No matter how you're marketing your business, tracking the success of your efforts is crucial. By having an idea of what's working and what isn't, you'll get a better idea of how to continue to spend your money. Measuring your return on investment will help save you money AND help make you more money. Here are just a few ideas you can implement to see how hard your money is working.

Ask

In your initial conversation with a prospective client, a simple, "How did you hear about me?" is all it takes. You may find that most of your business comes from referrals, or you may find that the ad in your church bulletin is proving to be successful. Regardless, it's important to ask and keep track of the answers. You can also send surveys to former clients and include the same question to get an idea of how your former campaigns did, in case you haven't been keeping track.

Keep Track

This may seem like a no-brainer. And hopefully, you have an idea of how much you've spent and what marketing tools you use each year. A simple Excel spreadsheet is great for keeping a list of your campaigns, what dates they were active, how much it cost, and the number of leads you generated for each. For example, even if last year was a terrific success, you may find that the mailer you spent a couple of thousand dollars on gave you several clients, while your $50 Facebook ad got you one or two. You may have gotten more clients with the mailout, but the price per client is much lower for Facebook. You'll never know if you don't keep track.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics offers a free code to embed on your website, which allows you to track how people are arriving on your site, how long they're staying there, what information they're clicking on, what pages they view last, and so much more. This is a great, easy, and totally free way to see what's working for you, especially if you're running any online ads. For example, if you wanted to run an ad through Facebook and through Google Ads, you could easily see which ad set is getting you the most traffic through Google Analytics. With every system, it’s crucial to have a good period of time for measuring your actions. It's unlikely that you'll learn much from one campaign but six months’ worth can tell you a lot. In addition, setting up a regular time monthly or quarterly to review your marketing metrics can help you see what’s been working and keep you on the ball for the future.