With all the data available to marketers these days, it’s tough to determine what really matters. Do Facebook likes matter? What about web visits? Should you even worry about bounce rate?
If you’re like me—I really like data and analytics—it can be a bit overwhelming. I’m going to share a concept I’ve been using recently to help cut through the clutter and get down to what really matters.
Setting Goals
Before you can determine what matters, you need to determine what success looks like. I’m not going to go into too much depth on setting SMART goals because we’ve all heard it before. Goals need to be:
- Strategic
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time-based
An example of a SMART goal would be, “Megan is responsible for increasing organic traffic to the Far Reach blog by 15% by the end of 2014.”
Take some time to set goals for both macro and micro conversions.
What is a Micro Conversion?
A micro conversion is a metric that indicates the potential for success but doesn’t necessarily equate to success. When you have a long sales cycle—like we do—a full sales conversion may not happen for 6+ months after initial contact. In this case, it’s imperative to understand your micro conversions.
With our integrated marketing strategy, we have all sorts of micro conversions, including:
- Downloading one of our free resources
- Signing up for our email list
- Reading this blog
- Liking our Facebook page
- Following us on Twitter
- Viewing our work
As you can see, none of these relates directly to sales, but they help us educate and remain engaged with those who may need software development, web design & development, Internet marketing, and/or
web app development.
What is a Macro Conversion?
Macro conversions are events that can actually impact the bottom line. For us, macro conversions include:
- Contacting us
- Requesting a quote
- Accepting a proposal
Tying it All Together
As marketers, we tend to get lost in the micro conversions: “Oh, cool, I got 10 new Facebook likes.” The micro conversions matter, of course, but it’s all about tying them to macro conversions.
For example, when someone contacts us, we like to check to see if they’re on our email list, are engaged with us on social media, or have downloaded a resource. We also flat out ask people, “How did you hear about us?” or, “What convinced you to contact us?”
Certain business types are better able to directly track conversions—e-commerce, anyone? The rest of us just have to do a little extra work.
Go ahead and track micro conversions—they do matter—but don’t lose sight of how they connect to your bottom line.
Questions about goal setting, conversions, and tracking?
Reach out.