“I’m out on Facebook and Twitter, but it seems like a waste of time. I don’t get any business from it.” “I attend networking events, get business cards, but it never leads to any business. Networking doesn’t seem to really work.”
The above statements are examples of common responses I get from small business owners when I ask about their current marketing plan. I’ve learned to read between the lines and simply ask better questions. When I do, I find out the real reason most marketing strategies are not working: No solid benchmarks and no tracking of results. (Defining Target Marketing also plays a key role, but I will save that for another time.)
How do you know if you are achieving success if you have not actually defined what success looks like? First question I require all of my clients to ask for every marketing strategy they implement is “What is the end result I want to achieve with this strategy?” By working with the end in mind (Thank you, Stephen Covey!), you can now move backwards to develop the strategy to reach that goal. You also have now set yourself up with something to achieve that can be tracked so when you reach the end, the data will drive whether the strategy was a success or did not live up to the expectations.
Let’s walk through a strategy scenario: You join a local chamber. You want to get clients within this chamber as part of the Return On Investment (ROI) for your membership. Your membership is annual, so you will set your benchmarks monthly for a 12-month timeframe.
Step 1: What is your main menu item and what do you charge? This is important to understand the basic ROI of your membership. Let’s say the main item on your menu of products/services is priced at $300. Your annual chamber membership is $400. To get the basic ROI from your membership, you will need to sell only two of these to not only break even, but also move into a profit based on your membership cost.
Step 2: Determine how you will engage on a monthly basis using networking as a marketing strategy within the chamber. Most chambers have an event calendar on their website, so simply go to this calendar to find how often the organization has events for networking. Set your networking benchmark! Let’s say you want to attend one event per week. Then your monthly networking benchmark for the chamber is 4 events. At the beginning of every month, put the events on your calendar so they are set. If you want to take your benchmarking one step further, you can also determine how many qualified individuals you want to meet at each event that will turn into a meaningful conversation. So if you want to meet a minimum of 2 qualified people per event, you can set the benchmark for 8 new contacts per month = 8 meaningful conversations. A meaningful conversation is one where you are sharing your value for possible sale. This could be an end user client or a strategic partner.
Step 3: Track your progress throughout the 12 months of this strategy. You can use something as basic as an Excel spreadsheet. Did you hit your 4 events per month? Did you connect with 8 qualified individuals to set up 8 meaningful conversations per month? Now track your conversions to sale from these 8 meaningful conversations. Remember, based on our example you need a minimum of two sales within the chamber over the 12 months to make a profit. If you are attending 4 events and having 8 meaningful conversations per month, you will have a total of 48 events and 96 conversations just from the chamber. Can you convert two sales from 96? By tracking your progress on a consistent basis you will also determine your conversion rate. Are you getting one sale for every 5 meetings on average? If so, than you will well exceed your two sale minimum quickly! Then perhaps it’s time to set a new benchmark.
You can do this. Stop over analyzing the benchmarking and data tracking process when it comes to your marketing. Set easy numbers, do the work, and track the results. Data needs to drive more decisions in your marketing planning so you can determine success based on your activities. It’s that simple. Still need some help with this? I would love to help you. I live for this stuff.
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This is a great article Pam. Very relevant to our community since we have several networking opportunities. Often times I see the same people from event to event but have never heard from them afterwards. I always wonder what they do with that handful of cards. Step 3 is my favorite.
Thank you, Lisa. I find most small/micro business folks tend to believe that they are too small to do marketing the way bigger business does. Not true! It’s actually easier since our systems can be very simple, but extremely effective! And Networking is THE #1 strategy in my book! (and I have the numbers to prove it)