I read a great article today on the Manage Smarter Web site. The article’s focus was one of the primary things we talk to clients about all the time … tap into the power of your satisfied customers to increase sales without increasing your marketing costs.
I’m talking about (more…)
I participate in monthly peer group with other St. Louis area company presidents. During our meeting on Tuesday we spent a lot of time talking about the financial crisis and the proposed $700 billion bailout proposal. It occurred to me, as I listened and commented, that there was a marketing lesson in all of this. (more…)
I came across this short video that offers some perspective on why we need to think about ROI and profit. And while it’s important to focus on ROI, sometimes just driving the highest ROI number does not translate into profitability. The guy in this video looks a little scary, but the illustration he uses gets the point across very well.
This is not a partisan post, but rather an observation on what we can learn about gathering data and then leveraging it to produce maximum ROI. The Obama campaign recognizes the power of data, and uses it to build their brand, involve supporters in a dynamic experience and create a highly intelligence-based approach to understanding their supporters.
Here is the first page that comes up when you go to Obama’s Web site. Pretty simple, yet a well crafted data-collection tool. It’s a good illustration of how to develop an personal conversation with your target.
There was an informative article on cnn.com today from Leslie Sanchez entitled, “Obama’s high-tech edge in presidential politics.” A self-identifed Republican, Sanchez was director of the Bush White House Initiative on Hispanic Education from 2001 to 2003 and is the author of “Los Republicanos: Why Hispanics and Republicans Need Each Other.” She is not a paid consultant to any current candidate. Sanchez is CEO of the Impacto Group, which specializes in market research about women and Hispanics for its corporate and nonprofit clients. It’s a good read and offers further insight into how the Obama campaign is taking data and using it in ways here-to-fore not used in political campaigning.
As marketers search for strategies to improve their overall ROI, I think there’s a lesson to be learned here. Take a few minutes and see if you can identify all of the opportunities the Obama campaign gives visitors to share information … just like the hidden pictures in Highlight’s Magazine. That dates me.
If you had to guess the percentage of executives today who say they closely measure the ROI of their marketing efforts, what would your answer be? And would you expect that percentage to increase or decrease over the next three to five years?
I just finished reading a study of the top ten megatrends in B2B marketing from the Economist Intelligence Unit. Their findings report that 39% of executives today measure their efforts. That percentage is expected to grow to a staggering 89% in the next three to five years.
And it’s not just measuring the ROI of campaigns, but the ROI of the entire marketing function.
Everyone is under pressure to deliver. I find that some companies we talk with are feeling it, but are not fully committed to establishing the necessary metrics. They talk the talk, but don’t like the prospects of the walk itself.
The primary reason is that it drives accountability and leaves little room for avoiding the consequences of under delivery.
It’s time to embrace the idea that we should demand to know the marketing ROI of every effort. Thought leadership around this issue needs to evolve at many levels within organizations.
Those that get on board with the idea will be the ultimate winners. The rest will simply be left behind.
If you need the “skinny” on detailed zip code demographic data, here’s an absolutely FREE resource. Check out: (more…)
I’m standing in line with a cart full of groceries while on vacation last week at a beach community in North Carolina. Like most who rent a house for a week or two, soon after arrival you venture to the local supermarket to stock the larder with a carload of groceries. Of course, you walk into the store about the same time as a hoard of others who have just checked-in to their houses, too. You get the idea, it’s crowded.
And, then as I’m standing there, I overhear a checkout associate say to another associate … “I hate this. I absolutely hate this crush of people. They’re all in a hurry to rush back to their precious beach houses. They make me sick.”
As I hear this I look up at a huge sign that read: Welcome! We’re Down Home, Just Down The Street.”
Even though I was doing my best to “disengage” from thinking about work for a few days, I couldn’t help but think about the CMO, his staff and agency that developed the tag line to reflect how they wanted their customers to feel about their shopping experience. Not only was the associate way out of alignment with the brand , she apparently possessed little sense of a customer’s value to her livelihood.
It was a good reminder that for every dollar we spend to market a product or service, we need to consider the resources needed to ensure that those charged with carrying out the brand promise actually do so.
Otherwise, it’s bye-bye ROI.
Many companies have disparate databases making it almost impossible to fully understand customer behaviors, value, etc. These legacy systems were brought on-line at varying points as operational enhancements. Most often, forethought was absent regarding how this information could be leveraged to grow the enterprise. (more…)
I’m a proponent of direct marketing. In fact, I think everyone should be a direct marketer. And in this current economic cycle what better time than now to be vigilant about measuring the effectiveness of every marketing dollar?
