When you’re putting money and effort into a marketing campaign, you might want to know how to read the results. This data is often presented in the form of graphs and numerical values. While sometimes it’s relatively easy to deduce how successful your strategy is, not every campaign is the same. Results could appear to be worse than you expected, but if you don’t know what the benchmark is, you could be reading it in all the wrong ways. To help you know how to look at your data and make a good assessment of what it means, we’ve put together this guide.
What Expectations Do You Have Of Your Marketing Strategy?
Data is meaningless without manageable expectations and goals. In many cases, setting a realistic expectation is the hardest part. It’s natural for everyone to want to achieve high numbers in a short space of time. However, this is not always going to be easy, or even possible. Here’s some factors that will affect your results, no matter which strategy you’re using:
Industry & Competition
You must give consideration to what industry you’re in and what competition you have in your area. If you’re lucky, you may only be competing against a few small businesses. However, in many cases you’ll be up against some major competitors, some of which could even be household names. It’s not impossible to beat these, but the time, investment and effort it takes to get there will be considerably bigger.
Location
If you’re marketing in a small suburb, you may appear to less people, but might also have less competition getting in the way. On the other hand, if you’re focusing on a densely-populated city, you may have a bigger potential audience but find it hard to stand out among your competitors. Sometimes you can cast a wide net and see huge success, whereas other times it’s much more appropriate to concentrate your focus in a smaller area. It’s important to assess the pros and cons of both, and come to a sensible decision as to which areas you want to market to.
Budget, Commitment & Campaign Quality
Not all marketing strategies are built the same. You can expect different results based on whether an amateur or professional is conducting your campaign. Experts like Search4Local are popular for a reason. Marketing skills take time to hone, and putting together successful marketing strategies is a full time job. Employing an agency to take on your digital advertising means you can expect better results than you would if you were doing it yourself without any training.
What Does Digital Marketing Data Look Like?
Data can be presented in a few different ways. At Search4Local, we use Google Analytics to track what happens on our websites. We choose to use Analytics because it presents data in a simple way and it’s easy to refine. Some people choose to use software like Ahrefs or SEMrush. To get the most accurate data, these programs are connected to Google Analytics, and are essentially just a different way to present and analyse that data.
How To Read Your Marketing Data
Discover more about what data looks like from individual campaigns in these guides:
What Does Successful SEO Campaign Data Look Like?
What Does Successful Google Advertising Campaign Data Look Like?
What Does Successful Social Media Marketing Campaign Data Look Like?
Why Does Ahrefs & SEMrush Show Different Data To Google Analytics?
You might have access to your Google Analytics data, and therefore have a good idea of how many views and conversions you get. If you’re presented with data from Ahrefs, SEMrush or another piece of software that makes your website traffic look very different to your Analytics data, you might be wondering how this has happened.
The truth is, unless the software is connected directly to the website by an admin, the traffic data will never be accurate. If you haven’t given the software access to the back-end of your website, you simply cannot trust anything you’re shown. At best, the data will be speculative and generated through a series of algorithms. It might be close to the truth, but there’s also every chance that it won’t be anywhere near accurate.
If you want to get a traffic report that has the right information, you need to ensure it’s collecting data directly from your website. If you’re ever presented with a graph or analysis of your website by someone who isn’t currently involved in your marketing strategy, ask them where the data has come from. In some cases, they will be analysing elements of your website that can be easily accessed, like the front-end elements and user experience. This is fine. However, if they try to convince you that they’re showing you accurate traffic, page views or conversions, be sure to question them. Don’t allow yourself to be fooled by speculative or inaccurate reports.
If You Need Help With Your Marketing Campaign, Choose Search4Local
We create highly successful marketing campaigns for a number of small to medium-sized enterprises across the UK. If you’d like to take advantage of our services, get in touch today. We have a team of account managers situated across the country. They’ll meet you in person to discuss your needs and analyse your campaign throughout. This means you’re never left in the dark about data and can know exactly how well your products are working.
