Return on investment (ROI) is the benefit to the investor resulting from an investment of some resource. A high ROI means the investment gains compare favorably to investment cost. As a performance measure, ROI is used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments (Wikipedia).
It seems quite interesting and challenging, doesn’t it? ROI is a really simple-to-understand indicator for decision making and the simplicity of the formula makes it easy to choose variables to calculate any kind of cost component. We tried to collect all the tips that a sales and marketing department can use in order to boost their ROIs and have efficient investments.
E-mail Campaigns
Retargeting all these people, that visited your website and…simply left, is the number one way to increase ROI through sales and marketing, according to Quincy Smith from Uplift ROI. However, what really matters is to make only targeted campaigns, according to Larisa Aslanyan, Digital Marketing Expert from iNexxus, who quotes “The more informed we are about our audience interests and demands, the more ROI we receive”. Ben Cohen, CEO and Founder of BobCar Media, also underlines the importance of targeted email campaigns: “Wasting time, energy and ultimately money on a list of contacts that are not targeted can be detrimental”. Orun Bhuiyan, marketing technologist and co-founder of SEOcial, goes one step further, as he describes how the content of a targeted campaign should be. So, after having created your group recipients write them a short email (9-13 words long), adding their name at the subject and a short question at the body, for example, “Are you still looking for a project management system for your company?”
Automation
It’s a fact that Automation has entered the world of sales and marketing and we can say that it brought a revolution in the way potential clients are treated. Automation can be used either for tracking traffic and downloads from social networks for example, as Yuimi Vashum, Outreach Manager of Wise Calvin, suggests, or setting up efficient systems utilizing technology for acquiring and maintaining leads and following up on these leads with automated emails and email marketing campaigns according to Tali Rapahely, president of Armour Title Company.
Personalized way to connect
Jonathan Kendall, President & CEO of Pop Up Selling, quotes that “The one-sized-fits-all sales methodologies and the singular revenue-based sales-management style are outdated. The salesperson needs to be taught to be able to connect and sell to everyone in all generations”. In addition, Patrick Delehanty, Digital Marketing Specialist with Marcel Digital, summarizes the way salespeople should work in three words: “Empower – Engage – Embrace”. A brand that is actually a human is what all people love, so empower employees to utilize their expertise and be thought leaders. An empowered employee is also constantly engaged with customers or audience and willing to respond and listen to the customers at any time. Embrace refers to change, not staying locked to the past and refusing any change is a one-way road to failure.
Ads
Maximize ROI by ensuring that your online ads are of high quality is what Luke Rees, Digital Marketing in AccuraCast, suggests. Furthermore, Jason Lowry from Finch has a certified Google AdWords professional team to discuss their AdWords objectives and then optimize for a specific ROI goal. On the other hand Christopher Gaundreau, marketing professional and host of Content Show, sent us a really interesting approach for using Ads. He suggests not using the name, logo, and a cute tagline at your company’s ads, but to try instead “to give something away that lines up with your business in exchange for the contact information of your lead”.
Social Media
Having successful social media campaigns, link building and SEO can also have a positive effect on ROI value, Alexander Ruggie, Public Relations Director for Milestone SEO, underlines and he continues saying that “capitalizing on social media can take a company from Mom n’Pop straight to the top in the blink of an eye.”
Keep Track of Results
David Scott from Scott on Marketing and Bryce Liggins from Brolik both agree that it needs a lot of testing to finally find the best method for your company to increase its ROI. Using different ways to measure the success of every single marketing campaign is the only way to find the one that fits best to you and will end up increasing the ROI. David also underlines the fact that you do not have to spend millions of dollars before knowing if marketing works or not. Start testing small ($5-15) and continually improve until you have your economics on the stage you want and then expand.
SMS Marketing
Bob Bentz, president of ATS, suggests SMS marketing as a good way to boost your ROI, as the read rate is 4x than of email messaging. Sending two times per month an SMS keeps your name in front of your customers and prospects and since the message is coming via text message and they know that they will read it.
Value
The most important thing for David Hoffeld, CEO of Hoffeld Group, is to give customers a reason to use your product. Offering something of meaningful value, consistent with your brand, people will respond with a renewed interest in your company and product.
Testimonials
Real testimonials from real users or customers are really powerful according to Ben Cohen, who uses them to create case studies to show potential clients how your company has made their life easier. “It’s a great content marketing strategy and tactic that is backed up with proven stats and results to ultimately increase total ROI for future products and endeavors.” Furthermore, Curtis Peterson, Digital Marketing Manager for Smartfile, suggests using testimonials around the submission button in order to decrease the anxiety that the user might have before clicking it.
Easy-to-use
One of the most common phrases used in sales and marketing campaigns is “easy to use”, but unfortunately in most cases, this is not true. Bennett Lauber, CEO of The Usability People, underlines the importance of designing and creating systems “to better match the mental model and experiences of actual users”, thus software companies can significantly improve their bottom line.
Price
Last but not least, is the price of the product, which should be very carefully defined, as, in order to stay competitive, the entrepreneurs use low prices and ultimately the exact opposite happens. Chad Reid, Director of Communications in JotForm, points out that “consumers view value in different ways and pricing yourself out of competition is going to kill your ROI”
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