How Do You Know When Your Advertising is Working?

John Wanamaker, considered by some to be the father of modern advertising, said, Over 100 years later, business owners still struggle to determine what works and what doesn’t.

As head of marketing, you are tasked to define the advertising objectives, audience, and create a budget.  You have to choose your medium and place the buys. Budgets are tight, jobs are on the line, and there is no time to randomly “test” advertising and hope it works.  You need to quantify the results and make sure it was worth the revenue spent.  Now, I’m no fan of math but math equals measurement, and measurement matters.

Failed marketing is often a result of poor planning, not a reflection of the power of the medium, nor the product or service being sold. Know how you are going to measure your results BEFORE you commit to advertising. Measuring results against goals allows you to know what was effective, what failed, and what needs a little adjusting. Marketing metrics help with the quantification of marketing performance, such as market share, advertising spend, and response rates elicited by advertising and direct marketing.  Measurement doesn’t need to be complicated; it’s more a matter of discipline than sophistication. And once you know what works you can do it again.

Many business owners run an ad campaign and then wait for some magic results, not specifically defined.  When asked how they will determine if the advertising worked the answer will be “increased sales.” When every dollar spent needs to make more than a dollar, that’s a reasonable expectation.  But should that be the only expectation?  Is that the singular definition of a successful campaign?  That depends on how clearly you tailored your message, defined your goals and planned your measurement metrics.

So, what are you hoping to achieve?  Is it a “numbers” goal or changed behaviors? Measurement for traditional ad placement and media coverage is often gauged by rating points, reach and frequency.  You can also evaluate impressions, cost per thousand and cost per point.  Digital media is the darling of ad tracking.  On line media is rich with built in measurement tools including social media analytics, click through rates, engagement, links, traffic, and web hits.

But let’s dig a little deeper.  How can you measure the mental state of your customers? Is there a greater awareness about your product/service? Do they believe in it?  Do they favor your product over the competition?  We can even measure the behaviors of our audience.  Do you have requests for more information?  Did they clip coupons?  Is there increased foot traffic in the store?  Have you gained sponsors or volunteers?  Is there a boost to social media follows or likes?

Lastly, determine how long it should take to see results.  Essentially the longer your sales cycle, the longer it will take for results to happen.  Once you are able to gauge customer reactions, keep track.  Note the medium you used, the message you created and the results achieved.  By noting these three factors you will be able to start to determine what is working , what is not, and what needs adjustment.

When it comes to marketing, especially in a down economy, corners often get cut. But cutting corners is different than maximizing potential. Getting accurate feedback is crucial to knowing what ad concepts and media plans are most effective. Remember, what you don’t measure you can’t manage.