Want some free traffic from Google? From social media? Nonsense.

All the relevant people that come to your website were paid for. Either you paid for their attention with money, or you paid with time - and likely a combination of both.

Jeff Bezos and peers invest billions in making sense of data each year to grow business - no reason you shouldn't invest at the scale of your business if you want to grow. What's the one metric to begin with that once tamed will give you the power to scale your business like the pros? I'll get to what it is right after this quick, yet rewarding exercise in understanding your web traffic data:

1. Draw two big overlapping circles, title one "time" and the other "money" - and title the center overlap "both".

2. List the marketing channels that bring you website traffic (there will probably be between 3 and 5 main ones) and write them in the circle or overlap they belong. Typical channels include Search, Ads, Social Media, PR, Email, Word of Mouth, Referral, etc.

3. Now write, roughly, how many customers/clients each channel has brought you in the last year.

4. Lastly, add the rough investment cost for each channel in financial* terms.

* Say social media marketing is done by an employee (or you) - add up how much time was roughly used, how much you pay them (or what your time is worth) and arrive at the cost in terms of money.

If you can't uncover the data for the steps above, at least you now have focus on what needs to be understood. Google Analytics, plus a consultant if needed, will get you far.

So, about that powerful metric? Learn to understand the cost per acquisition (CPA) for each marketing channel. In other words, how much does it cost on average to convert a person to customer, by channel. The majority of SMEs are predictable in failing to measure this essential growth metric. Ask a typical SME how many customers each channel brought in the last year - blank stares.

Once you get approx. CPA, by channel, you'll understand what the real marketing costs are, and all marketing efforts will have obvious costs and ROI.

 

By Filip Matous, Partner at Evergreen Reputation.

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