The ultimate confirmation that your marketing is delivering results for your business comes when prospective customers are lining up to get what you have to offer. But how can you be sure specifically which marketing channels and campaigns are working best?

Here are five ways you can track the effectiveness of marketing efforts that, unlike online advertising, can be challenging to measure.

 

1. Assign a vanity phone number

A vanity phone number is a custom-made set of digits that either spell out a word or are memorable in some way. You can set up multiple vanity numbers and then use a different one for each campaign you run. Not only will you be able to track what ads are working best, you might also see a boost in calls due to the memorable number!

 

2. Employ exclusive offers

Design a special, exclusive offer for each marketing channel, so you’ll know for sure how prospective customers discovered you. Not only is this a great way to measure your ads, it’s a great way to attract new customers to your business.

 

3. Use a discount code

You probably see discount codes such as HOLIDAY25 all the time. Did you realize these codes can also help businesses determine which of their marketing efforts are working?

Create a short code of letters and/or numbers that your prospects will need to use in order to obtain a special offer. Discount codes can allow you to track your campaigns very precisely if you like.

 

4. Launch a landing page

Add a “landing page” — a special page that serves as an alternative homepage — to your website and then publish the unique website address (URL). Just be sure to use a URL that is easy to remember and doesn’t require too much typing.

💡WEBSITE INSIGHT: Create a true experience for your customers by having the landing page connect to your ads in a visual way.

 

5. Ask your prospects!

Whether you collect responses via an email survey or simply ask your customers when you’re speaking with them, don’t forget to find out how they heard about you. While this method is admittedly less precise than others proposed here, it offers an opportunity to ask follow-up questions that can provide you with additional insight. You might, for example, ask not only how they found your business but what, specifically, enticed them to contact you.

Asking your prospects how they heard about you can be especially helpful in cases where they’re likely to have had more than one contact with your brand. For example, if they heard about you on the radio but then responded to a coupon, just tracking them with a discount code on the coupon won’t reveal how helpful the radio ad was.