[Welcome back to our Word of Mouth Marketing Lessons newsletter. This is text from the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using this handy form.]
Measurement is an essential word of mouth skill. It’s how great marketers identify which topics are taking off, which talkers are the big influencers, and which tools are the most effective.
There are entire conferences and companies built around measurement, but here are three quick steps to get started this week:
1. Start with your goals
2. Find a baseline
3. Use simple measurement tools
1. Start with your goals
What are you trying to do? Are you working to drive sales? Increase awareness? Get more people downloading your white papers? Get started by defining a small, focused set of goals. These objectives will define your tactics — and ultimately how you measure it all.
2. Find a baseline
You can move what you measure. But without an existing baseline, you’ll have no idea where you’re starting from (or what results you’re delivering). Before you start, find the “normal.” What are sales typically like this time of year? What are people already saying about you? What does web traffic generally look like? When you understand what’s normal, you’ll be able to identify the changes.
3. Use simple measurement tools
There is some great technology out there from some amazing agencies that can help you with measurement. But if you’re just starting out, we recommend beginning with the basics: Coupon codes, tracking links, and simply asking customers how they heard about you. You can go a long way with these, and they’re all freely available and easy to implement.
