How to Measure the Success of Online Marketing Campaigns

Marketing to farmers through the use of digital campaigns is becoming much more popular and it is easy to see why. Farmers—like most people—are spending more and more time online these days, with much of that time being spent on mobile devices.

Despite the rise in digital marketing efforts, it is still relatively difficult to measure the success of these type of campaigns. After all, no matter how many clicks your campaign receives, those clicks don’t mean much if they fail to generate leads. Further, there is no way to judge which clicks signal interest in your brand and which do not. Did a consumer click on your ad by accident? How did an individual respond to your ad once he or she clicked on it? So if clicks aren’t an effective way to measure the success of an online marketing campaign, how can success be measured?

It all comes down to knowing what happens after a consumer clicks on an ad. How long did they spend on the page? Did they request more information? Did they fill out an order form or join your email list? Did they return to your site at a later date?

When it comes to successfully marketing your Ag business, the goal isn’t to reach the greatest number of people. Rather, you want to reach people who are most likely to buy the products and services that you are selling.

E-newsletters are an important example of why the quality of clicks always trump the quantity of clicks. Many marketers feel that they are wasting their time on these types of newsletters because they don’t get a flood of interest after every issue. However, research has shown that e-newsletters are an extremely effective way to market a business. Why? Because the individuals who actually go to the trouble of subscribing to such newsletters do so because they are seriously considering purchasing from that company when the time is right.

Marketing your Ag-based business online requires a strategic approach and an ability to correctly measure success beyond counting clicks. The key is to be patient and realize that in the online marketing arena, slow and steady really does win the race.