MarketingProfs Articles : The Raw and the Cooked

"For marketers, it's very easy to get caught up in raw numbers," says Prashant Kaw in a brief video embedded in a post at the HubSpot blog. "Such as, 'Oh, I did 50,000 visitors to my site this month,' or 'I got 10,000 leads.' But it's very important to know how many of those visitors converted to leads, and how many of those leads led to opportunities and customers."

To prevent falling into that trap, Kaw offers these reminders:

• Conversion starts with leads and ends with sales. To gain true insight, it's important to track and analyze leads throughout the funnel.
• Everything works in cycles. Identify which lead channels produce the most closed deals. "Focus on those channels in your upcoming lead generation campaigns," advises Kaw.
• Measure your programs frequently. "If you were an accountant, would you check your balances only at the end of the month?" he asks. "Of course not!" Check in daily, or even several times each day, to determine how well each program performs.

The Po!nt: Raw numbers are just the beginning—unless you watch them throughout the sales process, you won't know how to refine future efforts.

Source: HubSpot. Click here for the full post.