Okay, we've all seen American Idol by now. Simon Cowell was by far, the toughest judge. He made a lot of hopeful singers happy - but he also made a lot of them cry. Some thought this was unfair, but most of the time, his judging was accurate even if his methods were harsh. When it comes to your marketing, you need to be your own Simon Cowell. Lets talk about how to do it so you don't make yourself cry!
The best way to review your marketing is to look at it week by week and also month by month and then also by the quarter. Don't think this takes a lot of time. But it does take your uninterrupted focus and effort. If you are new to reviewing your marketing efforts, you'll especially want to monitor your marketing week by week to track your results to see if you are on track and if you should be doing things differently.
There are a few different ways you can track your marketing but two of the most popular ways are to use a word processing document or to use a spreadsheet document. It is simply up to you which one you prefer. Many like the spreadsheet because they can review columns quickly. Keep all information up to date in either format so you can review it at a glance. It only takes a moment to update it, and you'll be glad you have it there to look at whenever you'd like to see it.
Some way wonder, "how am I supposed to know it is working?" There are a few ways you can tell if your marketing efforts are successful. Let's say you are offering a coupon code at your website during the holidays. Your coupon code WINTER offers 20% off a purchase. Week by week you would want to track how many sales used this coupon, and also how much the average sale was for and what the total amount was for the sales that week (tracking weekly). With your marketing efforts it is easiest to track them if there is something to track. Some marketing efforts will be more difficult to track, such as giving out your business card at a networking event. If someone calls you in four months, they may not mention how they met you. But that doesn't mean it isn't worth the effort, simply that it is more difficult to track.
Try to set goals for your marketing each week or month to month depending on your goals. This gives you a target to reach for. Then track your success on reaching these goals. You'll soon see if you can reach the goal easily, perhaps you should be trying for a more ambitious goal. And if you cant reach for that goal, perhaps you should adjust your goal. But by setting the goal and tracking your results, it will help you to monitor your efforts.
Finally, don't make yourself cry about your marketing. Be positive about your efforts even if you are not seeing the results you would like. By monitoring what you are doing, you have the ability to make changes. Reviewing your marketing, especially if you haven't done it before can be a real eye-opening experience. But it is a great opportunity for success for many small businesses.
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Lawrence Reaves writes for Galorath, a software company that provided other companies with project management software to help them plan and implement ajor projects within their business. For more informatin about this software visit http://www.galorath.com/index.php/products/software/C5/
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