Digital advertising may be different than more traditional forms of marketing, but it is just as important to measure results in the digital sphere. Considering how many kinds of advertising and marketing there are to pursue, it may be even more critical to measure your results on the web.

The best way to get results from efforts like email campaigns, ad retargeting and social media is to start with a plan, detailing specifics like your target audience and the funds available to run a campaign. This part of marketing may come easily to your team, but it won’t mean much unless you can set measurable goals for each endeavor.

Identifying your goals at the outset can help you determine what digital platforms to advertise on, how to cater to different audiences and when to conclude your campaign. More importantly, setting goals will help you to determine when your digital advertising has been a success. As you start to think about what this looks like for your business, consider these things.

When you set a goal for an advertising campaign, it helps to keep it realistic. You can set yourself up for success with even large goals, as long as you keep in mind  these elements  of goal-setting. When you set the goal, make it specific, so that you know what data to monitor and track. Make sure the goal is also one that you can measure, whether it’s through a percent increase in sales or through social media analytics, such as the number of times a video is played. Be realistic and set goals that are attainable, making it easier for your team to meet them. Then use a timeframe, to determine when the goal should be achieved. This will help keep your business – and your advertising team – on track.

With so many options available to advertisers, it can be challenging to choose an advertising method or platform, especially if you’re not sure the vehicle will be useful. Now, thanks to all the data at your fingertips, you can monitor your progress and gain meaningful insights into what your customers want. Use all the information available to you to track your ad campaigns. This kind of  measurement  will require more than just website views. You’ll also want to follow new sessions on your website, the bounce rate if people are leaving a site too soon, and total conversions, which will help you see if your efforts are working. If you’re not getting the results you want, it may be time to invest your money in a different digital platform.

Success often means different things to different people. If your primary goal is to drive more traffic to your website where you can focus on inbound marketing, a high number of hits could be the key. But if you need sales to demonstrate success, it’s a different ballgame. For example, a Chicago based client that specializes in the sales of children’s clothing trusts that her team at BriteIdea will make advertising decisions that are focused on converting ads to sales from the website. Once a campaign is released we use a combination of web ads, newsletters, and even style guides to convert leads. The online sales journey tell us a story about how our efforts are working and if we need to make adjustments for next time based off of the store’s sales.

Think about the various ways you can measure  success , and use the measurements that are relevant to your business. Marketers know Return on Investment is vital, but you can also look for some newer measures of success. Watch for robust social media activity as a sign that your brand is taking off online. Take into account scalable conversion to sales, which allow you to pursue future campaigns, or the return on advertising spread, which directly measures the profit you make from money spent on advertising. Movement of the product is also a great way to measure success. After all the advertising is done, how much did the campaign move your product or services? This will help you determined whether the advertising methods you chose and campaigns you ran were a valuable use of your time and resources.

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