How do you measure success?

It is critical to measure the success of your digital campaigns to determine whether the original goals were met, and where improvements can be made. No matter what type of online tools are used, it is important to review the available web analytics and define which ones yielded the best results. By doing so, you will have a clear understanding of customer behaviour and the next campaign will be easier to plan and achieve better results using the most effective channels.

Marketing campaigns cost money and time. Analytics help business owners see what parts of their website or campaign are doing well and what parts need work. They can be used to measure a number of things: 

• Where is your traffic coming from?
• Which of your pages are popular?
•  Is your social media marketing working?
• Are your blogs popular?
• How is your traffic volume compared to sales?
• Which parts of the world is your website most popular in?

All this information is readily available with the right tools.  It’s a fantastic resource that allows businesses and brands to connect marketing outcomes and customer behaviour.

It’s also important to consider current economic factors, competitor analysis and consumer trends when completing a post campaign evaluation. The more you measure the effectiveness of your campaigns, the more they will improve as times goes on. Gone are the days of traditional market research; online analytics have created a level of depth that can bring brands closer to the needs of their customers.

In this excellent blog post: How to Measure Success by Early Bird Strategy, there are five questions you need to ask before you begin any project:

• What is my goal?
• What is the idea?
• What is the call to action?
• Can I define "success"?
• How will we measure success?

All great questions that give you a starting point for your next campaign!

The most important part of any marketing campaign is the analysis after it’s over. Was it successful? Did it produce an increase in sales? If you can’t answer these questions, then you can’t know whether your campaign was worth the money.  Avoid throwing good money after bad – learn from previous mistakes and improve your future marketing efforts!