What Marketing Worked in 2023?

Do you know what marketing worked for your business?

Every time I bring on a new client, I ask how they found me and track that in my Quickbooks. I want to know what is working, and what is NOT working. Here is my analysis for 2023 so that I can make my decisions for 2024.

I am tracking the following general marketing categories:

• Search – they found me by searching on a search engine. I also ask what they typed in so that I know what keywords people are actually using to find my website.
• Networking – these are networking groups. I also track which groups produce income to decide whether to continue paying for a specific group.
• Referrals – these are customers that came from a direct referral.
• Repeat Customers – these customers have lasted for more than one year. They could be hosting clients, membership clients, or have purchased multiple websites.
• Speaking – these customers have purchased directly from speaking at various groups or webinars I facilitate.
• Social Media – these are sales directly from a social media post.
• Affiliate – these are sales of various products with which I have an affiliate relationship.

Looking at the above chart, you can see the following for last year:

• Repeat Customers are 46.9%
• Referrals are 24.7%
• Search is 18.1%
• Networking is 3.6%
• Speaking is 4.6%
• Social Media is 1%
• Affiliate Income is 1%

What does this mean?

Comparing to the chart below, you can see that repeat customers have grown by 17.8%.  I have been implementing products in my business designed to keep clients past the initial website they purchased. My repeat customers were near zero five years ago (and beyond).  This tells me these products are working to stabilize and grow my income. I will keep moving forward with these products and create more, increasing this marketing category.

My referrals are steady. My clients like working with me. I will always strive to grow the referral category. In 2024, I might incentivize my current clients to refer my services.

Search is a direct reflection of my activity online. People can find my website because of search engine optimization and all the activity I do online that points back to my website. I would like to see the Search category be around 30%. Depending on your business type, your search might need to be up around 80% for your business to thrive online.

Networking has historically accounted for 14% of my income. However, last year, it was only 3.6%. I attribute that to not attending as many networking events as I have in the past. I used to attend several in-person, local networking events. I need to do more in-person networking in 2024 to increase my percentage. Look below for a breakdown of the networking category.

Speaking at networking groups, associations, and chambers has always been part of my marketing plan. However, most of the time, I do not ask for a sale. I provide valuable information to raise my credibility. Much of the “income” from this category is actually in the referral category. People who have seen me speak often refer later. Look below for a breakdown of the speaking category.

Affiliate income is passive income. I will always grow this category, but my numbers indicate I need to put more effort into developing and promoting my affiliate partners.

Social media is hard to pin down.  The income in this category came from sales made from a post on a social platform. However, that is not the whole story for this category. What is NOT indicated is the research people do before they call me. Many clients have told me they looked at my social profiles, watched my YouTube videos, and read my reviews and recommendations on various platforms before calling me. Social media is not something I will drop because it is part of developing my reputation online and my search results.

What Networking Groups Produced Income?

Looking at the chart above, you can see that four networking groups produced income last year. Here is the thing about networking: you never know when your efforts will pay off. 40% of my networking income is attributed to CCLD. This is a group that I participated in for many years but have not attended for over five years. In fact, this group disbanded when COVID-19 closed down restaurants. The relationships I created all those years ago paid off in 2023. They may continue to pay off in future years as well.

WPN is a group that I participate in weekly. Sometimes, more than one time in a week. It is the group that I put the most effort into, and as you can see, I get the most results from it.

There are some networking groups that I pay for that are not represented on this chart. I will not be paying for them in 2024.

What Speaking Opportunities Paid Off in 2023?

For me, speaking is usually for a short time at networking groups, associations, and chambers. It is not speaking on a stage in front of hundreds of people. I am not a keynote speaker for conferences. What I do for speaking, anyone can learn to do. It is sharing my knowledge with a small group of other business owners.

This was the first year I conducted webinars. As you can see from the chart, webinars had the highest ROI. I will conduct more webinars in 2024.

I am not sure I will continue to participate in summits. Last year, CCC was a summit and only produced 2% of my speaking income. I participated in other summits that had no sales. This can be a reflection of my ability to sell on a summit. It might also be attributed to the type of people who attended the summit. for the most part, they were not my ideal clients.

When I facilitate a webinar, I invite my ideal clients to participate. This could be why my sales from webinars are higher.

In summary, for 2024, I will be dropping a few groups that did not pay off last year. I will be providing more webinars and looking for other speaking opportunities.

I will nurture my repeat customers and grow my referrals. I will put significant effort into more blogging and video to grow my search engine optimization.

I am looking forward to 2024!

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