As if you were on a hunt for gold, embarking on the journey of establishing a solid Measurement plan strategy is similar to going on a mission to find a valuable treasure. With a map in hand, you have your business objectives and are looking for gold. What’s the best way to start? And how can you guarantee (or should we say ensure) that you’re going in the right direction. Let’s go!
As you begin to map out your strategy, imagine a measurement program as a compass. This compass provides data-driven information to guide you in making decisions.
For you to create such a strategy, it is necessary that you define what success means. Picture the perfect pie being served at a family cooking competition. You want the pie to not only be delicious, but to become the talk of any family cook-off. To put it in business terms: this means setting clear, quantifiable goals. If your goal is to increase the traffic to your website, you should set a specific target. Let’s be as vivid as we can!
If you’re wondering how to track your progress, just imagine marking heights in your child’s growth chart. Select reliable key performance indicator (KPI) metrics for each objective. If website traffic is what you’re aiming for, your key performance indicators could include daily visits, pageviews, and bounce rates.
Data collection methods come next. The next step is to choose the appropriate data collection method. You’ll also need to decide whether your data will be collected using analytics, customer surveys, a mix of the two, etc.
Wait, now that you have data what do you do? Get in touch with your inner cook – now is the time to combine these ingredients into something scrumptious. Transform your data in readable reports. Google Analytics, Tableau and other tools can convert those confusing numbers to visual stories. They will tell you exactly what’s hot or not.
Now it gets really interesting. Analyzing your data is similar to reading tea leaves. But it’s more scientific. Trends, patterns and anomalies are important to look out for. Why did traffic spike at a particular time? Was it the post on “10 Bizarre cupcake flavors” in your blog? Understanding how to adapt your strategy can be very helpful.
It’s important to remember that roasting doesn’t mean “set it and forget it”. To ensure your measurements are accurate, you should taste test and adjust them frequently. Regular reviews enable you to adapt quickly to changes.
Here’s a little bit of reality sprinkled in: Have you noticed that the person who always pokes meat to determine its doneness at a barbeque party is usually right? They claim years’ worth of grilling knowledge, right? Sometimes data intuition helps seasoned marketer make quick, but effective, changes to a plan.
The last thing you need to do is loop your team. Make data insights the basis of office gossip. This is the productive kind of gossip, when everyone comes up with new ideas to improve those numbers. This is not a mere buzzword. Instead, it’s more like a recipe passed down from one generation to the next.
As we conclude this, oh, sorry, we won’t be doing formal closures. So let’s make it easy: remember that your secret sauce is a great measure plan. The one size doesn’t fit all. Customize it, tweak it and transform it into your most effective strategy yet.