The great promise of online advertising has always been that 
advertisers will now be able to effectively track the successes 
and failures of their online advertising efforts. This promise 
has been met.

Yet, for those of us who still employ offline promotions and 
advertising methods, we must consider the various ways in which 
we can effectively track our results in the old-world media. 


TRACKING RESULTS BEFORE THE INTERNET AGE

How long has it been? Ten Years? Believe it or not, it has been 
less than ten years since the Internet went mainstream. 

Companies still utilize the same methods to track results as 
they did before we laid our hopes on the Digital Superhighway.

TV advertisers ask you to call extension X. Radio advertisers 
offer you additional savings if you tell them you heard it on 
XYZ radio station. In newspapers and magazines, advertisers 
suggest you clip the attached coupons.

Why do you think advertisers employ these tactics? 

Simple. They need to know what advertising is bringing customers 
in the front door and to their cash register. 

By understanding what advertisers are bringing them customers 
and dollars, they have a better understanding of where to spend 
their next wave of advertising dollars. Additionally, they can 
do a side-by-side comparison of their Advertising Return on 
Investment (ROI) to determine which method brings them the most 
percentage of return per dollar spent.


UNDERSTANDING HOW WE SHOULD MEASURE

The truth is that we really do need to know how people are 
deciding to visit and buy from our business establishment. 

Some consider this idea silly or even a waste of their valuable 
time. Far too many people, who think of tracking in this 
fashion, end up searching for a job at some point in their 
future. Unless pure dumb luck is on the side of the business 
owner, a business simply cannot survive if it does not track 
the effectiveness of its advertising. 

Somehow, some way, a business owner or his marketing staff must 
look at their advertising and promotion budgets, and look at 
their advertising mediums and find a way to know which is doing 
the job for them and which is not.


DISCOVERING WHAT MOTIVATES OUR CUSTOMERS

Somehow, we must get our customers to tell us how they found us 
and what ad motivated them to come in and purchase our product 
or service. 

Everyday, businesses motivate their customers to tell them how 
they learned of them by having the customer call a certain 
extension, offer them an additional discount to tell them which 
advertisement they had heard, or to offer them a coupon to use.

Others motivate their customers to tell them how they had 
learned of their business by offering a very specific product 
in their advertising. They know that if someone shows up at 
their business to buy a certain product, then they will know 
how the person had heard of their business. 

This is why you should make your radio advertising focus on a 
different promotion than your newspaper advertising. Different 
mediums should focus on different leader pieces so that you can 
see which medium provides the best results. 


UNDERSTANDING WHY WE SHOULD MEASURE RESULTS

We measure advertising results so that we can learn how to not 
waste our money and to learn how to get the most bang for our 
advertising dollar.

Return On Investment or ROI is the key measurement utilized to 
determine the value of our advertising. 


It is best to show in an example how ROI is measured.

Cost of Newspaper Advertising:	 $150
Number of Items Sold As a Result:  60
Retail Price of Individual Item: $ 10
Profit on Individual Item:       $  3

Gross Income on Items Sold:      $600
Gross Profit on Items Sold:      $180

In this example, you have spent $150 to make $180. Your ROI 
is 120%.


Cost of Radio Advertising:	 $ 300
Number of Items Sold As a Result:   50
Retail Price of Individual Item: $  20
Profit on Individual Item:       $   6

Gross Income on Items Sold:      $1000
Gross Profit on Items Sold:      $ 300

In this example, you have spent $300 to make $300. Your ROI 
is 100%.


Utilizing these two examples, you can quickly discern why and 
how we are calculating ROI. 

Now, some people would consider both to be good investments of 
their advertising dollars. In fact, many believe that so long 
as their advertising generates enough sales to break even as 
the radio example did, then they consider the investment to 
have been in their future rather than their present. So long 
as you do not lose money on the transaction, then you should 
at least be willing to continue with the advertising medium 
that was used.

However, over time, you might find that the newspaper advertising
will continue to provide the 120% ROI. If that is the case, then 
your newspaper advertising should take more of a center stage in 
your advertising efforts so that you can develop more profits 
which can be used to increase your dollar investment into your 
advertising.


WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF TRACKING YOUR OFFLINE PROMOTIONS

With this introduction, you should now have available to you the 
knowledge necessary to introduce tracking into your marketing 
efforts. Those who take the time and effort to advertise and 
track their results will benefit more than you can imagine.

Truth be known, a single person with a dream today started 
every big corporation in the world many years ago. Each of 
these corporations grew from a fledgling operation to a 
economic powerhouse by tracking and tweaking their Advertising 
ROI. 

Every corporation and small business who will remain in business 
through the long term will be tracking their advertising and 
promotional efforts today. It is an investment into their future 
success. If you make the same kind of investment of time and 
cash resources, you too will be making an investment in your 
future success.