I am often asked, “How do I know if my advertising is working?” My response is, “Ask your customers.”
In my business, we track each new contact carefully. Each time we receive a phone call, we find out how they heard about us.
Ask each new contact:
- the caller’s name and town
- the date they called
- the company they are with
- how they heard about us
- what service they are inquiring about
- whether or not we were hired
From this information we can evaluate advertising effectiveness. What’s working? What’s not working? We have tracked changes in response rates after making layout changes, content revisions, and website modifications. We’ve learned which media outlets and messages work best for the different services we offer.
Times will change. New customers will move in and out of our market and our competition will change too. To stay competitive we will need to continue asking and recording, analyzing and revising.
While it takes persistence and commitment, by regularly tracking your customers’ comments, you will compile data that you simply wouldn’t have had without asking. You may have a feeling about what advertising is working best for you, but by asking specific questions and tracking those responses you will have solid data.