The marketing world is first class at dressing up what we do. "Spreading brand awareness." "Demonstrating the value of your product to your target demographic." "Using your story to tell consumers why you're the best at what you do." "Impressions." These are all true and beautiful ways to describe what marketing is and does. But lets cut through the fancy, heart-felt words and say what marketing really is; it's the way we convince people to commit their hard earned dollars to our service or product.

Here's the question of the hour: Is your marketing strategy effective? More specifically, is it helping you accomplish your goals? Identifying ways to measure the results of your marketing are critically important to know if your strategy is working - and how to adapt if it isn't.

So how do you measure your marketing success? Impressions? Likes on Facebook? Hope and faith? Here's 3 simple ways to dig a little deeper and make sure your marketing strategy makes sense.

1 - Figure out your funnel.

Create a sales funnel that helps you keep track of where your leads are coming from, and how many people convert from one part of the process to another. If you need to get in front of 10 people to gain 1 client and you need to obtain 5 clients a month, then base your strategy on getting in front of 50 people a month. Knowing what your customer acquisition funnel looks like also helps you identify when something is going really well or really poorly and give some direction what needs to be addressed.

2 - Align your marketing objectives with something real.

If you are advertising because you want your business to grow, then measure the success of your marketing with growth goals. Want to increase sales? Align your marketing strategy and objectives with your sales goals. If you base your success on impressions, then you'll be really good at getting impressions. Identify what makes your business successful and focus your marketing goals there.

2.5 - If 1 & 2 make sense to you...

Hubspot has a great blog post on aligning your sales and marketing funnel here.

3. Ask the experts.

If you're still reading this blog, then you're already doing it. Find tools online (like the marketing strategy template available to you below). Talk with a marketing agency that understands the value of aligning your marketing with your business goals. Figure out a marketing budget that is reasonable for your business and forcasts  a return on investment that makes it worth your time and effort.