More and more companies are using the internet to advertise. However, the effectiveness of their online activities is often only superficially measured and there must be room for improvement. Tribal Internet Marketing and AdLantic Online Advertising examined companies’ measurement habits and released the report ‘Internet Marketing: A Matter of Measurement?’ from.
Companies measure visitor numbers, newsletter subscriptions and online purchases, but this does not yet provide a complete insight into the effectiveness of their online campaigns. So-called ‘hidden results’ in offline sales, word of mouth and brand awareness are not exposed. These ‘soft effects’ are more difficult to measure than direct statistics and companies don’t bother to come up with such figures. Since online marketing is judged on its effectiveness, it would benefit marketers to take that extra effort.
“In order to accurately assess the profitability of Internet marketing campaigns, it is essential that companies conduct further research into the ‘hidden effects’ of campaigns,” said commercial director at Tribal Internet Marketing, Jan Beekwilder. “This gives companies more insight into the results achieved and campaigns can be better adapted to the objectives.”
Tribal Internet Marketing and AdLantic Online Advertising give companies some tips. This gives a more complete picture of the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns.
- It sounds simple, but compare the sales figures before and after an online campaign.
- Ask customers how they found your company. Sellers can ask offline customers for their reasons, online customers can fill out surveys or answer some questions about a purchase.
- Use unique phone numbers, codes, or pricing when advertising online. Then it is immediately visible that a customer has responded to the online campaign.
- Use ‘customer tagging’. Let customers open an (online) account and use it for offline purchases as well.
