No, you’re not.
Every business needs to try out more marketing channels than they currently use, because only by experimenting with as many channels as possible does any company discover and grow its revenue generation. Your business is no exception.
B2B marketing channels are diverse, and each comes with its own strengths, weaknesses, budget constraints and time commitments – but you shouldn’t automatically dismiss any given channel until you’ve thoroughly and robustly tested it.
Here are a few strategies and guidelines to remember as you experiment with new marketing channels for your business:
Calculate ROI On Every Channel
Contrary to popular belief among small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), you are able to calculate the return on investment from your marketing efforts. Tracking marketing ROI isn’t just for big brands or multinational companies. It should be a part of every single one of your marketing channels or campaigns.
For example, you should be analyzing each channel and evaluating whether it is worth the investment of time and money or failing the ROI test. Any channel that isn’t performing well should be trimmed from your marketing mix, and any channel that generates leads and revenue should be continually optimized.
However, don’t just look at marketing channels in a silo. While the ROI of a particular marketing channel might be fantastic, its combined effectiveness with a different channel might show that your efforts aren’t as effective as you’d hoped. You must evaluate the best portfolio of channels at the strategic level – not just by looking at the ROI of channels on the individual level.
Consider The Cost That Matters Most
Return on investment isn’t the only metric to measure your marketing channels against. Customer acquisition cost is also essential. Many companies don’t measure the cost per customer acquisition for each of their marketing channels, yet it’s one of the easiest ways to compare performance between different channels.
One word of caution, though: Customer acquisition costs need to be calculated all the way from initial contact to final close. You shouldn’t just measure the costs of the final, closing channel. Rather, you need to count all of the costs that led prospects along their journey to a finalized deal.
Use The Right Tracking Technologies
In any multi-channel marketing strategy, you need to put the right tracking technologies into place to ensure that you have the most accurate insight into the performance of each marketing channel. Especially for telemarketing and call center channels, this means that you need to use a different phone number for each campaign, channel or piece of content.
With the right tracking IDs on your inbound calls, you’re able to see which channels are driving the most calls – and which channels are driving the most closed sales. But don’t forget: If you change the frequency, the content or any other detail of your campaign, you need to measure the corresponding performance of that particular tracking ID or phone number.
Ensure Your Efforts Overlap
Finally, your marketing channels must overlap. For example, if you’re conducting a cold calling campaign alongside an email marketing campaign, your marketing efforts should naturally crossover to some of the same prospects. Why? Because overlap ensures that you’re reaching your entire target audience.
Otherwise, if your email campaign doesn’t overlap with your cold calling efforts or your pay-per-click campaign, then you’re missing some prospects between those channels. For maximum lead generation and sales, your marketing channels must create overlap.
No matter the size or scale of your business, you need to be testing and experimenting with more marketing channels than you currently are. When you continually research and robustly measure the results, you set your business on a course for consistent growth.
Interested in driving more growth for your business with a metrics-driven approach? Click below to download a tip sheet from Invenio Solutions™ and discover how the Science of Sales™ helps you generate warmer leads and optimize your sales and marketing channels for maximum profitability.
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