"Determine what your definition of
success looks like. In marketing lingo,
we refer to this as a conversion."
Skip ahead to present day and we have
all of those platforms still in existence
(some more prominent than others),
but now we’ve added all of these digital
options as well. That same person,
while still seeing those same ads men-
tioned above, can now be exposed to
e-mail marketing, social media content
and ads, search engine ads, display
banners, video ads, and the list goes
on and on. With more avenues than
ever before, measuring the effective-
ness must be an impossible task for
marketers, right? Wrong. Determine what your definition of
success looks like. In marketing lingo,
we refer to this as a conversion. What is
your conversion? A conversion might
be a phone call to book an appointment
(remember, there are many mitigating
factors that affect whether or not your
prospects actually booked an appoint-
ment or not – schedule availability
anyone – and it’s the job of your mar-
keting efforts to generate those
opportunities and should be evaluated
assuch), an online form submission
or walk-in-traffic to your dispensary.
One of the amazing aspects of digital
marketing is the ability to track
the effectiveness of advertising plat-
forms, campaigns and even keywords
within a campaign. Every visit to a
website, every eyeball on an ad, every
phone call or online sale made – can
all be tracked. As internet users, we
all leave behind trails of our journey,
called cookies. These cookies can be
traced and your entire online visit can
be tracked. Marketers now know how
many times it takes for you to see an
ad before you will take action towards
a purchase. We also know which social
media sites are more likely to convert
buyers based on age, income and
geography. As marketers, we know so
much more than ever before. Do a Google search for Call Tracking
Software and invest in one (it’s not
expensive). They will ask you to install
a code onto your website which will
swap tracking numbers with your regu-
lar phone number. This will allow you
to track how many phone calls are
being generated by your marketing and
from which platforms/campaigns. On
top of call tracking software, look at
Google analytics to track your form
submissions or map interactions.
Almost everything can be tracked.
Let’s bring this back to you and your
eye care business. How can you imple-
ment a system which allows you to
track the return of your marketing
investment? Follow these steps and
you’ll be set.
Once you know how many leads or
opportunities you are generating,
multiple them by a projected closing
rate (if 10 people called to make an
appointment, how many actually
showed up in the end) and then multiply
that again by your average patient
value. Divide that total number by your
original marketing investment and
you’ve just calculated your overall
return on marketing investment.
Sub-divide this out by platform and
campaign to see which ones are
working for you and which ones need
some attention.
All of this can be implemented your-
self – it just takes some time to sit down
and set it all up. Once you have it in
place, you’ll be able to evaluate which
marketing initiatives are worth
re-investing in and which ones should
be eliminated immediately. As a
business owner, it’s a nice change of
pace to make impactful decisions with
proper information in front of you.
It all starts with a conscious decision
to value tracking and a dedication to
implement it.
Kevin Wilhelm is the President of
Marketing4ECPs. To learn more
about his company, please visit:
www.marketing4ecps.com
EYE FOCUS | June Digital 2017 17