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91% of marketers are confident that they’re making marketing decisions that will positively impact revenue.

Are you one of them?

As marketers, we’re well-versed in the main goals of internet marketing: to generate leads and new business. Revenue generated from online marketing justifies why we include online channels in our marketing efforts.

Some companies use revenue as a jumping-off point to build their marketing plans. This method determines if current marketing efforts should be changed or repeated based on lead generation and customer acquisition data. A tactic like this measures and drives the growth of a business.

To put it another way, some companies use revenue marketing when planning online marketing strategies. Revenue marketing is about coming up with a campaign that is driven by the desire to create more leads and drive sales.

How then, do marketers come up with a winning online marketing strategy that directly ties to their revenue goals?

If you’re unsure of the answer, we’ve got you covered.

To give you a starting point of how you can follow suit we’ve come up with some steps you can take to begin marketing planning based on revenue.

Revenue Marketing

When we talk about revenue marketing, we’re talking about a method of marketing that’s used for lead generation. Some marketing campaigns are implemented to increase brand awareness or support a product launch, but revenue marketing puts all hands on deck towards increasing just that.

Let’s explain revenue marketing a little bit more.

Revenue Marketing

Revenue marketing is the process of using different channels and methods to build marketing campaigns that boost customer acquisition and sales. Revenue marketing links plans to revenue goals.

If you were to implement a revenue marketing plan, you would look at your revenue goals first instead of your business goals. This method turns those goals into a campaign.

Let’s dive into how you can develop a revenue marketing plan.

1. Set SMART revenue goals.

To reach your revenue goals, you have to make them! If you’re a little confused on how to start making them or unsure of how to set them so they’re effective for marketing campaigns, let’s talk about how you can set measurable goals.

Before you set out to conduct online marketing strategies, your goal should be clearly defined and understood by the team working on the campaign. The easiest way to do that is to make sure your goal(s) is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based.

For a little refresher on SMART goals and how they pertain to setting revenue goals for marketing campaigns, let’s walk through an example.

Let’s say a marketing team for a company is generating $10,000/month in revenue through online and traditional marketing efforts, but wants to generate more revenue through beefing up digital campaigns. They have decided on a goal to double their revenue.

While doubling revenue is a fantastic goal, it doesn’t have any basis for how to get there. To make this goal SMART, the team can add some terms to make their path a little more clear.

So, instead of the marketing teams’ goal being “Double revenue,” it can be restructured to, “Through an online marketing campaign, the goal is to double revenue in six months by using channels chosen based on previous ROI data.”

This goal gives a time span, is specific, relevant to the task, and measurable. While doubling revenue is a high goal, SMART goals can change; they’re merely a guide to making sure your goals are reachable.

Begin by planning out your revenue goals. If you are still shaky on SMART goal making, HubSpot offers a free template you can download to guide you while writing them.

2. Audit your current website and marketing ROI.

Marketing analytics software can be used to measure the number of visits, leads, and generated sales you earn for each of your marketing channels. For example, HubSpot’s Marketing Hub offers the tools marketers need to measure the success of their digital marketing campaigns, such as website metrics.

When you want to determine the initial ROI of online marketing efforts, using analytics tools is extremely critical. These tools have customizable settings that you can configure, so the platforms only track the metrics you care about.

If you want to use your revenue goals to inspire your internet marketing plan, the metrics that will be useful may vary based on your business goals, but here are a few that are especially helpful: SEO metrics, ROI from pay-per-click (PPC), your blog’s conversion rates, and social media engagement.

Those metrics will tell you how your marketing efforts are ranking on Google, how many people are clicking on your ads or campaign offers, how helpful your content is to readers, and how your brand is perceived by its audience.

In general, if you intend to make money from a marketing channel, it’s important you continue to measure and iterate your strategy based on that channel’s core metrics. Once you know your analytics, you can use that data, paired with monthly revenue data, to estimate the conversion rate you aim to earn with your next campaign.

3. Conduct research to determine actionable steps.

If you’re unsure of how to determine actionable steps in your plan, it’s always helpful to do some research.

I know, I know: you might not have the time to devote to copious amounts of research. However, by seeking out some information, you’ll be able to uncover actionable steps that work for similar companies’ revenue marketing efforts.

For instance, we’ve talked about how leveraging data can help build your online marketing strategy. Before you start planning, if you’re unsure of where to begin, refresh your memory of must-haves when writing a marketing plan. This post is a good place to start.

You can also look into downloading a report from a company that used revenue marketing. For instance, HubSpot offers this study, which details how revenue marketing worked for a campaign, and provides highlights of the report for those strapped for time.

Additionally, you can look at a case study to get an understanding of how a revenue marketing plan looks from a bird’s eye view. This directory of case studies is organized based on industry, company size, and company goals, so you can easily find a case study that illustrates the plan you’re considering for your own business.

Don’t forget to look into how using SEO can help make smarter marketing decisions. If you are confident in your SEO efforts, look at keyword and competitive data to figure out how much time and money you should invest in pay-per-click to hit your goals.

Finally, research can help you determine if you’re following the best practices for lead generation and tracking. You can find new ideas for converting leads into customers using online marketing channels, such as blogging and email, as nurturing tools.

To gain an understanding of how your marketing efforts help one another, and how to structure a chronological plan, a little research is necessary.

4. Put it all together.

Once you’ve got an idea of your current return, have set reasonable revenue goals, and know a bit more about the channels and methods you want to use, it’s time to put it all together.

When you’re building your internet marketing campaign, keep in mind that every step in your plan should be based on revenue goals. If you’re going to use Facebook Ads as part of your campaign, for example, it should be understood by the team why that method will help you reach your revenue goal.

Spend some time ensuring the content you want to create for the campaign will resonate with its audience, as well. Blog posts need to be valuable to readers (Keyword research helps you figure out what readers are searching for) and social media content needs to engage followers, for example.

During your internet marketing planning process, outline how you’re going to measure success. Revenue is the obvious metric to measure, but what software will you be using? How are you going to interpret the revenue you earn?

Once you’ve worked through your marketing plan, you should have all the resources in place to write a marketing report or case study from your findings on your own. Who knows — your report could even turn into a valuable content offer for your next revenue-based campaign.

Happy planning!