There’s a lot of talk about proving the value of marketing these days, and marketing ROI (return on investment). In order to really get value from marketing, it’s important that marketing tactics and strategies are in alignment with the short and long term goals of the company, and the situations and challenges facing them in the moment.
A common marketing fallacy that is pertinent to this topic is advertising. Many companies feel that if they throw money into advertising, all of their problems will be solved. Not so, as marketing strategist Ardath Albee points out in a recent post:
"Align marketing with the CEO’s strategic objectives. If your company is focused on building customer loyalty and retention, a new advertising campaign may not be the right direction for marketing to take. Improving the customer experience is a better choice. Thinking like a business person and looking at impact across the organization can make marketing a valuable partner on the executive team."
Ardath also talks about measuring marketing effectiveness, not just superficially, but in depth to find out what the results really are:
"Determine what can be measured effectively and then be ruthless about doing it. How many times someone clicks on an a banner ad is not as important as what they do AFTER that. Knowing how often each online marketing resource is accessed and viewed by prospects or used by sales in a meeting are a better gauge of marketing’s contribution to revenue generation. Where do they go after they click? After that?"
And finally, she refers to the importance of collaboration between sales and marketing to help close the loop:
"Become indispensable to sales. Teaching sales how to optimize messaging to convert prospects to customers is critical. Coaching them in creating interactions that drive a prospect to preference for your company’s products and services is invaluable. Likewise, learning from the reactions from sales to the messaging can help marketing incorporate front-line knowledge into creating more effective materials. Helping sales close more deals will connect marketing and sales in a collaborative effort that’s a win for the company. Being able to show the impact marketing has on a sale from lead to prospect to customer is huge."
So next time you’re trying to figure out what type of marketing tactics or strategies will give you the greatest return on investment, don’t allow yourself to go the obvious. Instead, look within your company and see what’s really needed.
-Susan Martin, NYC Marketing Coach and (advertising skeptic)
