If you invest in a new business venture, such as a marketing campaign, or outsource for social media content, you want to make sure that these services are helping your business. If the ROI for your marketing isn’t what you’d like it to be, then you can allocate that money elsewhere, hopefully towards services that will better benefit your business.
If you are a business owner, you want to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck. If you are investing your own revenue into a marketing strategy, you will most likely want to make sure that it is beneficial to your business. In other words, you want to make sure you’re getting the highest return on your investments.
What Is ROI?
ROI stands for “return on investment”. It is a measurement of how well something is working for your business. For example, if you invested money into the services of an ad agency, with the idea that they will produce ads that will drive traffic to your business, and after six months, you don’t have any higher traffic, then perhaps that ad agency is not a good return on investment.
Traditionally, a good ROI happens when you are making more than what you have spent on the service or product, but anything can be measured when it comes to ROI. For this instance, we are focusing on the topic of marketing campaigns, which of course, you can measure the ROI based on cost, but marketing campaigns, and ad campaigns, are services that take time to measure success.
You can’t post an ad, and then be disappointed if there isn’t an increase in traffic immediately. Marketing is best measured over the course of at least six months. When it comes to marketing campaigns, an increase in business, or business traffic, is essentially the best form of ROI.
How to Measure the ROI of a Marketing Campaign
It is important to set goals for your ROI in the beginning, so you can have a concrete way to measure results. It is very hard to pinpoint the exact factors that contribute to a good ROI, as many marketing campaigns have many moving parts.
However, here are a few to keep an eye on:
· Cost: How much did it cost to have these marketing services?
· Time: How much time was spent? Did this marketing campaign save you time in the long run?
· Web Page Traffic: Has traffic to your site increased?
· Social Media Engagement: Do you have more interaction on your posts? Did more people see your posts?
· Additional Returns: Anything else that has increased or multiplied during the campaign will be important to consider.
How to Calculate Return On Investment
The simplest way to calculate
a return on your investment is to subtract the cost of the marketing campaign
from the total amount of sales growth, as this is a measurement of your ROI
over a time period. The growth in sales
over time is a good measurement, as increased traffic will eventually lead to
higher sales, or a similar conversion you are looking to measure. Then you would divide that number by the
marketing cost again to get a percentage.
For example: (Sales Growth – Marketing Cost)/Marketing Cost=ROI
To show some numbers in the equation:
($1000-$100) / $100 = 9, which would translate to 9 times the
return on investment, or 900% ROI.
HubSpot also has a handy calculator that you can use for a more in-depth
look at your ROI.
What Is a Good ROI?
Just how much, exactly, is a good ROI? That is up to the business owner, which is why it is important to have established goals when it comes to starting a new investment. Are you looking for a 50% increase in total sales growth? Are you looking for an 80% increase in traffic? No matter what you are hoping for, it is important to have done thorough research on what the average outcome of a marketing campaign will be, so you can set realistic goals to keep you driving towards success.
You must also remember that marketing can be a long process, with better results seen over a longer period, so don’t judge your ROI too harshly if the return isn’t high right away. If you run your ROI calculations continually, over the course of a campaign, you may be able to track that growth. If you aren’t seeing any ROI growth, then it may be time to try a different approach.
Ways to Improve ROI
Set ROI goals that are specific to each of your conversions. Measure the ROI of your clicks and
impressions, and have a separate ROI measurement for revenue increases
etc.
Analytics are your friend, so be sure to keep an eye on them
as you go through the marketing process.
Know where you started in terms of numbers, so you have a solid baseline
to look back on.
Check which parts of your marketing are pulling the most
success by breaking into smaller more measurable chunks. Then you will know what to invest more money
and time into.
Want a marketing campaign that is sure to increase your ROI?
Contact the Spectrum Net Designs Marketing team to learn more today!
