Assumption
Based Marketing Vs. Fact Based Marketing
by: Shawn Meldrum
One of the most common mistakes in marketing
is making decisions based on assumptions rather than fact. You think
of an idea for a marketing piece and believe that it is a great
idea.
You start using the idea with no tracking mechanism that would allow
you to measure the results of that piece. Then if business happens
to come in you assume that it must be working and continue to spend
time and money on a method that may or may not actually be working.
Frankly, I don't want to spend a dime (or a minute of my time) on
marketing that I can't measure.
There are two reasons for this. The most obvious reason is - I want
to know if I am wasting my efforts on something that doesn't work
at all.
The second reason is - if the marketing piece is working I want
to know how well. I want to be able to compare it to my other marketing
efforts and determine where my resources are best spent. I also
want to be able to test variations of the piece and see if I can
improve the response rate. An improvement in response rate adds
directly to the bottom line because it doesn't cost any extra.
In other words, if I have a choice between spending $300 on an ad
and getting 10 responses or spending the same $300 and getting 20
responses I'd rather have the 20 every time. That's a no-brainer,
right?
Yet so often I see marketers using unproven ads and neglecting to
test and see if they can improve response rates.
That's one reason I like using free recorded message lines as a
response mechanism so much. When the person calls to hear the recorded
message they enter an ID number from the ad they read. Each ad or
marketing piece can be assigned a unique ID number so that I can
know exactly how many responses came as a direct result of that
particular piece.
Knowing your numbers and tracking every single ad can save you time
and money, and making decisions based on fact is much more profitable
and enjoyable than making them based on assumptions.
Shawn Meldrum has spent the last two decades
marketing everything from almonds to landscape lighting. He currently
specializes in marketing for mortgage brokers, loan officers and
real estate agents. For free mortgage marketing articles and much
more visit: http://www.mortgagemarketingtips.com/
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