Return On Investment ?- a marketing calendar.

The following is adapted form an email I recieved. the piece was orig done for cosmetology schools, but it can be applied to any business.

A Tool for Tracking Your Marketing ROI – The Marketing Calendar

As you look back on the marketing efforts your business undertook in 2009, what tactics were most successful? Was a cable spot effective in attracting clients/sales? Did a discount promotion attract new customers? One of the most important tools in crating an effective marketing strategy is measuring the return on investment for various marketing tactics.

If you’re not currently tracking marketing initiatives, the following tool may help you with tracking 2010 marketing. It is adapted from Jay Conrad Levinson’s “Guerilla Marketing for Free – Dozens of No-Cost Tactics to Promote Your Business and Energize Your Profits.”

The process is as follows:

Create a calendar with 13 rows and 5 columns. This can be done in Excel, Word, or simply on a sheet of poster board.
Title column 1, “Month. Each row below will contain the appropriate month name.
Title column 2, “Focus” which refers to the special focus of marketing that month, whether it’s a free sample, discount, buy-one/get-one free promotion, etc.
Title column 3, “Media” and list any paid media you will be using each month such as newspaper, cable, etc.
Title column 4, “Internet/Social Media” and list the interactive offers you’ll be offering (includes mobile marketing, text marketing, FaceBook coupons, etc.)
Title column 5, “Grade” – This is where you evaluate the effectiveness of each tactic initiated over the course of the year. Be sure to grade each tactic as it is completed.

At the end of the year, you’ll be able to look back and see which marketing initiatives were “A” tactics you’ll want to do again in the upcoming year, and identify those non- “A” and “B” tactics which you’ll want to eliminate.

I will be sharing more ideas like this in the coming weeks and months. As the recovery unfolds, now it the time to stake your claim on the business opportunities to be had.

For more great, quick and easy business building ideas, have a look at my book, Big Small Business, Ivan Zoot's 52 week road map to small business greatness.
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/916665