Know-How Exchange : Customer Behavior

Tracking MROI is smart business, but not an exact science either. A person may see your print ad or see you at an industry event, and then follow-up with a search for you on Google - which one gets the credit?

In tracking self-reported lead sources, start with the primary places that you invest marketing resources; trade shows, print advertising, radio, online banners, the web, etc.

For the web, you can use a couple of very simple analytical tools to track where your web site visitors come from (the referring page) and where they go on your site, ideally converting into business. If you do PPC campaigns with Google, and you have not already, you should set up custom landing pages for each keyword/addwords combination. This will help you convert a larger number of clicks and will also aid you in tracking the keywords that are most effective.

Most of the tools you need for the web are free from Google, or are available at a reasonable price from companies such as Omniture.

Best of Luck, JohnnyB.
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It kind of depends on the media you are using and how your leads interact with you.

One business I was involved with used to put a "promotion code" at the bottom of each [print or direct mail] ad, and they'd simply ask respondents to read them the promotion code.

For web-based lead generation, it's a good idea to have different landing paths for each source and each keyword/ad, not just so you can track effectiveness but also so you can provide the most relevant experience for the prospect.

There is no single answer, and you'll never get a system that's 100% accurate, so don't devote a lot of time and money to the tracking process. But use it to segment your audience and learn what works and what doesn't.

Unless they have the marketing piece in-hand, you're likely to get misleading information. People's memories are misleading. Online, there's a lot of sophistication you can do - tracking their IP address, matching it to their email address, use cookies, etc.

Your best bet might simply be to ask how they'd try to find your business again, if they misplaced your contact information. What phrases or associations do they make? Do they go to an authority website to find things?

If they're buying online you'll be able to see the analytics.

I always find "How did you hear about us" works the best. Training your front line staff to engage the customer rather than grilling them will be the key.

Michael