The Internet is the world's largest retail and wholesale shopping mall and it is very competitive. Marketing managers have to show the return on investment or ROI based on their sales strategy. This can be challenging at times.
Closed-loop Technology
Closed-loop reporting is a means of examining all inbound marketing efforts to determine what works the best to reach the target audience. It is the major analytical tool for fine-tuning your marketing strategy for the best ROI.
Closed-loop reporting provides the information you need to show the ROI to the company's executives. It explains your strategy and its effectiveness by combining sales results with marketing plans.
Related Blog: 5 Genius Ways to Grow Your Business with Closed-Loop Analytics
Inbound Marketing refers to bringing people into your business through the internet in addition to or instead of newspaper, magazine and direct mail advertising. They may be reached through:
• Email links
• Social Media
• Search engine optimization
• Ads on any related pages
The closed loop monitors how the potential customer makes the contact, how long he or she spends on the website and is converted into a genuine lead. The lead can come from the visitor filling out a form for more information. The closed loop shows when the visitor completes a transaction.
This closed loop brings all the information together to analyze the completed transaction. Marketing analytic software will tell you how many people visit the website, how they found it and the number of actual leads generated in relation to final transactions. This can also be compared to estimated results from other advertising sources if they are used.
Future marketing decisions will be made on the best way to reach your target audience based on these sales results. This includes the pathway the customer takes to your landing page through links or manually entered URLs. You may find that your strategy is increasing sales or it may be necessary to make changes to capture your target market.
Surveys
Your website may lead customers to a local retail store selling your product or service. Or, it may lead directly to your sales location. In-store sales can be compared to the number of web page hits to measure marketing effectiveness within the loop.
Your sales staff can be asked to inquire if customers were aware of the website and their reaction to it. The question is simple: "How did you learn about us?"
Many manufacturers and retail stores ask customers purchasing their product to take a quick online survey after the sale. This survey often inquires how the customer learned about the product or service. It may also ask general questions for demographic information.
Department stores, grocery stores, restaurants and other services often request a short survey. They often add a small premium such as a special drawing or a discount on future sales or service as an incentive to get people to take the survey.
This is another means of measuring the success of the marketing effort that is easily recorded within the online sales loop. The results of the survey or even a "like" on a Facebook page after the sale are positive indications of a successful marketing strategy. Top management must be aware of this.
Social Media
Facebook is experimenting with a tab to the left of the "like" button that can be used by the visitor to obtain information, make reservations or complete a purchase. The concept is being beta-tested and it may prove to be a very useful marketing tool.
Take advantage of technology that connects every lead, customer and sale to showcase your successful marketing program.
