This post isĀ first in a series on how to get your advertising to pay off for your business.

The hardest part of choosing how to spend your advertising dollars is determining what exactly you expect to receive from a program. Not all advertising or inbound marketing programs and methods have a clearly definable return on investment.

  • Some programs primary aim is to spread awareness of your brand.
  • Some programs primary aim is to inform and educate the marketplace about your primary competitive advantages.
  • Some programs primary aim is to garner support for your products or services.
  • Some programs primary aim is to get customers to call and ask if you can help them.
  • Some programs can tie all of the above together and over time convert casual conversations into satisfied customers who can refer other people to your business

The basic premise of Inbound Marketing is to increase the conversations being had on the internet about your busines and its products and services. When these people visit your site they can be tracked to see what they are interested in, then fed more information through a series of messages over finely calculated intervals. When it is time for that lead to either contact you, or have your sales people contact them, they are well aware of who you are and what it is that you might be able to help them with.

What is Inbound Marketing and Advertising worth to your business?

If a “sale” is worth $100, and your business currently averages 20 sales per month with a 50% margin for simplicity sake.

Then here is how that might look.

First month 20 new people engage with your website through marketing efforts.

Second month 40, Third month 60, Fourth month 80, Fifth month 100.

Of that 20 from the first month 4 become leads = 2 sales

Of the 40 from the second month 8 become leads = 4 sales, 1 from previous month effort.

Of the 60 from the third month 12 become leads = 6 sales, 2 from previous month effort.

Of the 80 from the fourth month 16 become leads = 8 sales, 3 from previous month effort.

Of the 100 from the fifth month 20 become leads = 10 sales, 4 from previous month effort.

Total sales = 40 sales, $4,000 gross, $2,000 net.

Obviously, there is a certain momentum that comes with the inbound marketing effort. There is also a point at which the program ourperferms the cost – has a positive Return on Investment.

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Article written by Kevin Dant | Inbound Marketing Expert | stern LLC