Without clear milestones, a startup’s course can veer off the right path very quickly

There’s a lot of expert advice swirling around for startups and eager entrepreneurs. While a lot of it is really valuable stuff, a good portion of it is very generic. For instance, staying organized, getting enough sleep, reducing stress, and watching your budget are all great tips for success, but they can apply to just about any profession, or life in general.

Every year, startups fail or remain stagnant simply because they do not know how to achieve measurable growth. In fact, nearly half of all startups fail due to incompetence, while another 30 per cent fail from lack of experience and simply not knowing how a growing business needs to be managed.

In order for a startup to gain the traction it needs to propel forward, its marketing strategies must be better than average for its industry. Gauging metrics and ROI is quite a challenge during the initial phases.

In order to simplify things, there are four key data points that growth-oriented entrepreneurs must absolutely track to create strong marketing strategies. Let’s discuss what they are, why they matter, and how to take action.

1. SEO and keyword rankings

Many startups understand the clear benefit of using content marketing as a way to increase their online presence. However, this tactic only works when keywords are properly utilized to increase search engine rankings, leading to a definite increase in the number of customers who click through to your site. This not only means that a startup’s content must be relevant to their audience, but also that the keywords and language it uses must also be conversational.

Researching keyword rankings and competition lays the foundation for a successful search campaign. A tool like Ubersuggest is extremely helpful here, as it lists out the popularity, search volume, and even cost-per-click for all phrases relevant to your primary search term. If specific keywords you’re interested in cost a lot to target or have high competition, Ubersuggest will also (as the name implies) suggest semantically associated keywords and synonyms for ideal choices.

Once the right keywords are in play, it is important to track the incoming results as often as possible. This kind of information can be easily measured through Google Analytics. However, be warned that SEO strategies take time. Don’t be discouraged if you aren’t seeing a return right away. Be patient, but be on the lookout for tactics and tweaks that drive higher numbers than other channels. Use these to help steer your content and brand messaging in the right direction.

2. Conversion of engaged visitors

Keeping an eye on webpage visitor numbers is important to measure traffic, but it could be misleading. Unengaged visitors who click through from organic search or social media or online ads, only to leave the site immediately are a sure sign that your startup’s website or content is not what they are looking for.

Also Read: Top 3 sales strategies for B2B startups

Tracking truly engaged visitors is a little tricky because it depends on how exactly your business defines the term. For instance, a shopper who browses items but never adds anything to a cart may or may not be engaged because it is possible they are not interested in what your site has to offer. The same goes for customers who abandon their carts or people who have liked or shared your content in the past. These do signal potential engagement, but it also shows that your marketing and sales performance could use some improvement.

Once your team has clearly defined what constitutes an engaged visitor – or maybe, a qualified lead – it is time to track and retarget them at an appropriate time and context. Studies have found that retargeting customers increases the chances of a conversion by up to 70%.

Tools like Retargeter can help to capture important webpage visitor details and re-engage them through methods like email marketing, audience retargeting on social sites, and banners on blogs.

An oft-cited stat on the web says that about 96 per cent of website visitors are not ready to become a paying customer on their first interaction with your brand. By actively re-engaging them, your sales could increase significantly, spurring growth for your business.

3. Lead sources

One universal conception about startups is that they are probably dealing with a tight budget; something that often limits growth and marketing campaigns. In order to get the most “bang for your buck,” your team must know which traffic sources are resulting in the most leads. From here, you can allocate your budget accordingly for more traction.

It is important to know where the majority of converting leads are coming from in order to guide sales efforts and save your team valuable resources. A lead tracking tool like Convertible makes it easier to see exactly how your prospects are finding your website and which channels are driving traffic. While Google Analytics offers the same information for overall audiences, Convertible collects more granular customer data, so you can determine who individual, segmented, and cohort information, and gather valuable demographic insights for better targeting.

Knowing which sources, campaigns or ads are bringing in the most valuable customers helps you focus your growth efforts on ROI-intensive channels. This can also help eliminate platforms where you simply aren’t able to connect with your target audience, allowing for a more streamlined approach to push for growth.

4. Marketing ROI

Getting accurate numbers for a marketing campaign’s ROI is really tricky. Again, even the most qualified and experienced marketing gurus still struggle with this, especially when it comes to tactics like content marketing, which are more difficult to tie directly to sales. However, it’s extremely important for startups to measure the ROI of each campaign in order to determine the overall success of their efforts.

Keeping track of measurable returns from marketing campaigns is much simpler with the right software. HubSpot’s Marketing Hub offers an excellent ROI reporting tool that tracks marketing results in terms of conversions and engagement. Then, it connects and presents the numbers together in clear, easy-to-read summaries. This system also dives deep into customer analytics to identify any kinks in the marketing funnel that could be negatively affecting returns.

Understanding your business’s marketing ROI is the first step on the way to processes that guarantee continuous growth – across all functional departments of your organization. It highlights exactly where the strengths and weaknesses are, helping startups make better plans for the future.

In conclusion

The key takeaway here is that it is imperative for every startup to have a growth stack that runs on the back of continuous, omni-channel digital marketing. Trying to grow and acquire customers without an accurate analytical system is akin to shooting in the dark. By measuring the right metrics and understanding exactly how they relate to overall growth, startups can assure themselves of sustainable business for years to come.

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