I drive by billboards every day. And I’ve often asked myself, Does that business know if the billboard is working? Do they know what customers think of their ads? Are they gaining clients from the ads (or maybe losing clients)?
Some of these businesses do know the answer and are gaining clients. But some of them simply slap up an ad and assume the people walking through their doors (accessing their site, calling them on the phone, following on social media, or contacting in some other way) saw their ad and are connecting with them because they liked it. The truth is, though, there is no way to know if the ad is working unless you institute a method to measure the ad’s effectiveness. There are many ways to do this. But first here are some more reasons this should be done.
- It helps you make clearer arguments. If you measure the effectiveness of an ad, it is hard to argue against the numbers. When you present information about your projects to your team or others involved in decisions, you will be able to make a clearer and more effective presentation about how much should be spent on marketing when you have the data to back it up.
- You learn ways to improve the ad, even if it’s effective. Yes you could change where you’re advertising or the kind of ad if yours isn’t working. But even if it is working, there are always ways to improve. When you measure the effectiveness of an ad you can focus on why it’s effective. Your ad may be in the right place, but not communicate the right information. It could have all of the right information, but not have a connecting visual element. These are the pieces you can begin to work through in order to connect the right audience to your business.
- It can give you measurable data. Instead of saying that an ad was effective or not effective, you can now determine the amount of its effectiveness using data. The data can tell you more about how close your ad is to being effective. You can create goals and estimates, then measure against these. All of this will help with creating future ads.
Now that you know why you should measure the effectiveness of your advertising, here are a few ways of doing it. The ways to measure what customers think of your ads vary a lot. They vary in price. In how much they measure. In whether or not they are using numbers to measure. And in more methods. But they can all be helpful with different advantages.
- Surveys and feedback: Conducting surveys and gathering feedback from customers can provide valuable insights into what customers think of your ads. You can ask specific questions about the ad content, messaging, visuals, and overall impact. Online surveys, focus groups, or even direct customer interviews can help gather this data.
- Web analytics: If your advertising directs customers to a website, web analytics tools like Google Analytics can provide detailed data on website traffic, referral sources and user behavior. You can track the number of visitors coming from specific ads, monitor conversions and analyze user engagement metrics to gauge the effectiveness of your ads.
- Coupon codes and promotions: Providing unique coupon codes or promotions linked to specific ads allows you to track the number of redemptions or uses associated with each ad. This method helps you directly attribute sales or conversions to individual ads and measure their impact on customer acquisition.
- A/B testing: Creating multiple versions of an ad and testing them simultaneously allows you to compare their performance and identify, and know which version resonates better with your target audience. A/B testing can be done across various advertising channels, including billboards, digital ads, social media or email marketing.
- Social media monitoring: Monitoring social media platforms allows you to track mentions, engagement and reaction related to your ads. By observing comments, shares, likes and direct messages, you can gauge customer reactions, identify trends, and measure the overall impact of your ads on social media.
- Sales data and customer tracking: Analyzing sales data, customer acquisition rates and customer retention rates over specific periods can provide insights into the overall effectiveness of your advertising efforts. By comparing these metrics before, during and after running ads, you can analyze their impact on business outcomes.
Different advertising channels and objectives can require specific measurement techniques, but It’s often beneficial to use a combination of these methods to gain a full understanding of your advertising effectiveness. Setting clear goals and key performance indicators for your ads will also help create goals and evaluate the ad’s success.
Next time you decide to implement an advertisement, give these measurement tools some thought. And ask yourself, Which of these tools will work best for this ad?