The client has committed and you got the sale. Great! The next thing you should ask this client is,
“How will you evaluate if this campaign is successful?”
Often in our excitement of getting the order we overlook this extremely important question. If you don’t know how the client will be judging the effectiveness of the digital ad spend, you are operating in the dark. What’s worse? What if the client doesn’t know? Maybe the client hasn’t really thought specifically about this return on investment question.
Let’s look at some answers you might get to this question and the best ways to respond:
“Increased Sales”
If this is the goal of the client (and ultimately that is the goal for any business), you need to drill down further. If the client sells products online, then great, this is fairly straightforward to track. You can offer to provide a conversion pixel that will fire when someone makes a purchase after coming to the client’s website from one of your ads and then show those conversions on your monthly reports.
If the client doesn’t sell products online, you’ll need to dig into offline reporting. Look at what the monthly sales were month by month in the previous year, so you have a benchmark to perform against during your campaign. Whether it’s total gross sales figures or number of units sold, you’ll need those metrics to know how your campaign is performing.
“Increased Traffic To My Website”
If this is the goal you will want to make sure that the client has installed Google Analytics on the website. With Google Analytics the client will be able to see if website traffic increased during the digital ad campaign. The client can look at year over year comparisons as well.
“Increased Phone Calls”
For some clients, it’s all about the call (i.e. HVAC companies, home improvement services, spas, medical offices, attorneys, realtors, etc.). If you are working with a client that is looking to schedule appointments or services versus foot traffic to an actual store, then increased phone calls will be a key metric. This type of client should use a product with a click-to-call option. For example, we recommend our Mobile Conquesting product because the client can have a click-to-call button. Not only does this make it easy for the consumer to connect with the client, but those clicks are recorded and shown to the client on monthly reports. Another option is Facebook’s Local Awareness ads which also have a click-to-call feature.
“Leads”
This is another one where you need to drill down and ask the client to get more specific. Exactly what is it that the client wants the consumer to do? It might be to fill out a contact us form or sign up for a newsletter, blog, or VIP membership. Maybe it is downloading a coupon or other information. These types of actions on a website are called conversions and are track-able with a conversion pixel. Here are some of the most common conversions that you can suggest to your client that you track and then can show in your monthly reports:
- Downloading information or discount offer from the website
- Filling out a “contact us” form
- Registering for a newsletter or other offer
- Signing up for VIP type membership
- Clicking to a certain webpage or product
- Scheduling an appointment
- Clicking to an “About Us” webpage
- Clicking to a “Find Us” or directions web page
If your client is specifically tracking forms that are filled out online, the key is to make sure that the form once completed, directs the user to a unique thank you page that lives on your client’s website where the container tag can be placed to track those conversions.
As the graphic shows below, almost half of all small business owners say they don’t know if their marketing efforts are effective.
If clients aren’t sure, they are much less likely to continue placing their digital advertising with you. Prove you are a marketing guru to your clients by asking them BEFORE a campaign starts how they will be judging your efforts. They will be impressed that you asked, and you will be able to show them more concrete examples of return on their investment for their digital ad campaigns.
