How to Get More From Your Marketing Spend

You'll see, stream by stream, how to win the same number of customers for less, and what the change does to your yearly cash flow.

Before You Start

• Where it is: "Plays" in the navbar, then "Start New". The Play is called "Marketing Efficiency".
• What you need: marketing spend tagged to the revenue streams it brings in (step 1), and Plays unlocked by ending the Score Card's tour.
• Plan: a paid tier. Each run costs 1 credit. On the free plan, change spend by hand with a Custom Scenario.

Steps

1. Tag your marketing. In My Business, open "Marketing" under "Edit Financials". For each row, use the "Attributed To" column to pick the revenue streams that spend brings in; one row can be split across several. The panel beside the table shows how much is still unattributed. Screenshot to come: Marketing step with the Attributed To column filled in for each row (marketing-attributed-to.png)
2. Open the Play. On the Plays page, click "Start New". In "Start a New Play", pick "Marketing Efficiency".
3. Mark what stays put. "Items to keep as-is" lists each marketing row with its stream, channel and amount. Tick spend you've committed to, such as a directory listing paid for the year. Screenshot to come: Marketing Efficiency intro listing marketing rows under Items to keep as-is (marketing-efficiency-intro.png)
4. Add context. In "Additional context for Occam", say which channel your best customers came from, or how many inquiries you can actually handle.
5. Click "Run Play". It costs 1 credit, charged only if the run succeeds.
6. Read the recommendations. Results are grouped by revenue stream: customers before and after, then each channel's old and new spend with the reasoning. The top shows "Marketing Spend Savings" and "Cash Flow Impact". Screenshot to come: Marketing Efficiency results grouped by revenue stream with channel spend changes (marketing-efficiency-results.png)
7. Check the cash and the plan. The "Cash Flow Impact" tab compares Current, Change and Scenario. "Implementation Plan" lists the tasks, grouped by stream.

Tips

• Know your own cost per new customer first, and whether there is enough spend to work on. The hypothetical Steadyroot Wellness spends $1,260 a year on marketing and gets 55% of its new clients from referrals; at that size this Play has little to trim.
• To adjust a recommendation, click "Duplicate & Customize" and edit the copy's "Edits" tab.

Common Questions

Why can't I click "Run Play"?
None of your marketing is tagged yet. The intro says "Tag your marketing to revenue streams to run this Play." Click "Go to Marketing", tag the rows, and come back.

Does the Play change my ad budget?
No. It works on a copy of your business. My Business, and your ad accounts, stay as they are.

Can I see my marketing numbers without running a Play?
Yes. Marketing Efficiency is one of the Score Card's four areas, and on a paid plan the Financial Summary has a Marketing Efficiency Deep Dive.