{{B}} How effective is your marketing?{{/B}}
Gone are the days when companies had departments full of staff whose role nobody understood. Today we are all accountable and have to be able to demonstrate the value of our contribution to our businesses. And rightly so. But when it comes to marketing, what is effectiveness, how do you measure it, and why is its measurement so important?
Businesses are starting to recognise the key marketing questions. Are we providing the right products for the right people at the right price? Are our brands better than those of our competitors? {{U}}(9) {{/U}} That's because marketing is not the fluffy stuff that can be axed when the going gets tough - it is the essence of business. So if marketing is important, it follows that it pays to know if yours is working.
The first stage in the process is understanding your current position. How successful is your brand today? What is your market share? You should equip yourself with some sound facts and figures on which to base your conclusions. {{U}}(10) {{/U}} It could be simply to boost sales. You may want to reinforce your leadership in a market or trounce a competitive brand. Influencing future profitability, possibly by building a short-term brand share, may be a priority. A clear objective is essential.
But how do you know if your marketing is achieving your goals? {{U}}(11) {{/U}} Their success is not just related to how many boxes leave the factory. Effectiveness may not be tangible. It may be financial, it may not. 'The brand' is an intangible asset, but it is now seen as an important one. Quantifying the value of an intangible asset is a difficult, but not impossible, task.
It is also necessary to evaluate both long-term effectiveness and the short-term outcomes of any campaign. {{U}}(12) {{/U}} But the care of a brand is a marathon, not a sprint, and it is important not to lose sight of the long-term consequences.
Choosing the right measurement tools to evaluate a campaign is another important issue. {{U}}(13) {{/U}} The accuracy they thus ensure should be consistent over time and correspond to the wider objectives of the business. Ultimately, marketing must deliver profit.
The essential debate should no longer be about the importance of marketing, but what we should do to measure its effectiveness, and what measures will ensure survival. {{U}}(14) {{/U}} But to others it is likely to be a controversial issue - and one which can produce responses leading to widely different directions for their enterprises.
A Having done that, next comes establishing what it is that marketing activities should be achieving.
B Because of this, you may want to generate return on investment, perhaps by raising the quality of your brand.
C This shift in focus will be taken as read by the most successful businesses.
D Addressing such issues should mean that profits take care of themselves.
E Concerning the latter, it may be tempting to be seduced by efforts that yield quick results and satisfy investor pressure for immediate returns.
F These should be precise and based on empirical data.
G Good strategies are not necessarily linked to production or sales figures.
H Today we are all accountable and have to be able to demonstrate the value of our contribution to our businesses.