We believe that a strong marketing strategy is the backbone of any successful business. Before you even begin to start marketing your products or services you should have a clear idea of …

👉The budget

👉The channels

👉The message

👉The conversion goal

👉The ROI goal

Nailing a solid Return on Investment (ROI) driven marketing strategy is key for businesses to make the most of their resources. You need to grasp the basics of ROI analysis, use data to make smart marketing choices, and tweak your strategies for maximum return. By getting to grips with these basics, businesses prepare themselves for long-term success in this crazy, competitive marketplace.

The Fundamentals of ROI Analysis

Return on Investment (ROI) extends beyond the realm of sales. You might have noticed that traditional ROI analysis often centres on sales. But it's essential to recognise that businesses may define their ROI goals diversely. The fundamentals for us at co&co is that all sales are conversions, but not all conversions are sales.

So let’s say your focus is on gaining more content downloads, event sign-ups, or more website visitors. These are all measurable things, but don’t always have the intention of creating a sale. The broader perspective shows that success in marketing is not solely measured by direct revenue generation, but also includes various objectives that contribute to overall business growth. This understanding of ROI opens the door to a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of marketing initiatives. Businesses can tailor their strategies to meet a spectrum of goals beyond immediate sales outcomes. Don’t worry though, we get it … money is fu*king important. But you might want to look beyond that too. At the end of the day, sales will come down the line from this activity … if it’s done right. The primary goal of every marketing initiative doesn’t always need to be sales.

So why are we here? What’s the point of ROI analysis? You’ll find it basically serves as the cornerstone for evaluating the profitability of marketing initiatives. Whether it’s sales-based, or oriented towards other strategic objectives like brand visibility, customer engagement, or content acquisition, ROI analysis provides a holistic framework to measure success and guide strategic decision-making.

To do this right, businesses need to keep these key things in mind:

Be clear about what you want to achieve

Define specific and measurable goals that align with your business's broader objectives. Make sure these objectives are actually achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Otherwise, you’re setting yourself up to fail. You need to be able to measure the success of your marketing initiatives accurately. It’s simple – if you're not measuring, you’re not marketing … you're gambling.

Be clear about how success will be measured

No matter what your aim or ‘conversion goal’ is, one thing is consistent across them all - the number of them you get, vs how much money you invested in getting them is your ROI. The more conversions you get, the better your ROI is going to be - it’s that simple.

However, you have to always remember that conversions can take different forms - and therefore how you measure the success of your marketing efforts will change, depending on what your objectives are.

For example, the success of an organic social media campaign would be measured by the number of likes, shares, and comments on your social media posts. It's like a virtual thumbs-up, which shows how much engagement you’re getting. If email marketing is a significant part of your strategy, check out those CTRs to understand how many recipients are clicking on the links in your emails and taking action. Don't forget about things that happen offline – like phone calls, in-person visits, or direct inquiries. Real-world connections are major for brands.

The main takeaway here is that you need to be clear about how success will be measured for YOUR brand. You have to choose the right metrics and identify the primary conversions that are in-line with your business objectives.

Tell people what you want them to do.

Don’t send people on a wild goose chase. If your campaign message tells someone to ‘sign up to our event’ or ‘download our guide’, you better make sure that link takes them straight where they need to be. If they click through and are sent to a page where the CTA is ‘Get more details’, you are going to hit your conversion HARD. In the words of Avril Lavgine… ‘Why do you have to make things so complicated?’ If you aren’t being clear about what you want the person to do then you’re setting yourself up to fail. People like to be told what to do. So make it a part of your strategy.

Calculate ROI

Ultimately ROI is:

👉what did you put in vs what did you get out

ROI isn't just about making money; it's about understanding the impact of your investments. But, just to tick the box - how do you calculate monetary ROI? Well, actually it's very simple.

• Let’s say you spend £100,000 on a new marketing initiative to drive sales.

• And at the end of the initiative you have made £500,000 in sales

• You subtract your initial outlay of costs (£100,000 in this case) from the revenue (£500,000), giving you £400,000.

• You then divide £400,000 by £100,000, and multiple by 100, giving you your ROI as a %.

• In our example, you would have made a 400% ROI.

But, what if revenue generation isn’t the aim of your marketing campaign, here’s how you can measure an alternative form of ROI. 👇

Let’s use ‘Content downloads’ as an example of a conversion goal.

• Conversion goal: Download a guide

• ROI goal: Get 10,000 downloads

• Budget: £10,000

• ROI goal (£): £1 per download

• Actual downloads: 20,000

• Actual ROI (£): 50p per download

You can see there’s been no sale, but you can still measure the ROI on the marketing initiative in a commercial way that will keep the FD and CFO happy.

The key thing to remember is that ROI isn't always about sales; it's about making sure your efforts deliver real value. It’s about breaking down what you invested versus what you gained. Understanding how to calculate ROI that isn’t always measurable in the same way sales are will help businesses to grasp the broader impact of their marketing strategies. By focusing on these key things, businesses can see how well their marketing is doing and make changes to help them moving forward.

Leverage Data for Marketing Decisions

We all know how mega data is for businesses. Something to think about: are you leveraging data analytics to inform your marketing decisions? If so, how are you using data to optimise your strategies and target the right audience effectively?

Data is the key to figuring out what your customers really want and making sure your marketing hits the spot. With all the sh*thot insights data analytics serves up, you can tweak your marketing game to perfection. Here's how you can dive into the data and make it work wonders for your marketing strategy:

Embrace Advanced Analytics Tools

Don’t get drowned in data. Data is everywhere these days, and it can be a bit of a monster to handle. Splurging on fancy analytics tools can give you the inside scoop on what's hot with consumers. We’re talking consumer trends, preferences, and purchasing behaviour insights. These tools dig through tons of data, giving you all the details you need to fine-tune your marketing game and hit the bullseye with your target audience.

Implement Customer Segmentation

Segmenting your customers into different groups based on things like age, interests, and how they behave helps you create marketing campaigns that really speaks to them. When you get what each group wants, you can make your marketing messages feel more personal, which gets people more interested and boosts how much you get back (ROI) from your efforts.

Adopt Real-time Data Analysis

Keeping an eye on the latest data in real-time is dead important for making quick marketing decisions and staying on top of what's happening in the market. By always checking and looking at what's happening right now, businesses can change up their marketing plans fast, making sure they use their resources in the best possible way to get the most out of their investments. Being nimble like this is key in a fast and always changing market.

Utilise Predictive Analytics

Ever wished you had a crystal ball for your business? Predictive analytics is the best you’re gonna get. It looks at what's happened before to guess what's coming next, helping you prepare for changes in the market. It uses historical data to predict future trends and consumer behaviour. It’s worth giving it a go to get ahead of the game and make the most of new chances.

Using data effectively gives businesses a leg up and helps them make smart choices that really connect with their customers, all while making sure they get the most out of what they put into their marketing. Adding these data-driven insights into the mix is like giving your marketing strategy a boost, setting you up for success.

Adapting Strategy for Maximum Return

So now we’ve got the fundamentals covered and you know what you need to do to leverage massive chunks of data, let’s talk about strategy adaptation. You obviously want to achieve maximum return on investment (ROI), so let’s see how you actually action this. Being able to roll with a fast-changing market is key for businesses to make sure their marketing efforts actually work.

Here are some key strategies to tweak your marketing game and get the most out of what you put in:

Embrace Omni-Channel Marketing

Something to consider … What channels are you currently using for your marketing and how effective have they been in reaching your target audience? Understanding the effectiveness of each channel can help you allocate your resources more efficiently. You might find that certain channels are bringing in more leads, engagement (e.g. downloads), or sales than others, which could prompt you to shift your focus and invest more in the high-performing channels. A particular channel might not be yielding the desired results so it might be time to reassess your approach or consider reallocating those resources to a more effective channel. Having a solid plan that works across all digital and traditional channels is key.

By seamlessly integrating online and offline activities, businesses can create a cohesive brand experience that resonates with consumers across various touchpoints. Online efforts, including targeted digital campaigns and engaging social media content, can be paired with offline strategies like in-store promotions or experiential events. It might be clicking 'download' or joining an event … this all adds up to ROI.

You've got to be everywhere your customers are these days. So think about your brand presence – is it the same no matter where people find you? It’s all about brand recognition, it helps you get noticed and keeps your customers coming back for more. There has to be a seamless customer experience across all touchpoints. Have you mastered this? If you said no, then why the fu*k not?

Making it dead easy for customers to connect with you no matter where they find you is the only way your marketing efforts will pay off.

Testing and Optimisation

Are you doing regular performance evaluations and A/B testing to assess the effectiveness of different marketing approaches? Here’s why you should. 👇

A/B testing is well worth the hype. Experimenting the effectiveness of different marketing strategies is mega for showing you what works and what doesn’t. By playing around with elements like your ads, pictures, and CTA buttons, you can figure out what really clicks with your customers and make your marketing even better. Always testing and making things better helps you fine-tune your strategies and make sure you're getting the most out of what you put in.

Stay Updated with Industry Trends

How are you staying ahead of your competitors? Staying in the loop about what's hot in your industry and what customers want is key to beating the competition. By keeping an eye out for changes in the market and adjusting your marketing plans ahead of time, you can take advantage of new chances and make sure you stay ahead. Keeping up with what's happening lets you tweak your marketing and make sure it's always hitting the right spot.

By using these strategies, businesses can make the most of what they put into their marketing and keep on growing. Being able to change things up when the market moves and customers want something different is really important for staying ahead and making sure your business keeps on shining.

Crafting a robust ROI driven marketing strategy takes some time. We won’t lie to you. It involves mastering ROI analysis, leverage data, and adapting strategies. It’s all about staying agile and making data-driven decisions to guarantee long-term success. ROI

At co&co, we make it easy. We offer a range of services to help you out, from creating tailored marketing plans to digging deep into your current strategy with our strategy audits. You need help managing a project or leading your marketing team? We have your back. It’s simple – if you're not measuring, you’re not marketing … you're gambling.

We work hand in hand with you, we make sure your marketing plan aligns with your goals, and we're with you every step of the way. If you’re ready, let’s talk strategy. We’re mega at it. But if you don’t trust us (I mean, we are marketers after all), see for yourself.