Imagine there was just one number you needed to monitor to gauge the success of your marketing. That would make marketing a whole lot easier wouldn’t it?
We’re in the age of “big data” where you can track just about any metric you can think of, but I would argue that is hurting more than it’s helping many businesses.
Sure, more data can certainly be a good thing, but it can also lead to overwhelm and confusion, especially with digital marketing.
That’s why I recommend the complete opposite approach! Rather than trying to keep track of everything, identify the one key business driver that ultimately determines success for your business. Then use that number to guide your marketing plan for 2016.
I know what you’re thinking…
How Can One Number Determine Your Success?
It sounds too simple to be true. How could just one number determine your success?
Let’s look at an example that everyone can relate to: real estate. From construction to final sale, there’s no arguing that real estate is a complex process. However, there is one number, or data point, that determines what the building will look like, how much it’ll sell for, and how fast you’ll be able to sell it. Can you guess what that number is?
The address!
Think about it… If the address is in the upper west side of New York City, then your options for the building size and decor are obviously limited. Plus, you can research comparable sales in the neighborhood to determine how much and how fast you’ll be able to sell it for. Same goes for other locations.
Therefore, by knowing just one data point before construction even begins you’ll gain insight into the final sale! I’m not saying there aren’t other factors involved. I just want you to see how one number can create a butterfly effect in business.
Now let’s switch gears and see how this can affect your marketing…
Our #1 Business Driver
After many hours of reviewing sales and marketing data, I finally determined the #1 business driver for our company, Main Street ROI. I’ll give you a hint: it’s not the number of leads in our sales pipeline…
It’s the number of email subscribers in our database. Yes, you read that correctly. If you had told me that just a few months ago, I would have thought that was ridiculous. How could email subscribers drive a marketing agency?
I’ll show you, and if you follow this same analysis in your business then you’ll be able to find the one number that drives your growth…
Where Do Sales Really Come From?
The first question to answer is, where are your sales really coming from? This is not always easy to answer and for many businesses it means you’ll need to set up proper tracking for webforms, phone calls, and in-person visits. The goal is to track your sales from the original source (their first contact with your business), all the way through the last interaction that drove the sale. You need to know each step in that process.
For us, sales are primarily generated via phone calls. That’s great, but where do those calls come from? Many are the result of scheduled calls after a prospect completes a form on our website. Ah ha, we’re getting closer! But where did those prospects come from before completing the form?
Turns out, most of them were on our email newsletter. Bingo! The driver is not phone calls and not form completions… it’s email subscribers.
See how that works?
You work backwards from the sales to identify the real source. Hey, I’ll be the first to admit this is real work and it might take months to see patterns in your data. But the reward is well worth it. Once you know the #1 business driver, then you can focus your budget and resources to increase that one number.
Still Working On Your 2016 Digital Marketing Plan?
If you’re stuck and/or need more help creating your 2016 digital marketing plan, then make sure you’re free on December 17, 2015 at noon Eastern time. I’m hosting a live webinar training where we’ll work together to create your 2016 online marketing plan.
Click here to learn more and register.
