LOGIC1 was shortlisted as Google Premier Partners Awards finalist in Growing Business Online category. This is a great achievement for our clients and our team, but nowadays – what does it really take to grow your online presence and get the results you need from your digital channels?
Set your own KPIs
It never stops surprising us how many businesses still operate without digital-specific KPIs, connected to the unique metrics the online measurement offers. It’s like driving into a big city without a map or direction and hoping to arrive at your destination in the shortest time and with minimum fuel costs. It’s not going to happen.
Each business is unique and should develop own goals and objectives. Within that, the digital-only KPIs should be paired up with metrics which can be measured using tools available to your organization. Our clients use metrics like store visits, calls, product ROI and many others, alongside more traditional online success indicators.
Decide what you want your business and marketing budget to achieve over the next 3 to 12 months and then discuss it with your digital team and agree on the metrics which will be most representative of those objectives. Agree on the reporting and optimization frequency, a portion of your budget to be allocated to the initial learning phase and the expected results. Set your cost-based goals liberally at the start and refine as you learn more.
Use your own benchmarks
Stop worrying about every single detail of your competitors’ strategy – instead focus on your own brand and make sure all boxes are ticked on your side first. It’s too easy to lose track of your own direction if your energy goes into worrying about others.
In digital, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution and we always discourage our clients from doing something only because someone else is doing it. Keep track of what your competitors are up to, but don’t copy their approach blindly. After all – you want to lead, not follow.
That’s why benchmarking your own activity is so much more important. Keep track of monthly, quarterly and annual changes in results, drops and growths, and match them with changes in your online activity. Have you done something differently this month, that resulted in an increase or decrease in bookings from users in Sydney? Flesh out what it was and consider exploring this potential new opportunity further. Remember to never analyse one channel or platform in isolation – dive deep into customer conversion paths and custom attribution models to get a full picture. There are no silos in digital mix.
Over time your benchmarks will become an invaluable asset in your budget planning and will allow you to be more proactive with your activity, having the knowledge if what to expect from the market in that given time.
Test and trial
Never rest on laurels when it comes to digital. Was last month the best one yet in terms of online revenue? Great – what’s next?! If you’ve been doing something the same way for the past year, because the results were good – that’s enough of a reason to change the direction, try something new and stay ahead of the curve.
Our recommendation is to always allocate around 15% of your digital budget for testing and trialling new solutions, platforms, targeting methods, creative solutions or any other innovations. If the test is successful – make this solution a part of your always-on strategy and move on to the next test.
While the 3 points above might seem obvious – they are not. Goal posts can move quickly and new solutions can become available overnight. Staying on track can be more difficult than it seems, that’s why a data-driven strategy, well-planned budget and clear measurement plan are the keys to growing your business online.
Get in touch with our team to find out more about the work we do online which leads our clients to digital success.
