Before you dive into the data, you need to have a clear idea of what you wanted to achieve with your campaign and how you planned to measure it. Your goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Your metrics should be aligned with your goals and reflect the key performance indicators (KPIs) of your campaign. For example, if your goal was to increase brand awareness, you might use metrics such as reach, impressions, or mentions. If your goal was to generate leads, you might use metrics such as conversions, click-through rate, or cost per lead.
Collect data from all relevant sources: This includes website analytics, marketing automation platforms, social media analytics tools, CRM data, and sales figures. Utilize analytics reports: Most marketing platforms generate reports summarizing key metrics. Analyze these reports to understand the campaign's performance. Consider A/B testing results: If you tested different campaign elements, analyze the results to see which variations performed better.
Once you have defined your goals and metrics, you need to collect and analyze the data from your campaign. You can use various tools and platforms to gather the data, such as Google Analytics, social media analytics, email marketing software, or CRM systems. You should also compare your data with your baseline or benchmark data, such as your previous campaigns, industry averages, or competitors. This will help you understand how your campaign performed relative to your expectations and standards. You should also look for patterns, trends, and outliers in your data, and try to explain the reasons behind them.
Trust tech when it comes to analysing the effectiveness of a campaign. Let the numbers speak for you! CRM tools like HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Salesforce, and the Google dashboards offer useful analytics and reporting features meant for campaign performance measurement.
After you have collected and analyzed the data, you need to evaluate the outcomes and impacts of your campaign. You should ask yourself questions such as: Did you achieve your goals? How did your campaign affect your target audience? What were the positive and negative effects of your campaign? How did your campaign contribute to your overall objectives and strategy? You should also quantify the return on investment (ROI) of your campaign, which is the ratio of the benefits to the costs of your campaign. You can calculate the ROI by subtracting the costs from the benefits and dividing by the costs, and multiplying by 100 to get a percentage.
The final step is to report and communicate the results of your campaign evaluation to your stakeholders, such as your team, your clients, or your management. You should create a clear and concise report that summarizes the key findings, insights, and recommendations from your evaluation. You should also use visuals, such as charts, graphs, or infographics, to illustrate your data and make it easier to understand. You should also highlight the successes and challenges of your campaign, and provide feedback and suggestions for improvement.
Evaluating a campaign is not only a way to measure its impact and effectiveness, but also a way to learn and improve for the next campaign. You should use the results of your evaluation to identify what worked well and what didn't, and what you can do better next time. You should also document and share your learnings and best practices with your team and organization, and apply them to your future campaigns. By doing so, you can continuously optimize your campaign performance and achieve your goals.