How to Calculate Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) in BigCommerce

7 minute read

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If you're running an online store in BigCommerce, you know the importance of marketing to grow your business. But how do you measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts? One way is by using the Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER). In this guide, we will walk you through what MER is, why it's important, and how to calculate it in BigCommerce using Google Analytics data.

Understanding Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER)

Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) is a metric that measures the return on investment (ROI) of your marketing activities. It takes into consideration the amount of money you spend on marketing campaigns and the revenue generated from those campaigns. With MER, you can determine which marketing channels are most effective and make data-driven decisions to improve your marketing strategy.

What is Marketing Efficiency Ratio?

Marketing Efficiency Ratio is a simple formula that calculates the ROI of your marketing campaigns. The formula is:

MER = Revenue / Marketing Spend

Put simply, if you spend $100 on a marketing campaign that generates $1000 in revenue, your MER would be 10. The higher the MER, the more efficient your marketing campaign is.

Why is MER Important for Your BigCommerce Store?

Knowing your MER is crucial for optimizing your marketing strategy. By identifying which marketing channels have the highest MER, you can allocate more budget towards those channels and increase your ROI. On the other hand, if a marketing channel has a low MER, it may be time to rethink your strategy and try something new.

It's important to note that MER is not the only metric you should consider when evaluating your marketing strategy. Other factors such as customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLV), and conversion rates should also be taken into account.

One way to improve your MER is to focus on your target audience. By understanding your customers' needs and preferences, you can tailor your marketing campaigns to resonate with them and increase the likelihood of conversions. Additionally, testing different marketing channels and tactics can help you identify which ones are most effective for your business.

Another important aspect of improving your MER is tracking and analyzing your data. By monitoring your marketing campaigns and analyzing the results, you can identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions to optimize your strategy.

In conclusion, understanding and improving your Marketing Efficiency Ratio is crucial for the success of your BigCommerce store. By focusing on your target audience, testing different marketing channels, and analyzing your data, you can increase your MER and drive more revenue for your business.

Setting Up Your BigCommerce Store for MER Calculation

Calculating your marketing efficiency ratio (MER) is an important step in evaluating the success of your marketing campaigns. In order to calculate your MER, you need to have data on your marketing spend and revenue. Here's how to set up your BigCommerce store for MER calculation:

Integrating Google Analytics with BigCommerce

The first step is to connect your BigCommerce store with Google Analytics. This will allow you to track traffic and revenue data for your website. Google Analytics is a powerful tool that provides valuable insights into your website's traffic and user behavior. Here's how to integrate Google Analytics with BigCommerce:

  1. Sign in to your Google Analytics account and create a new property for your BigCommerce store. This will generate a unique tracking ID that you will need to connect your store to Google Analytics.
  2. Copy the tracking ID from Google Analytics.
  3. In your BigCommerce admin panel, go to Storefront > Script Manager. This is where you can add scripts to your website to enable various features and integrations.
  4. Add a new script with the Script Type set to "Google Analytics". This will tell BigCommerce to load the Google Analytics tracking code on your website.
  5. Paste the tracking ID into the Script Content field. This will connect your BigCommerce store to your Google Analytics account.
  6. Save your changes and you're done!

Tracking Marketing Campaigns in BigCommerce

Now that you have integrated Google Analytics with your BigCommerce store, you can start tracking your marketing campaigns. To do this, you need to add UTM parameters to your campaign URLs. UTM parameters are tags that you add to the end of your URLs to track the source, medium, and campaign name of your traffic. This information will help you understand which marketing channels are driving the most traffic and revenue to your website. Here's how to add UTM parameters to your campaign URLs:

  1. Go to the Google Analytics URL Builder tool. This is a free tool provided by Google that makes it easy to add UTM parameters to your URLs.
  2. Fill out the required fields, including your website URL, campaign source, medium, and name. The source and medium fields should describe where your traffic is coming from (e.g. "facebook" for source and "cpc" for medium if you are running Facebook ads).
  3. Copy the generated URL. This is the URL that you will use in your marketing campaign.
  4. Paste the URL into your marketing campaign. When someone clicks on this URL and visits your website, Google Analytics will track the UTM parameters and attribute the traffic to the correct source and medium.

Setting Up Conversion Goals in Google Analytics

Now that you are tracking your traffic and marketing campaigns in Google Analytics, you need to set up conversion goals to track revenue data. A conversion goal is a specific action that you want your website visitors to take, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. By tracking these goals, you can see how much revenue each marketing channel is generating and calculate your MER. Here's how to set up conversion goals in Google Analytics:

  1. In your Google Analytics account, go to the Admin panel. This is where you can manage your account settings and properties.
  2. Select the View that you want to use for tracking conversion data. A view is a way of looking at your data in Google Analytics. You can have multiple views for the same property, each with its own settings and filters.
  3. Click on Goals and then click the New Goal button. This will open the Goal setup wizard.
  4. Choose a Goal Type (such as destination or event) and fill out the required fields. For example, if you want to track purchases as a conversion goal, you would choose "Destination" as the goal type and set the destination URL to the "Thank You" page that appears after a purchase is completed.
  5. Save your new goal. Google Analytics will now track conversions and attribute them to the correct marketing channels.

By following these steps, you can set up your BigCommerce store for MER calculation and gain valuable insights into your marketing performance. Remember to regularly review your data and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly to maximize your ROI.

Gathering Data for MER Calculation

Once you have set up your BigCommerce store and Google Analytics, it's time to start collecting data for MER calculation. Here are the steps you need to follow:

Identifying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Before you start tracking data, it's important to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) that you want to measure. Some common KPIs include website traffic, conversion rate, and revenue. By focusing on your KPIs, you can ensure that you're tracking the data that's most important to your business.

Collecting Marketing Spend Data

To calculate MER, you need to know how much money you're spending on each marketing channel. This data can be collected from your advertising platforms, such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads. Be sure to include all costs, such as ad spend, agency fees, and creative development costs.

Analyzing Revenue and Conversion Data

With Google Analytics and conversion goals set up, you can track revenue and conversion data for your website. This data will give you a clear picture of which marketing channels are driving revenue and which are not. Use this data to make informed decisions about your marketing strategy.

Calculating Marketing Efficiency Ratio

Now that you have collected the data you need, it's time to calculate your MER. Here's how to do it:

The MER Formula

Marketing Efficiency Ratio is calculated by dividing your revenue by your marketing spend. Here's the formula again:

MER = Revenue / Marketing Spend

Interpreting Your MER Results

The higher your MER, the more efficient your marketing campaign is. A MER of 1 means that you're breaking even – you're generating as much revenue as you're spending on marketing. A MER of 2 or higher means that your marketing campaign is profitable.

Comparing MER Across Different Marketing Channels

It's important to compare your MER across different marketing channels to see which ones are performing the best. For example, if your Facebook Ads have a MER of 5 and your Google Ads have a MER of 3, you may want to allocate more budget towards Facebook Ads. By making data-driven decisions, you can optimize your marketing strategy for maximum ROI.

Conclusion

Calculating Marketing Efficiency Ratio is crucial for any eCommerce store that wants to grow its business. By using Google Analytics data, you can measure the ROI of your marketing campaigns, identify the most effective channels, and make data-driven decisions to optimize your strategy. With this guide, you have everything you need to set up MER calculation for your BigCommerce store and start tracking your marketing ROI.

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