ROI is Dead – What Are You Measuring?

Ok, we know return on investment will always have some place in our key performance indicators. But do we as business owners spend too much time worrying about ROI when we should be looking at other factors when measuring our marketing efforts? In today’s world of big data, you better be looking for lots of factors. We have a few to suggest:

ROE²

Return on Engagement and Return on Expectations are two calculations we often consider, specifically when looking at our online presence, brand awareness and customer retention numbers. Where ROI is a short term and specific measurement, ROE examines the total customer experience, from initial lead generation to order completion. Our workflow charts are built keeping the client expectations always front and center. When we see them engage with our welcome kits, surveys and social media messaging, we know we have a happy client. When engagement drops, it is a sign for us to make a call. How your customer engages with about your brand will shape your future marketing, quality of service and overall offerings.

Attributions

Most businesses measure some form of traffic to their website. Common measurements in this space include number of visits, content consumption and traffic sources. But how often do you dive deeper and learn about how your web visitors are using your website to lead them into decision making? Did you know that Google analytics has a built-in attribution modeling tool? It will share with you the pages visited before, during and after a conversion is made on your site and whether the consumer completed a form or placed an order. Attribution modeling can be incredibly insightful and can help you remove extraneous content and focus on the content that works. Visit Google Analytics for more on attribution modeling.

Retention

How much does an organization spend to bring in a new client only to drop them into a production program never to be loved on again? We see this over and over in business. Clients call us to find out how they can get more leads, more prospects, more clients which leads to more revenue. Only a handful call us to ask how they can keep, nurture and care for their existing clients.  This is the number one most overlooked place for revenue growth in business. When we first started to look at retention numbers, the largest discovery was not that our clients were not being served. It was that they were no longer being nurtured. Once we placed welcome kits, quarterly review calls, exclusive offers only for clients and marketing sample bags into their hands, they knew we cared more about their business then just as a vendor. If you are not treating your clients like partners in your business, showered with gratitude, recognition and value, you will always be looking for more.

Our biggest lesson we want you to take away from this blog is to not just measure the ROI of your marketing, but instead craft messaging that is measured by something truly meaningful. After all, marketing is an investment, not a cost center.

Need help? We have a free one hour marketing discovery session waiting for you. To complete the form below and we will start getting your KPIs ready.