Do you want to know if your advertising dollars are actually working for you? The key is meticulous ad tracking. Regardless of whether you run a local store, a service-based business, a mail-order operation, or an online empire, measuring your advertising’s effectiveness is critical for growth and profitability.
**1. Pinpointing Profitable Publications**
The simplest method? Ask every new customer how they discovered your business. Was it a Yellow Pages ad? A newspaper insert? Keep a detailed record of these responses alongside the resulting sales figures from each ad.
Analyze this data regularly. Which publications consistently drive profitable sales? Keep investing in those. Which ones consistently underperform? Cut your losses and reallocate those resources.
For mail-order businesses, implement a ‘keying’ system. Add a unique identifier to each ad (e.g., ‘Dept. A’ for July issue of Magazine X, ‘Dept. B’ for August issue of Magazine X, ‘Dept. C’ for July issue of Magazine Y). This allows you to directly link incoming orders to the specific ad that generated them, providing clear profitability metrics.
**2. Optimizing Ad Performance**
Ad tracking doesn’t just reveal the best publications; it also helps you fine-tune your ad creative. When you make changes to your ad copy or design, monitor the resulting performance closely. If the new ad consistently outperforms the old one, stick with it. If not, revert to the original.
Crucially, only change *one* element at a time. Don’t change both the headline and the price simultaneously. Otherwise, you won’t be able to isolate which change caused the difference in results. This controlled testing approach provides accurate, actionable data.
For online advertising, leverage tracking software and services. These tools can pinpoint the source of your sales and measure the effectiveness of your ads, content marketing, and other online activities.
In conclusion, embrace ad tracking. It’s the foundation for making informed decisions, optimizing your advertising spend, and maximizing your profits.