Getting data and metrics for online campaigns is fairly easy. If anything, there’s probably too much information (yah, right, says the analyst). But having a lot of information is not the same as having the right information. Many of the online tools that are used for carrying out social media and online campaigns also provide a lot of data about what’s going on. As marketers and business people, we end up collecting a lot of numbers. How do we know if we have the right numbers?
Ask the Right Questions
Seeking the right data and information requires asking the right questions. What do you want to know about your online tactics? Usually you’ll have the information to answer pretty basic questions: How many people are following me? How many people clicked on a specific link? But the real questions you probably want to answer have to deal with your business: How many sales am I getting from my online tactics? Which tactics are working best? How can I improve my online tactics?
Start with Business Goals
All marketing tactics, online or off, go back to business basics: what is that you’re trying to accomplish? Who are your customers and what do they want? Understanding your basic business goals will help you create an online strategy to reach those goals, as well as setup the right questions that you’d like answered.
Use Your Questions to Find the Data
Now that you have the right questions, figure out how you can get answers to them. What information do you need? Where can you find it? If you don’t have the information outright, are there additional tactics or strategies you can use to help you get that information? Marketing often uses specific promotions to be able to see which tactics are working, for example. The same can be used online in order to create a series of dots that lets you trace a path from your online tactics to your sales and revenue.
Not Just About Numbers
Remember, marketing is not just about numbers. It’s not how many fans or followers you have, or how many people click on your links or comment on your posts (although all of those things may help). At the end of the day, it’s about how much more business you have than what you had before (sales, $). Figuring out how to measure the right things will help you figure out how to market to the right people with the right content and messages.
What do you think?
(photo by Horia Varlan, on Flickr)