The Importance of Measuring & Evaluating After Marketing Training

Has your destination just completed a marketing training exercise? Or maybe you’ve just begun creating a new marketing campaign? Or perhaps you are even in the weeds of implementing a marketing plan. No matter where you are in the process, it’s important to make sure you aren’t leaving out the final key step of marketing planning: measuring & evaluating.

There are four basic questions you should ask while creating and implementing a marketing plan. During the planning stage, the strategy is concerned with “Where are we now?” and “Where could we be?”. These questions help determine the direction your marketing plan should pursue. “How do we get there?” focuses on the practical steps and objectives that will help you reach your marketing goals and move the firm towards the desired direction.

The final question, although sometimes overlooked, is perhaps the most important, “Are we getting there?” This last step is concerned with measuring and evaluating results and progress, and it is crucial for the following 3 reasons:

1) Regular Accountability of Marketing Activity

The tools to measure & evaluate marketing efforts are very necessary. Having metric systems in place allows a firm to track all of its marketing activity and growth. This information is vital as it helps a firm conduct analysis on the performance of various marketing channels and campaigns, and see if they’ve materialized in sales. A metric system can be as simple as an excel spreadsheet recording all of the marketing activity. For example, see a sample social media tracking spreadsheet below:

2) Overall Performance Indication

The marketing activity can be analyzed using KPIs – Key Performance/Progress Indicators. The Key Performance/Progress Indicators are designed alongside tactics in the planning stages to understand how the success will be measured. Gathering marketing activity allows a firm to compare the real time data with the targets they set out to achieve. An example of the key performance indicators is as following:

3) It informs new strategic direction and tactics

Upon comparison a firm can identify which marketing tactics are working and which are not. The metrics also allow a firm to evaluate the factors that led to the growth of sales and those that deterred it. This information allows the firm to change it’s strategic course if required, change tactics and/or implement new ones, and lastly, allows a firm to improve it’s opportunity pipeline.

Solimar International provides an array of services, including comprehensive marketing training for our clients. As part of our marketing training, we help design key indicators to measure & evaluate the success of a firm’s marketing efforts. Learn more about how we can be at your service at the following here.