You’re ready to execute your marketing plan and build your competitive advantage. Yet, it seems to fail. This is most likely because an important question was neglected:  How are you going to measure success? It is not as hard as you think and you can start in five areas.

1. Brand Loyalty: Authentic brands build the largest percentage of mind share. Begin with a Net Promoter Score (NPS). On a scale of 1–10, divide your customers into three categories:

10–9 = Promoters (advocates)


 8–7 = Passives (neutral)

0–6 = Detractors (ready to leave)

To track your NPS over time conduct a simple survey every 1-2 years. Ask customers if they would recommend your brand. Offer four responses: absolutely, possibly, not likely, definitely not.

2. Traditional Media: To measure traditional media on a granular level, focus on direct-response marketing. Provide a compelling offer, such as a white paper, which requires response to receive. Responses will correlate to tactics allowing for precise measurement.

3. EMarketing: Measuring your email campaign starts with open rate, moves to click through rate (CTR) and on into conversion rate. Of everyone who clicked, how many responded to the offer? For service marketers, average open rates are 13–17%, CTRs are 6–9% and conversions are 2–5%.

4. Social Media: Customers have a voice and yes, it relates to you. After inserting yourself into the dialogue, start measuring. Though hard to tie to direct sales, we can measure brand effectiveness. How many conversations were you involved in, what was the tone of the conversation and did website visits increase?

5. Organic Search: SEO isn’t easy. After executing a strategy, know how to analyze results. Use free tools such as Google Analytics to view how many individuals found you through organic search. Rank your most frequent search phrases. Track your ranking index and leading search phrases once a month and adapt as search patterns change.

This is the beginning. The campaign that seemed perfect and flawless probably was. It just wasn’t measured properly and you were unable to properly react, adapt and leverage results.