Resolution Idea - Measure ROI
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION – MEASURE ROI (Return on Investment)
A recent article by The Wall Street Journal, "Madison Avenue Sifts Through ‘Clutter’" pointed out the call for accountability:
Some are calling for new ways to measure whether consumers pay attention to their ads. In 2006, Toyota struck a deal with NBC that required the network to demonstrate that its viewers paid attention and could recall particular details about a TV show, such as its story line. Data from IAG Research, a New York company that measures viewers’ response to TV programs, ads and product placements, were central to the deal. Look for more pressure from Madison Avenue for other traditional media outlets to agree to such demands and come up with data offering proof.
What this article is obviously referring to is ROI (return on investment).There’s a lot of noise from marketers about basing ad buying decisions on results and ROI. And the noise is justified. The problem is the huge gap between the interest in tracking source of business and ROI by source and the ability to actually do it. Most marketers (including some of our own clients) acknowledge privately that these vaunted benefits of database marketing – not to mention measurements like Lifetime Value – are more theoretical than practical.
We understand the challenges. To name a few we have all heard: large companies with vast resources can not get the internal support to get this programmed into their proprietary (and in some cases, legacy) systems. Marketing departments and sales departments do not always have access to the applications (or paying for those applications sits in different budgets). Small companies on the other hand may just not have the bandwidth to make this happen.
Regardless of the reason, tracking ROI should not be ignored. Accountability is important. For those of you considering this as a marketing “New Year’s Resolution” we recommend considering the following when setting up your program:
- Demand that service providers send you a unique ID for every lead they send you
- The data file should include source and promotion (or campaign number)
- When using email campaigns, use auto-responders that include those ID’s as passwords or user id’s
- If (2) or (3) above are not an option, collect additional information at each point of contact; don’t be afraid to ask the customer how he or she heard about you
- Make sales accountable for reporting a closed sale.This is particularly easy if you coordinate reporting through “turn-key” sales management solutions like Salesforce or NetSuite for example.
And if like most of us, you fail to deliver on this year’s resolution – don’t give up!Marketers know this is important enough to keep on the list for next year’s plans.
Sources:
The Wall Street Journal Article to which we referred can be found at www.wsjonline.com
"Madison Avenue Sifts Through ‘Clutter’: Ad Trends Veer Toward, Fewer TV Commercials, Greater Use of Internet" By BRIAN STEINBERG and SUZANNE VRANICA (January 3, 2007; Page B3)
Internet Advertising Bureau: www.iab.net
We also recommend that you read the Internet Advertising Bureau’s online lead generation best practices:http://www.iab.net/standards/lead_generation.asp
Posted by Gary Kreissman in Return on Investment | 0 Comments
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION – MEASURE ROI (Return on Investment)
A recent article by The Wall Street Journal, "Madison Avenue Sifts Through ‘Clutter’" pointed out the call for accountability:
Some are calling for new ways to measure whether consumers pay attention to their ads. In 2006, Toyota struck a deal with NBC that required the network to demonstrate that its viewers paid attention and could recall particular details about a TV show, such as its story line. Data from IAG Research, a New York company that measures viewers’ response to TV programs, ads and product placements, were central to the deal. Look for more pressure from Madison Avenue for other traditional media outlets to agree to such demands and come up with data offering proof.
What this article is obviously referring to is ROI (return on investment).There’s a lot of noise from marketers about basing ad buying decisions on results and ROI. And the noise is justified. The problem is the huge gap between the interest in tracking source of business and ROI by source and the ability to actually do it. Most marketers (including some of our own clients) acknowledge privately that these vaunted benefits of database marketing – not to mention measurements like Lifetime Value – are more theoretical than practical.
We understand the challenges. To name a few we have all heard: large companies with vast resources can not get the internal support to get this programmed into their proprietary (and in some cases, legacy) systems. Marketing departments and sales departments do not always have access to the applications (or paying for those applications sits in different budgets). Small companies on the other hand may just not have the bandwidth to make this happen.
Regardless of the reason, tracking ROI should not be ignored. Accountability is important. For those of you considering this as a marketing “New Year’s Resolution” we recommend considering the following when setting up your program:
- Demand that service providers send you a unique ID for every lead they send you
- The data file should include source and promotion (or campaign number)
- When using email campaigns, use auto-responders that include those ID’s as passwords or user id’s
- If (2) or (3) above are not an option, collect additional information at each point of contact; don’t be afraid to ask the customer how he or she heard about you
- Make sales accountable for reporting a closed sale.This is particularly easy if you coordinate reporting through “turn-key” sales management solutions like Salesforce or NetSuite for example.
And if like most of us, you fail to deliver on this year’s resolution – don’t give up!Marketers know this is important enough to keep on the list for next year’s plans.
Sources:
The Wall Street Journal Article to which we referred can be found at www.wsjonline.com
"Madison Avenue Sifts Through ‘Clutter’: Ad Trends Veer Toward, Fewer TV Commercials, Greater Use of Internet" By BRIAN STEINBERG and SUZANNE VRANICA (January 3, 2007; Page B3)
Internet Advertising Bureau: www.iab.net
We also recommend that you read the Internet Advertising Bureau’s online lead generation best practices:http://www.iab.net/standards/lead_generation.asp