Considering ‘Intangible’ ROI in your Internet Marketing

It’s wise to measure your return on investment (ROI) for all of your marketing and business development efforts.  However, in analyzing your marketing decisions and assessing your ROI it’s important to consider both tangible and intangible ROI.

Just the other day a client and I were discussing a strategy where this came into play.  The client has authored a few books, and was thinking through if their website should link to their page on Amazon to buy the book, or another 3rd party website (with not nearly the same credibility as Amazon).  The reason this was a question is because the 3rd party website requires an email address when someone buys the book, which is important because then the client will be able to do follow up marketing to customers who buy the book, as where Amazon will not provide emails.  

The first thought was to link to the 3rd party site, because then the process could go like this; customer buys the book, then you follow up with them via email (probably multiple times), build a relationship and eventually that prospect could become a client.  That would be a very defined process with a tangible ROI.  Meaning, you could completely see and track the marketing value of your book and of your website link to buy the book.

But if the thought process had ended here, we both would have been missing an important strategic opportunity.  We knew that most of the website visitors would not actually be buying a book, and that the majority would be on the website to learn more about this client and their business.  In this case, for any website visitors who clicked on the book link just for the sake of “checking things out,” the Amazon page would do wonders in terms of establishing credibility.  Saying it another way, using the Amazon page instead of the 3rd party would be much more beneficial for the sake of establishing credibility amongst website visitors.  This is an example of intangible ROI.  With this strategy the main goal is not to have someone buy the book and then follow up, instead it’s to build credibility simply through someone seeing the Amazon page, regardless of whether they buy the book or not.

The bottom line is that neither strategy is absolutely right or wrong.  The point is that it’s important to consider both forms of ROI when making your marketing decisions.  Here are a few examples of how you can assess intangible ROI when it comes to internet marketing.

Do you find it easier to sell and close with prospects?

If your internet marketing is doing its job in establishing your credibility amongst prospects, you might notice that when they come in or call you, they are already convinced your services are exactly what they need.

Do you receive compliments on your internet marketing?

This could be a compliment on your website, blog, email newsletter, etc.  A compliment, particularly when its unsolicited, means that you (and your marketing) stood out to them…it made an impression. And they’re more likely to refer business your way. (With time and consistency, this intangible benefit will become more concrete as you see your referrals increase.)

Do you find more people turning to you for guidance?

If your marketing is positioning you as a go-to leader in the minds of your contacts, they might start turning to you more often because they see you as a resource and an expert.  Sometimes if may be for your services, other times it may be for a referral for a need they have…but either way, there are tremendous benefits to being seen as the expert in your area of practice.

At One Marketing, we consider both tangible and intangible ROI in helping our clients.  Contact us today if we can help you!

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Marc Cerniglia

Marc is a founding Partner at Spotlight Branding, an internet marketing and branding firm for lawyers. He is passionate about helping lawyers understand the truths and myths about internet marketing, and educating them on how to get the most out of their marketing efforts.