It’s important to understand which metrics are most important to track when evaluating the success of your marketing activities. Would printing 50,000 discount coupons for distribution be considered a quantifiable objective? Yes, but it is an output activity, not a result. Examples of quantifiable goals and objectives that reflect results are as follows:
- Increase total attendance volume by 30% within two years.
- Increase online ticket sales by 20% within 12 months.
Most organizations are currently focused on activity measures, rather than on effectiveness and efficiency measures. To better understand the difference between these two measures we define the following measures as:
Effectiveness Measures
An effectiveness measure quantifies the results and outcomes of a marketing activity. They assist in managing your resources effectively and define “what resulted from what we did”.
Examples:
- the number of leads per trade show attended
- the number of media impressions.
Here are some measures that are managed for effectiveness:
- Advertising and Promotion
- Inquiries and Fulfillment
- Website
- Media
- FAM and PR Bookings
Results: Compared with past results, objectives, targets.
Efficiency Measures
An efficiency measure describes the relationship between business performance and resources (manpower, time, dollars). These measures assist in managing in the most cost efficient manner and define “what resources were required to achieve what we did”.
Examples:
- often a ratio, such as number of bookings per sales person, or
- cost per lead generated.
Results: compared with past results and budget or return on investment targets.
Here are some measures that are managed for efficiency:
- Advertising/Marketing Conversion
- Special Events
What to Measure?
Some of the measurements that will assist your venue in reaching your goals and objectives while providing internal stakeholders with information of value include:
- Inquiries/Fulfillment
- Number of brochure requests
- Number of consumer calls handled
- Number of coupons redeemed
- Number of people who purchased tickets online
- Tracking inquiries requires staff record every contact made
- Toll-free number and unique URL’s are recommended mechanisms for tracking inquiries and fulfillment (“lead source”)
Attempt to collect three items of info:
- Lead source
- If the inquirer has already decided to visit
- Permission to re-contact for follow-up by email
Websites
- Opportunity for behavioural tracking of individual customers
- Ease of measurement = tactical priority
- Web analytics: tracking of visitors to your site, monitoring and summarizing consumer patterns
Some of the most applicable measures for your Website are:
- Number of user sessions
- Number of unique users
- Number of repeat visits
- Click-throughs to promotion pages or tickets
- Sales Conversion - Look to Book ratios
- Number of specific Web page view counts
- Number of click-throughs to partner sites from your site, ads or links
- Number of coupons redeemed
- Average length of session
- Search engine referrals
- Search engine results, placement of your Web site (your Website ranking in key search engines such as Google, MSN, and Yahoo!)
While there are many other metrics to consider, we wanted to provide a brief overview to summarize the difference between effectiveness and efficiency measures. Focusing on activities is not enough to ensure the successful outcome of your sales and marketing goals. While measurement may seem like a daunting task, your marketing dollars will be better spent by tracking the effectiveness of each and every marketing activity. By tracking marketing effectiveness, your organization can make tactical improvements along the way to maximize your return and your results.
