Stage 3:
EVALUATE
It
is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. One begins to
twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. ~Sherlock
Holmes
What's the biggest mistake people make within the EVALUATE stage? Waiting until the campaign is over before taking a look at the results the campaign is delivering. It's understandable. Most people are used to the way traditional media (TV, Newspaper, Radio) works. You spend a lot of time, money, and energy in creating the message; deliver it to the audience in your selected format; and then wait until the end to see if it worked.
New Media doesn't work this way. The new technologies involved are significantly less expensive than the previous ways used to produce your message. This allows you (the advertiser) the ability to test the effectiveness of television ads by launching sample versions on YouTube to check the public's preference of message before buying expensive air time. Radio has always been an effective way to test messages because of the low cost of production and the speed with which you can revise copy.
The Internet possesses the best of cost effectiveness and speed with the added ability to track just about ANY response to the message or creative (visiting a page, clicking a link, completing a survey, viewing a video, downloading a document, filling out a form, sending an email, forwarding a link, texting a keyword, etc., etc.) If the audience isn't taking action in the manner you expected, you will know AS it happens rather than waiting until the end of the campaign and WONDERING what happened. An adjustment to the creative that moves it from worst-to-first in terms of success might be as simple as moving a button from one part of the page to another, changing the wording of the offer, creating a new domain name, or not requiring quite so much information on your registration form.
The point is, if you're not tracking information and monitoring results, how will you know what worked and what did not?
Next step: CONTACT us to learn how we can help you get the results you need!
Evaluate Sidebar
Here are some additional reference materials to help you in your efforts to track your marketing results...
