5 ways to track Print Return On Investment

One of the reasons marketers love online marketing is that it’s easy to track. Who clicked through the link on my email? How many people reacted to my social media post? But response and return on investment (ROI) can be tracked in print, too. Here are five tools you can add to your direct mail, print advertising, and other print marketing to track their effectiveness.

1.Tracking Codes to measure Print Return on Investment

Add personalized tracking codes.With digital presses, you can generate and print unique tracking codes for each recipient. If respondents are asked to bring in coupons or hand in response cards, for example, you can tie those responses back to a specific campaign.

2. Specific Phone Number to measure Print Return on Investment

Use a campaign-specific phone number.If you are asking people to respond by phone, send them to a phone number used only for that campaign. When tracking calls, be sure to remove duplicates to ensure the response rate is accurate.

3. Specific Landing Page

Create a campaign-specific landing page. Just like phone numbers, landing pages can be created to be specific to your promotion. For example, www.bobslandscaping/january17offer. Be sure to watch for unique visitors rather than just clicks, since people may log onto the page more than once.

4. Personalized Webpages

Capitalize on personalized webpages. With personalized webpages, you can do more than just track who responds to your offer. You can greet them by name, provide them with personalized content, and even gather more information through surveys or online forms. These pages also allow you to track “soft” leads, or people who land on the page but don’t follow all the way through.

5. Online drop-down forms.

Try using a drop-down form on your website to ask where people heard about you. Did they hear about you through an online search? TV ad? Direct mail campaign? Be sure to list each campaign by name and keep your list up to date.

These methods are effective, not just in tracking response rates, but for tracking all the way through conversion, sales generated, and ultimately, ROI. Try them—and discover just how effective your print campaigns really are.