How In The World Do We Measure The Value Our Marketing Creates?
ROI – return on investment – is the holy grail of marketing. Year after year, we talk about it — in boardrooms, at events, on social media, virtually everywhere. While it’s not hard to figure out why ROI is so important, it is definitely hard to nail it down.
Through all the talk and speculation, there are very few successes when it comes to clearly articulating what is possible in terms of measuring true ROI in our marketing efforts.
We are in a world of endless marketing channels and with more and more being added on a seemingly daily basis. For instance, real-time video is now a hot marketing commodity thanks to Meerkat taking over the recent SXSW in Austin. Now, marketers are rushing to get the most out of this platform.
Marketing is more measurable than ever
However, simply using new technology without a long-term strategy doesn’t cut the mustard. What’s more important is understanding how your efforts on each of these channels are adding to the bottom line of your organization. What is the ROI? While this question continues to confound marketers, the truth is: Marketing is more measurable than ever.
From vanity analytics to conversions on landing pages, we have a wide range of tools to analyze everyone who visits our website, responds to our emails, clicks our links, or follows us on Twitter. We can easily track where they go, how long they stay, and whether or not they respond to our overtures. By collecting all this data, we sketch our buyers’ persona and, using a suitable marketing strategy, in a perfect world we win them over.
But wait… are all marketing activities vested in just one goal – customer acquisition and sales? Not really. I’ll explain why.
Think about going to the supermarket. Everything you need to buy is nicely stacked on shelves. But is the purchase all that matters to you? Of course, not. How you are treated, how long you wait to checkout, what sales are on, whether the shelves have been restocked; an aggregation of all these factors determines your final experience and whether or not you’ll continue shopping at that particular store.
Step back from number-crunching and think about the real value you’re providing to your customers
The same holds true for your customers. It’s not the final purchase; it’s the value of the entire experience that matters to them. Therefore, you can’t just weigh marketing success against your sales. You need to step back from number-crunching and think about the real value you’re providing to your customers. This real value is evident when measurement and new sales are blended seamlessly with the new KPIs of marketing ROI.
While these new KPIs do not suggest marketers should stop focusing on creating customers and revenue, they identify and measure those factors that are responsible for meeting long-term business goals: Customer satisfaction, product innovations, and employee productivity and retention.
Customer satisfaction is not an overnight achievement or something you should assume will just happen naturally. Make sure your customer service is focused on getting to the root of your customers’ pain points quickly and thoroughly. Make them feel like they are the only customer in your roster. If they feel like they are valued and not just a number, they will bring numerous other potential customers to you through word-of-mouth referrals. Customers who feel valued become loyal, life-long brand advocates.
Product innovation is not just having a whole slew of products; it is creating the best goods and services on the market. Don’t get preoccupied with the newest shiny thing; amount is not innovation. Instead, look for holes and invest time in bettering your current products to be more effective and desirable. Just like an L-shaped supermarket may be “innovative”, it may not be the best designed or most desirable shopping experience. Many monolithic companies still exist because they focus on keeping their products current and innovative without adding unnecessary flash or glitter.
If your employees are not empowered, how can you expect them to give the type of customer service needed to boost revenue? How can you expect your employees to think of ways to innovate and improve your current services if they aren’t empowered? You can’t. Spend time cultivating relationships with your employees and listen to their needs. If they feel valued, they will produce highly valuable work. Highly valuable work includes creating highly valuable products and customer service.
The bottom line is, your ROI is not just about how much you get back in terms of revenue generated or sales made ; it’s more about how you create delightful experiences for the customers and turn them into brand loyalists. Read more here
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