Often managers invest in business coaching with the ultimate goal of increasing the profitability of their company.  Regardless of which business management subject you decide to cover the key principle of measurement is a thread running throughout them all.

Often advertising return on investment is an area that can be overlooked by small business owners and there is a failure to track when a campaign works and when it simply does not.  When thinking about the concept of ‘opportunity cost’ the need to track successes becomes very important. 

No matter what the advertising medium, whether payment per click, an advertisement in a local journal or an insert in the Yellow Pages you must be able to track how successful it has been. 

Train staff to ask customers when they contact your business where did they hear about your company.  You can also get feedback on email or via a special feedback form.

Knowing the statistics is not enough.  You also need to be able to analyse the value of the custom that was generated as a result of the advertising.  Look at the profitability compared to the cost of advertising over a specific length of time.

Many companies offering advertising will help you tract return on investment but there re plenty who don’t so put your own tracking system in place.