Tangible Promotion Tracking

Some attempts to measure reach and impact.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I spent the weekend at FenCon XXI.

This¹ was my first official ‘working’ con, and I wanted to have a few things in place to try and track the impact of what I was doing².

QR Codes have become ubiquitous, but I’ve learned that having an accessible / usable URL can be important too. Some people just don’t like the ‘magic box’ element of QR codes.

In the end, I figured I needed a way to shorten the URL’s (in some cases), generate QR Codes (in others), and have some behind the scenes tracking so I can see how many hits I’m getting.

After some research I picked an affordable option that met my requirements. There are many others out there that may fit you better, so look around some and find the program that fits your needs.

The important bit to me is the analytics.

My bookmarks have QR Codes and URL’s, my business cards have either a shortened URL or a QR Code. Each of the book covers I have printed as backups also have a QR code for Amazon, making it possible for people to order eBooks while standing right there.

NOTE: In my infinite wisdom I left this binder BEHIND the table — oops…

In this way everything important to what I’m trying to sell has a way to track what happens when someone steps away from the table.

All of this combines with the sales numbers to give a better picture of what happens after the face to face interaction.

I’m not a Marketing Daimyo like Jack Wylder, but I understand sales reporting and I want to know what’s working and how well.

Yeah, a ~200 person con won’t reveal the secrets of the universe, but I’m hoping it will give me a start in refining my ‘in person’ promo materials.

1. Edited version of my kobold / dragon persona by Rick Cutler for a repost in the WriterDojo FB group.

2. The obviously desktop printed business cards were an emergency backup option. I waited almost too long to order my bookmarks, so I wanted to make sure I had SOMETHING. Then opted to bring them anyway, mostly because I like the way the holder turned out.