It's so easy to blow through money when marketing a website.
If you're like many new entrepreneurs, you may have already
wasted several hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on
marketing campaigns that didn't give you the results you
were hoping for.
So how does one figure out which campaigns are worth the
time, trouble, and money?
You track them. Ad trackers are commonly used to monitor
the results of a marketing campaign. A specialized 'coded'
URL records the number of times people click on the link.
You'll be able to see how many 'hits' and unique visitors
you get from each of your advertising campaigns, and by
analyzing this information, you can instantly see which
of your campaigns are successful and which are not.
A hit-and-miss 'strategy' is simply too frustrating, and
often times too expensive! Here are just a couple of
examples of what an ad tracker can tell you:
EXAMPLE 1: Let's say you run the same ad in two
newsletters or ezines. EzineA has 10000 subscribers,
EzineB has 50000. Most beginners naturally assume that
a larger number of subscribers means a better response
rate. This isn't necessarily true. What actually matters
is how many people READ the ezine and how responsive
they are! Your tracker will show you cold, hard numbers
of how many subscribers from each ezine respond to your
ad.
EXAMPLE 2: You create 2 different sales pages, each with
a unique tracking link. You can send an equal number of
visitors to each sales page, and let your tracker tell
you which one is converting more visitors into paying
customers.
A good tracker doesn't have to be expensive, either.
Consider how much you pay for a single ad whose results
you'll have to guess at... when instead, you could invest
in a tracker that will SHOW you which of your campaigns
are giving results. There are a wide variety of trackers
available choose one that suits your needs. A couple
include:
AdTrackz, http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/adtrackz.html
- a simple ad tracker that you can install on your own
server. Available for a one-time fee.
HyperTracker, http://onlinebusinessbasics.com racker.html
- a much more in-depth tracker with loads of features.
Free trial available.
Tracking your campaigns is also important when you're
marketing offline. For example, let's say you create a
couple of brochures. You can track orders by providing
a 'code' on the enclosed order forms, or if you're
directing people to your site, provide a different URL
on each brochure to see which one is getting the most
response. Knowledge is a powerful thing!
By testing everything you do, you'll have solid proof
of what doesn't work, what works well, and what can be
improved. You know which ad campaigns to continue...
and which ones to dump for something more profitable.
So invest in some a good tracker you'll gain valuable
insight into where your sales are coming from, and be
able to refine your marketing efforts and ultimately
improve your bottom line.
About the Author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Angela is the editor of Online Business Basics, a practical
guide to building a business on a shoestring budget. It
features loads of instantly usable tips and tools that
were specifically chosen for beginners! For details, visit
http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/article.html
or download the free trial version of the Online Business
Basics manual: http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/freebook.html