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What?s the Score?
You may be aware that in a basketball game the assistant coaches keep an almost unending list of personal statistics for each player.� Rebounds, assists, points, minutes played, etc. Why is that? Because they know that these individual statistics all add up to the bottom line.� The final score.� If they can achieve even a small incremental improvement in these individual statistics for each player this will have a compound affect on the final score.� And of course, it helps them know which players to give the most playing time too.� In marketing your business you should be just as disciplined. Which products and which ads and which media should you give the most playing time?� Do you know? What's the point of designing and implementing an advertising campaign if you don't know if it worked or if it was better than the last one?� What a waste. How do you know where the best place is to spend your advertising dollars?� By tracking everything.� Incoming calls, emails, walk-ins, website visitors, etc.� Train yourself and your staff to always ask these questions.� Where did they come from?� How did they hear about you?� Which ad did they call on?� Here is an example:� Let's say you place a classified ad in the newspaper at a cost of $135.00 offering a free report on your product.� You could track the incoming calls in many ways (for instance by directing them to a free recorded message with a unique extension number or simply by asking them where they heard about the offer when they call).� Let's say you receive 12 calls on this ad and 2 of them end up as completed� sales. What is your cost per prospect? (Cost of Ad) / (Number of Calls) = Cost Per Prospect $135.00 / 12 = $11.25 Your cost per prospect is $11.25
(Number of Sold Clients)�/ (Number of Prospects)� = Conversion Rate 2 / 12 = .17 (or 17%) Your conversion rate of prospects to sold clients is 17%
(Cost of Ad) / (Number of Sold Clients) = Cost Per Sale $135.00 / 2 = $67.50 Your marketing cost per sale is $67.50.
Which ad is performing better? What is your cost per prospect for this ad? (Cost of Ad) / (Number of Calls) = Cost Per Prospect $450.00 / 27 = $16.67 Your cost per prospect is $16.67
(Number of Sold Clients) / (Number of Prospects)� = Conversion Rate 4 / 27 = .15 (or 15%) Your conversion rate of prospects to sold clients is 15%
(Cost of Ad )�/ (Number of Sold Clients) = Cost Per Sale $450.00 / 4 = $112.50 Your marketing cost per sale is $112.50. Depending on your products and profit margin both of these ads may be performing well enough to merit continuation.� However, based on this information we would want to look for other opportunities to expand our use of the classified ad first. This may seem a little basic but this information is extremely valuable and often overlooked.� The outcome of most athletic contests is normally decided by a very small margin,� sometimes by as little as tenths of an inch or hundredths of a second, missing that pass completion by half a step or missing one basket.� One would suspect that most winners and losers in business are also determined by very small margins.� Not giving that extra little bit of caring and customer service.� Not having your presentation skills honed, not including testimonials with your sales information.� Not having the most effective headline in your ad or not having a headline at all. And worst of all, not knowing which ads are working and which should be put on the bench. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.� Then quit.� There's no use being a damn fool about it."� - W.C. Fields 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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