| < back Measure by Measure - how to assess your marketing campaigns I believe that Tom Peters was the first person to state “if you can’t measure it you can’t manage it” although I may be mistaken and anyway, regardless of authorship, the quote is hard to argue against and one I’m prepared to gamble that every reader broadly agrees with. Despite this, the majority of businesses I meet have little or no measurement in place for the effectiveness of their marketing which is perhaps why there is so much money wasted on advertising, PR, direct mail and other communications. Indeed, the lack of proof of whether a marketing initiative has generated results explains why so often this area of business is subjective and yet it shouldn’t and needn’t be. Try the following steps to make sure you’re getting the most from your marketing. When creating a highly effective marketing plan (or HEMP) the first step is to establish the desired result – what exactly are you expecting to achieve from the new advertising campaign, exhibition, direct mail, online or PR initiative? Unless you can answer this question you cannot expect to be able to measure the effectiveness of your marketing investment. Typically most marketing communications seek to achieve either a direct response or to raise awareness and improve the brand or reputation of a business (or both). If you desire a change of brand perception or to increase awareness the only way this can be measured is via research. Research can be very expensive but doesn’t have to be. Take a small yet representative sample of your clients or target audience and engage an external company to thoroughly interview them – don’t even think about doing this yourself as it’s almost impossible for you and your team to be impartial. If you receive consistent results from this sample then you’re in luck! The chances are that their views will be consistent with other customers. If there are huge variations then you’re also on a winner, (in respect to the cost of research) as you can conclude that there is no real brand perception or awareness and assume a neutral start point – “some people have and others haven’t heard of us/like us etc.” If you have consistency of the right kind, (those who are aware of us know us for the right reasons) then your task is straightforward – you need to increase the number of fans for your company. If on the other hand your clients opinions differ then the job is more difficult as you seek to both change mind sets as well as increase the size of your customer base. Whatever the outcome of this initial research I strongly urge you to test your new campaign with a small sample prior to investing your entire budget. Pick a specific geographic territory and test market followed by further research to measure the impact and then roll out across all areas. If it’s direct response you’re after then try out the following basics:
By just putting these basic measurements in place, at a very modest cost, you will be able to establish the effectiveness of your marketing and gain the confidence to invest in initiatives that will generate results and at the same time eliminate those that don’t. Peter Knight is chairman of Phoenix, a communications agency, and author of the best-selling ‘HEMP: Highly Effective Marketing Plans’. If you run a real business and have come up with a stunning marketing plan, or you want help to create one, Peter would love to hear from you at pk@phoenixplc.com |