On Thursday June 6th I had the opportunity to be one of three panelists at the CT Business Expo. Our panel gave audience members an opportunity to ask questions about their businesses as it relates to marketing today. Here are some key takeaways from the discussion.

Marketing Mix:

As businesses we cannot just rely on one strategy for marketing our companies; we need a mix of tactics. Fellow panelist Gary DeCavage of Shirt Man shared with the crowd his thoughts on the importance of subtle touches like personal notes and picking up the phone. Additionally, Gary reminded the audience that print is not dead. People still like getting something physical to refer to. I chimed in and built on Gary’s point that print can be a great help if you can also tie it into a digital tracking component.

Printing companies today can give users unique URL’s to go to for special messaging and if you can’t go that far, I recommend adding a follow-up to print that can only be accessed via the web. It’s a great way to track that your print is working. When we create direct mail pieces, or even certain Google AdWords, campaigns we recommend using call tracking like CallRail. This lead us to another big takeaway; Metrics.

Tracking Success and Metrics:

No matter what strategies you use in your marketing mix, you need to know what’s working and what is not working. There are ways to add metrics to digital and offline strategies. This is something many people neglect to review as part of the planning process. Shawn Limata of CASEITUP shared some of his stories with the audience about testing and tracking to increase sales on his website.

I gave the crowd a few to-do’s:

• Make sure you have Google Analytics on your website.
• Ensure that you have Goal Tracking enabled on their forms and checkout pages to see what sources were converting on their website.
• If you’re using Facebook ads, add the tracking code from Facebook to your website to track the conversions from ads.
• Check out Google Optimizer to A/B test your images to enhance your conversions.
• Make sure tools are integrated. For example, Google AdWords connects into your Google Analytics to see what’s working.

Segmentation:

During the panel there were many questions about targeted audiences. All three of us had a little something to say, but we all agreed it is important to segment your audience to connect proper messaging. If you have multiple industries or demographics, creating different print pieces, web-landing pages or text messaging strategies is a great way to ensure success. Audiences need to know that you understand them and their specific needs. This strategy can often take a bit more time and energy, but the ROI will be much higher. With today’s digital tools, this is easier than ever before.

If you have questions about anything discussed here or you are just feel you’re not getting the most from your digital strategies. Schedule a free consultation.