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If you are a small business owner, you likely spend hours every month working on marketing activities – or at least wish you could! From keywords to social media, newsletters, and online advertising campaigns the list of things to keep up with daunting. But the question is not how much you are doing, but how effective it is.
Thankfully, there are many methods and metrics that you can employ to help you determine if what you are doing is the best use of your time and money. Here are just a few of them to help you make the most of your marketing approach:
- Custom URLs – You already know the value of having frequent blog posts on your website, but if you want to track how effective the SEO is or what type of local traffic is being generated from your Google My Business (GMB) listing, then take advantage of the Google URL builder to create a custom link for your site. This will allow you to show how much of your traffic is actually local SEO.
- Emails – Send out emails to thank visitors for stopping by and then send out forms with a non-mandatory question. Keep up with the information, and use it to improve your marketing approach.
- Analytics – Take advantage of the various tools in Google. One that is especially effective is the Crowd Source Google Analytics Insights. This free tool lets you track a number of elements such as paid advertising, SEO set ups, content popularity, engagement, e-commerce and many others so that you can be certain that you are taking the best approach to success.
- Social Media – Like it or not, social media is a big part of today’s business world. So, it is important that no matter what type of content you post, that it is something which appeals to readers and is something they will want to share. Consider using a tool such as Social Warfare to make it easier to track when your readers share your social posts. After all, the more your content is shared, the more recognition received, which will result in better ranking in Google. Other tools great for helping you make the most of your social media efforts include Simplymeasured, Crowd Booster, Curalate, Socialbakers, HootSuite, and Tweriod.
- Pay-per-Click (PPC) – A PPC campaign is a great way to get others to notice and visit your site. But how can you tell if your campaign is doing what you need? Consider tools such as Raven, Report Garden or Swydo.
Think about it. When it comes to your marketing strategy, you have no way of knowing if it is effective unless you track it. It is not enough to do one check and never revisit the process. Make time each month to measure the success of your marketing strategy.
Remember, not every tool is perfect for every business. Nor is it a defeat to discover when something doesn’t work, but rather an opportunity to determine what does. Do some research and find one that works for your needs. Of course, you don’t have to be a tracking expert to be successful in this. Talk to the pros at Page Progressive of Raleigh about helping you make the most of your marketing strategy.