Fragmented data, uncalibrated channels and humans who can’t see the forest for the trees are a few reasons why it is sometimes challenging to measure the success of your digital marketing. The challenge is assigning a value so that all of the tools can be measured accurately. An additional challenge: constant change in the marketplace and the tools themselves.
Does it matter? You bet it does. If one channel is generating all of your new client appointments, you need to know. You also need to know the difference between a channel that is really busy and one that is not as busy but leading to new clients. For example, if your Twitter account is blowing up the internet, that’s great, but you need to know if that is the channel driving new clients to your practice.
The continually changing consumer journey makes assigning a value to digital activity even harder. Did your latest round of new clients meet you at a senior center where you were speaking and sponsoring an event? Or maybe they found your website because they were looking for key search terms like “estate planning special needs Dayton, Ohio.” By the way—you should always ask your clients where they learned about the firm, even if you don’t expect them to remember or provide accurate information.
The beauty of digital marketing is that it can be measured, but it has to be calibrated also. Know the difference between 80 people visiting your website on any given day and 80 people following you on Twitter. Consider this: the 80 people following you on Twitter are getting repeat messages from you, which is great. But bear in mind that of those 80 people following you on Twitter, some maybe following a handful of estate and Elder Law attorneys, some may be following 400 different Twitter feeds in a variety of interests and others may have signed up once and never visited Twitter again.
Of the 80 people who visited your website, you’ll need to drill down into the data to find out how many of them devoted time to watching your videos, reading your attorney profile and filling out a Contact Us form that got them into your automated marketing system. Are they more valuable than the 80 Twitter followers? Those who stayed long enough to engage and convert definitely are.
The value of the E2 CRM is that you’ll have the information you need to understand how the different channels of your marketing are working, and how they are working together. With more data, you can make better strategic decisions.