Digital vs. Traditional Marketing ROI: What's Easier to Prove?

Times are changing and with all the new technology the marketing world has been turned on its head! Digital marketing ROI can be measured with a click of a button. Don't fall behind the competition because you can't track your progress.Would you rather hire someone that can't really prove their value, or someone that easily can? Of course, you would hire the second person because they have a better ROI! In the same way, you should avoid investing in tools, partners, marketing services, or anything for that matter unless it can prove its ROI.

‍

Thankfully when you invest in digital marketing, there are several ways to prove ROI. In fact, tracking digital marketing ROI is easier than tracking traditional marketing ROI because in the online world, tracking possibilities are almost endless. Online tracking tools and big data make it easy to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of online marketing efforts. This impressive capability is one of the major benefits that digital marketing possesses over traditional marketing. Although I believe that traditional marketing tactics are still valuable, I know for certain that digital marketing tactics can better prove their worth.

‍

Track Specific Metrics

‍

When it comes to a certain digital marketing tactic or campaign, some metrics are more valuable than others. Thankfully, since tracking tools such as Google Analytics offer a variety of metrics, it's easy to find the most important ones for almost any scenario. These metrics are important because they tell a detailed story of how your digital marketing efforts are performing.

‍

Curious to see how many people are visiting your new website? Easy! Want to know how many clicks your Google Ad is getting? Done! With so many vital metrics to watch and consider, you can always know whether or not your digital marketing investments are paying off. Unfortunately, traditional marketing can’t tell you how many people drove by your billboard or saw your print ad in the newspaper. Although these traditional tactics can still be worth it, you will never know for sure if they really are. And investing in the unknown can be a very, very uneasy feeling!

‍

Discover Your Main Players

‍

Along with proving that you’re getting your ROI, you can also find out why you’re getting your ROI when it comes to digital marketing. You see, online tracking tools can provide metrics that not only reveal how many visitors your website is getting, but also how your website visitors are getting there! Whether it’s from a Yahoo search, Yelp advertisement, etc., tracking tools can expose which source is your secret ingredient to success. Once your marketers learn this secret ingredient, they make sure it doesn't stay a secret for long. They optimize what's working for you so that even more people see your campaigns and interact. While traditional tactics like word-of-mouth can also make people interact with your company, it's almost impossible to optimize those efforts so that they expand across the world wide web.

‍

Leverage "Practice Makes Perfect"

‍

Since online tracking tools and big data can tell you when your digital marketing efforts are working, they can also reveal when they're going to waste. But don't see this as a downfall; this means that in the world of digital marketing, opportunities for improvement are always out in the open. If something isn’t working, digital marketers find out right away and modify campaigns, keywords, or other tactics accordingly.

‍

Once marketers find what works for your company, they can keep this going to generate successful and consistent ROI. It's just a matter of trial and error! So even if you don't get successful digital marketing ROI right away, you can count on it happening soon enough. Unfortunately with traditional marketing, you can't always be sure that your efforts are paying off since you can't easily track them. And when you don't know you're doing something wrong, you can't learn how to do it right.

‍

Attain Real-Time Results

‍

In today's age, things grow and change at an incredible rate. This means that what is relevant and effective today could be old news by tomorrow. Fortunately in digital marketing, a powerful tool known as real-time analytics allows you to get instant results. The faster you can analyze results and information, the faster you can discover actionable next steps that can position you above the competition.

‍

For example, if you create multiple landing pages for a campaign, but one page is being ignored like the plague, you don't need to wait until the end of the campaign to figure this out. Real-time results will reveal this problem right away so that you can modify your strategy and budget as you go. This way, you'll get more reward out of your digital marketing efforts. Unfortunately, real-time tracking is extremely difficult to implement with traditional marketing tactics. For example, you can certainly count how many attendees showed up for a business event you're hosting. But can you change the purpose of your event midway through so it better fits your attendees' needs? Sure, you could try, but that would definitely be one misleading and disorganized event!

‍

When it comes to ROI, digital marketing closes the gap that traditional marketing often leaves open. If you're hesitant to pursue digital marketing because you aren't sure it will pay off, I can assure that your doubt will likely disappear once you finally do it. With so many online tracking tools available these days, it's very easy to ensure that your digital marketing efforts are working. If you have any more questions about investing in digital marketing, connect with StringCan Interactive today!Image by Anna Josse via Flickr CC