Do you want to stop guessing how to allocate your marketing budget?
Chances are you’re currently throwing money at campaigns and hoping something sticks. Problem is.. hoping isn’t going to get results.
You need to predict campaign outcomes before spending money. Performance forecasting tools allow you to do just that.
The benefits?
- Budget smarter
- Increase ROI on all campaigns
- Eliminate wasted spend
BUT..
If you can’t properly measure organic visibility, you’re literally just guessing where every marketing dollar goes.
Want more detail? Keep reading..
What you’re going to learn:
- Performance forecasting tools
- Why organic visibility measurement matters
- How forecasting tools improve marketing ROI
- 4x Steps To Start Using Forecasting Tools Today
What Are Performance Forecasting Tools?
Performance forecasting tools are software platforms that use historical data and modelling to show you what your marketing campaigns will perform before you spend any money.
Essentially, they act like a GPS for your marketing spend.
GPS helps you navigate to your destination by telling you the most efficient route. Forecasting tools do the same for your marketing budget by analysing past performance, current trends and competitive insights to project what’s going to happen in the future.
This allows you to make data-driven decisions on where to spend, rather than relying on guesswork or instinct.
Here’s a scary stat for you… A recent Gartner survey found that 48% of marketers say they’re unable to prove the value of their campaigns. Yep. Nearly half of marketers have no idea if their spending is actually working.
Performance forecasting closes this gap by tying your marketing spend to measurable outcomes.
The cool part is these tools don’t just benefit huge corporations with big budgets. Small businesses can use forecasting tools too. From forecasting organic search rankings to calculating paid ad returns to measuring content marketing success. One popular example of a forecasting tool is an SEO ROI calculator.
Why Organic Visibility Measurement Matters
Before jumping into forecasting, it’s important to cover organic visibility measurement.
Organic visibility measurement is the process of measuring how visible a website is within search engine results pages (SERPs).
This doesn’t refer to keyword rankings alone. Instead, think of organic visibility as the bigger picture of search performance.
So why should you care about measuring organic visibility as a business?
Because organic search remains one of the most effective online channels.
SEO driven leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads have a close rate of 1.7%.
That is HUGE.
But here’s the kicker…
If you aren’t properly measuring organic visibility, it’s impossible to forecast future performance. How can you predict where your traffic will come from if you don’t know where it’s coming from now?
Organic visibility metrics allows you to:
- Track search performance over time
- Understand which keywords are driving qualified revenue
- Identify sudden drops in visibility (before they impact traffic)
- Benchmark your performance against competitors
All of this data feeds into your forecasting tools. The more quality data you put in, the better the forecasts you’ll receive.
How Forecasting Tools Improve Marketing ROI
Ok now let’s get into how performance forecasting tools make your marketing investments smarter.
You Can Predict Campaign Outcomes Before Spending
Let’s say you want to double content production. But.. you’re not sure if it’s going to be worth the investment.
Simply plug that goal into your forecasting tool and let it model the predicted outcome. Do the same for increases in ad spend or potential link building campaigns.
You have the power to predict “what if” scenarios using data, instead of opinions.
Which means:
- You allocate more budget to top performing channels
- Kill campaigns that are underperforming before they drain more budget
- Set realistic goals backed by data
Connect Marketing Spend To Real Revenue
Trying to connect marketing efforts to revenue is always tricky.
Luckily, forecasting tools take into account the whole customer journey. From the first click all the way through to closed deal.
Tracking this data allows you to tie specific marketing efforts to incremental revenue.
This is particularly useful for SEO. Seeing as search is a long-term strategy and takes months to show results in the books. Forecasting your SEO effort allows you to prove the value of your investment before rankings start to climb.
Allows You To Prioritise The Right Channels
Guess what?
Not every marketing channel is going to provide the same level of return.
Forecasting tools analyse the performance of your investments across all channels. Allowing you to easily see where to prioritise your budget.
For most businesses, this will be organic search and content marketing. But that doesn’t mean paid channels like Google Ads or social media shouldn’t be used. You just need to forecast which channels are going to provide the best ROI.
4x Steps To Start Using Forecasting Tools Today
Thinking about using performance forecasting tools? Here’s a quick 4 step process to help you start investing smarter.
Set Clear Goals
What do you want forecasting tools to achieve for your business? More website traffic from search? Improved conversion rates? Higher keyword rankings?
Get clear on your goals before you start using any tools. That way you can customise your forecasts to actually be useful.
Gather Historical Data
In order to forecast future performance you’ll need to pull at least 12 months worth of historical data. Things like organic traffic figures, conversion rates, keyword rankings and revenue numbers.
The more data you can provide, the more accurate your forecasts will be.
Choose The Right Tool
There are tons of great forecasting tools on the market. Some specialise in organic visibility measurement, while others focus on paid media or multi-channel attribution.
Pick a tool that suits your primary goals and plays nicely with your current analytics platforms.
Review + Adjust Regularly
Lastly, make sure to review your forecasts on a monthly basis.
Use actual performance data to compare against what was predicted. Overtime this will help improve your forecast accuracy, as well as highlight any changes in the market.
The more consistently you review your forecasts, the better.
Bringing It All Together
Performance forecasting tools allow you to stop guessing where to invest your marketing budget. Instead of wasting money on failed campaigns, use data to predict campaign performance before you spend a single dollar.
Let’s recap:
- Performance forecasting tools predict outcomes before you spend money
- Organic visibility measurement = better SEO forecasts
- Forecasting tools connect marketing spend to revenue
- Use historical data and regular reviews to improve accuracy
Implementing forecasting into your marketing strategy won’t happen overnight. But, those that take the time to properly forecast their investments will leave competitors in the dust.
Stop guessing where to spend your budget. Start predicting.
