth and fifth of our top five
marketing metrics.
We often hear people say, “I can just use
Outlook to email my customers. I don’t need another program to do that.”
That statement might be valid if you just wanted to send emails out and
weren’t interested in measuring and tracking their effectiveness. Using
an email marketing program allows you to learn what is or isn’t
working. It also automates list management. With an email marketing
program you can see who opened your email and exactly what they clicked
on. You also get access to averages of how each mailing performed in
comparison to your prior mailings and also how it performed in
comparison to industry averages. Constant Contact is a program that is
widely used for email marketing.
If you are only concerned that
the recipient received your email, you need to think again. You also
need to know what the open rate is, what content they read, how many
click-thrus were generated and how many forwards were associated with
the mailing. Click-thrus are important because if your email had a link
to click on to take them to your website, and that click-thru resulted
in them buying a product, then you are able to calculate the cost per
lead. Another example of why being able to track click-thrus is
important is new products. If you have information in your newsletter
about a new product that you are launching and very few people click on
the link, it may mean that you haven’t marketed the product correctly,
that you are marketing to the wrong people, or that they have no
interest in the product. All of which are import pieces of information.
Social
media is another misunderstood area. We often hear, “My customers don’t
care about social media.” In the vast majority of situations that is an
incorrect statement. Your customers do care about social media and are
actively using it. So do their friends, and their children, who are your
future customers. Also, we are willing to bet that at least one, if not
more of your competitors are using social media, and if you are not,
they now have a competitive advantage.
When deciding to use
social media, or to expand the amount of social media that you are
using, it is important to choose the platforms that are relevant to your
audience:
• Facebook is great for enriched content.
• Twitter is best for short, concise news, tips and advice.
• LinkedIn is where the B2B crowd is at.
• Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and Flickr are great for product images.
Engagement
is what social media is all about. It’s about getting people to visit
your social media site or follow you, and it’s about getting them to do
something once they are there. You want them to like your post, re-tweet
your tweet, or share your information with their friends. You want them
to engage.
Many of the social media sites offer their own
analytic tools. There are also products like HootSuite that allow you to
track analytics across multiple platforms. With the right tool you can
manage multiple social networks, schedule posts (different times are
more effective on different sites), track mentions and analyze your
social media traffic.
An example of how to use social media and
track its effectiveness would be if your company’s Facebook page is
holding an anniversary promotion, you should be tracking the number of
participants, their level of engagement and the number of people who
sign up for the promotion. Social media is an excellent way to increase
brand awareness, improve engagement and interest, and grow conversion
and loyalty, all of which lead to your long-term success.
We
hope that this article and the entire series have provided you with
ideas that you will be able to apply in your marketing program. We
covered a lot of topics: advertising and public relations, Web traffic
and conversions, search engine optimization, email marketing and social
media – if you missed any, visit us at www.themarxgrp.com and look for them in the “tools” section of our site. Marketing metrics, they Matter!
About The Marx Group
The
Marx Group (TMG) is a full-service business strategy and marketing
communications agency offering a diverse range of marketing services,
including research, business development strategies, lead generation
programs, customer retention processes, advertising, website design,
public relations, collateral, online marketing, research, trade show
programs and interactive campaigns.
TMG began as an advertising
and marketing agency in Southern California in 1984. Now based in San
Rafael, the company has creative and account teams in New York, Chicago,
Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Knoxville, Tenn. TMG
team members, each with a strong, proven track record, include
strategists, account managers, public relations and media specialists,
and an award-winning creative group for both print and online programs.
