TOP 3 DIGITAL MARKETING METRICS: WHAT THEY ARE AND WHY THEY MATTER

Getting lost in the numbers is easy when it comes to website and email metrics. Sometimes these stats can lead to more confusion than clarification. Today, I’m breaking down three of the most important metrics by explaining what they mean and why they’re important to your bottom line.

1) Impressions: How many prospects were exposed to your brand message?

Impressions are the number of times your advertisement is actually seen (1 view = 1 impression). Arguably, this is the most important stat when measuring the effectiveness of your campaign––the more times your ad is seen by qualified prospects, the better. The number of impressions you have is relative to your total web traffic and open rate, but it isn’t always the same thing. Impressions are vital for brand awareness and brand equity.

Suggestion: The more places your brand message can be found, the higher your impressions will be because you’re creating more opportunities for your prospects to see your message. This is why cross-channel advertising is so important.

2) Clicks: How many people are clicking on your campaign?

This metric is crucial because it means people are taking your call-to-action seriously and demonstrating interest in what you have to offer. This is where ad creative really comes into play. Whether it’s a banner ad, email message or social media post, if clicks are your goal, we highly encourage including a strong call-to-action and incentive to click, such as a promo code. Clicks indicate small victories – even if that person doesn’t make a purchase, they’re actively engaging with your brand and moving through the sales pipeline

Suggestion: If clicks are your goal, try A/B testing your call-to-action to see what generates more conversions. The difference in your A/B can be anything from the wording to the color of the button.

3) Click Thru Rate: How many people that saw your ad actually clicked?

Getting prospects to visit your website or open an email is only part of the marketing puzzle. People actually performing a desired action such as clicking on your banner ads, email links, product images, etc. is the next step in the process. That’s where the click-thru-rate (CTR) comes in. TheCTR shows the number of people who click on the campaign compared to the total number of impressions (the number of times your ad was seen).

Regardless of results, it’s useful to look at these campaign metrics. If something performed well, you can determine what about it might have resonated with the audience (and on the flip side, if it didn’t perform well, you try to determine where it fell flat and adjust future campaigns accordingly).

The most important thing to keep in mind when analyzing metrics is the primary goal of the campaign. At WFB, we track metrics for all digital campaigns and are happy to walk through your analytics together. Don’t hesitate to reach out to discuss!

Contact Kendra to hear how WFB can help provide solutions to help your brand succeed:

National Account Director | kendra@woodfloorbusiness.com | (608) 467-1084

HOW TO MEASURE THE ROI OF YOUR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

In my last blog we discussed four recommendations for a successful marketing plan. The fourth point, and perhaps the most important, was “determine how success will be measured.” In other words, what is your return on investment?

Measuring your ROI is sometimes easier said than done. With so much data at your disposal in digital advertising, what metrics do you need to be tracking? How do you measure if your marketing campaign was truly a success? That is the topic in today’s marketing blog: Five ways you can effectively measure your return on investment.

1) Set Clear Marketing Goals

The first step in tracking your marketing ROI is to set the objectives for your campaign. Will it be a branding campaign or a lead generation effort? A new product launch or trade show support? Maybe a push to drive traffic to your website and social media pages? This is important to discuss up-front with your media partner and work together to create a plan that will best achieve your goals. Different goals will have different advertising methods to achieve success.

2) Determine How You Will Measure Success

Success can mean many different things when it comes to marketing. If you are selling a high-dollar manufacturing machine gaining just two solid sales leads may be well worth the investment. However, if you are running a branding campaign two clicks isn’t going to do the trick. It is important to determine what you consider to be the key measurables of your campaign. Is it leads? Impressions? Clicks to your website? What does “success” equal to you and your company?

3) Track Everything (or Make Sure Someone is Tracking it for You)​

These days prospects follow-up on advertisements in many different ways. The truth is most people just don’t pick up the phone and call your 800-number anymore. At least not before visiting your website, social media pages and Googling your company name. At Wood Floor Business we’ve worked hard to install some detailed data capabilities. We can track basic stats like impressions, clicks and email open rates or even help you with some more advanced targeting efforts. Our advanced database can help you target prospects based on everything from job title or geographic location all the way down to behavioral factors like articles read on our website or emails opened. The best part? We track all of this for you and deliver it in an easy-to-digest report.

4) Dig Deeper

It’s important to remember that not all stats are created equal. Before you judge the success of your campaign based on raw numbers alone, take a deeper dive into what they mean. Your e-mail campaign may have had a lower unique open rate than you were hoping for. However, were there key prospects that opened the email several times? Maybe even a few that forwarded it on? On the contrary, your Custom E-Mail may have been opened by 15,000 people but none of them were qualified decision makers. Take a step back and look at what the numbers really mean. Not sure what to look for? Just ask us. That’s what I’m here for.

5) Remember the Power of One

What does one new customer mean to you over the course of their lifetime? Gaining a loyal customer has double the value – their purchasing power but arguably even more valuable, their recommendations to others. According to Nielsen, 77 percent of consumers said advice of family and friends is the most persuasive when looking for information about products. What does one new customer mean to you?

Of course every advertising campaign is going to be unique. If you’re considering advertising with Wood Floor Business, I encourage you to reach out and discuss your goals and objectives. We’ll create a campaign that fits your needs and budget. Then we can put these ROI tracking tips into action together.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR WORKDAY MORE PRODUCTIVE, LESS STRESSFUL

It’s no secret that marketing departments have shrunk over the years. If you’re at a large company, it’s likely you handle what was once the work of two or three people. If you’re at a small company, you might be your company’s entire “marketing department”—all while manning two or three other jobs. It’s enough to make you freak out sometimes. The good news: all that responsibility means every day is a new challenge. The bad news: it can get overwhelming. Below are seven tips to help you manage your time a little more efficiently and keep yourself less stressed. 1. Learn to Say No It’s just two letters, but sometimes ‘no’ is the toughest word in our language. Just because you can do something doesn’t always mean you should. Spreading yourself too thin causes all of your work to suffer. It’s important to be a helpful and cooperative coworker, but sometimes being honest with someone upfront is better than telling them ‘yes’ only to fail to deliver later. 2. Shut Down Your Inbox It’s so easy to become beholden to your inbox. The key is managing your time, not letting your inbox manage your time. Set a block of time where you log out of email, put your phone out of sight (and on silent) and focus on the work you need to get done without the interruption of email.

3. Find Natural Transition Points Wasting 10 minutes here or there can really add up. A common source of lost time is transitioning between tasks. It can be difficult to get one project out of your mind and immediately devote 100 percent

of your attention to something new. To combat this, try to find natural transition points like meetings or lunch. Finish one task before these events. Then, when you return to your desk you can focus on what’s next with a clear head.

4. Plan for Interruptions So you’ve been procrastinating. Your project is almost due so you think, “Today I’ll just focus on this project for four straight hours and get it done.” Of course, things don’t work out that way. Even if you could focus on something for four straight hours you’re bound to be interrupted. People stopping by your desk, phone calls, emails (see #2), impromptu meetings. All of those interruptions can really stress you out if they’re disrupting what you “should” be doing. Keep that in mind when planning your day. You’re going to get interrupted. Things are going to take longer than expected. 5. Plan Ahead Speaking of planning… It’s so simple, but even the slightest bit of preparation goes a long way. As Ben Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Before heading home at the end of the day, take a look at your calendar and jot down some notes or at least mentally prepare yourself for the following day(s). Nothing worse than showing up to work and having a meeting that you forgot about. 6. Set Goals, Mini Goals From the time we’re kids we’re told to set goals. But goals are worthless if they’re not reasonable. Set mini, realistic goals for your day. For example, when I have five custom proposals to create in addition to regular email and phone calls, writing down “Create five new proposals,” is overwhelming. But if I write down, “send proposals to XX and YY before lunch,” I suddenly have a reasonable goal that I’m motivated to get done. Plus, when you’ve achieved that day’s goals you know you can head home satisfied with your day’s work. ​ 7. Eat the Frog

Mark Twain famously said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” Apply this mentality to your to-do list. Get your most unpleasant task out of the way first and your day will only get better from there. Hopefully one or two of these suggestions help make your professional life a little less stressful. And less stress is important important. According to Harvard researcher and New York Times best selling author, Shawn Achor, a positive mindset is the biggest factor in professional success. Achor says 75 percent of our professional success is predicated not by intelligence, but by our optimism, social support network and the ability to manage energy and stress in a positive way. ​ Something to consider next time you’re ready to freak out.