What works for MY business?

At a recent networking meeting the room was met with a thought-provoking question, ‘when promoting your business what do you find works for you?’ It certainly got us all thinking, what do we do that really makes a difference and do we actually measure the return on our investment?

All too often businesses throw their budget at every form of promotion in the hope that the fish will take the bait, so to speak, without taking the time to test, measure and adjust the approach. What a way to pour your budget down the drain!

Having worked for a specialist direct mail agency, I’ve seen first-hand how simply tweaking the copy, changing the layout or adding an incentive can affect the response rates. By taking a small sample of data and testing, you run less of a risk of failure and wasting your prized database that you have worked so hard to establish.

I’m definitely not saying that direct mail is the bee all and end all (although I do predict a growth in its popularity) - there are so many other things you can look at. Start monitoring and looking back at as many stats as possible, web analytics, facebook insights, etc, how do they alter when you’re actively marketing? Just take it step by step, record your findings, adjust your approach depending on your results, until you find the right mix.