We’re surrounded by numbers. Think about your daily life – how many times do numbers come up? For example, I made x amount of dollars this week, or conversely (especially since it’s the holiday season) I spent x amount of dollars this week. What about how long you spent working on a project at work? Or how many sales have you made this month and how many do you need to make next month?
You see, numbers rule our lives…but a lot of us shy away from numbers. Sadly, this is a big mistake – especially for business owners.
The truth is, though, numbers matter. They really matter. And they should be the reason for your every move and decision when it comes to your marketing strategy.
Now, we should denote here that when we say “numbers,” we’re not talking strictly in dollar signs. Although the financial aspect of any business is what’s most important in the end, there are a lot of other critical numbers that factor into how we get there, especially when it comes to digital marketing.
To better explain and prove our point that numbers indeed make a difference, let’s use the example of an ice cream shop in Saratoga Springs, NY, and you’re the owner. You know two numbers – existing profits, x, and desired profits, y – but that leaves a lot of numbers in between and those missing numbers are precisely why there is such a difference between x and y.
Other parts of the puzzle, AKA the additional numbers, that your shop is missing includes how many emails were opened, visits to the company website or Facebook page, engagement levels on Instagram, and much more. But how do these numbers correlate to x and y? Well, the reason is because they allow you to have a more complete picture of your business.
For example, if you sent out 500 emails detailing a “buy one gallon, get a pint free” special and only 5% of them were opened, that leaves a lot of people that had no idea what a great deal was going on. Furthermore, you missed out on the possibility of a lot of sales. As for your website or Facebook, you’d also be able to promote the sale there, but if no one is visiting your website or page, no one will know. And the same applies for Instagram.
Ultimately, the point of tracking these numbers are to help you better understand your business more and see which digital marketing tactics would most benefit the company, such as Account Based Marketing (ABM), or another advanced tactic. This, in turn, can improve x (actual profit) and turn it into y (desired profit).
Our example of this ice cream shop is still pretty common with small and medium sized businesses today. Whether it comes down to not being familiar enough with the metrics, a lack in time or resources to gather the data, or a feeling of helplessness when it comes to gathering such information, the fact still remains that these numbers matter and they will either make or break your company. So while some business owners suggest that they can’t afford to measure their numbers, we always ask ourselves, “Can you afford not to?”
Here are a few of our other posts that can offer some insight into the world of digital marketing & numbers.
- Data Driven Analysis: What You Need to Know
- 10 Reasons Why Marketers Should Care About Salesforce
- The Key to Finding ROI is in Marketing and Sales Alignment
RenderTribe can help, too! We have 12+ years of experience under our belts and are ready to help. Our RenderLab process identifies the unique pieces that fit in your overall marketing strategy and aligns your plan with overall business objectives. We help build the foundation for measurement, expertise, and the tactical execution needed to support the plan.
Let us help you grow your bottom line. Contact us today.If you have any questions about RenderTribe and what we do, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to hear from you.
