Many business leaders echo a common refrain…
They complain that they do not have a clear picture of what is working in their marketing program.
One side of me can empathize a bit with this viewpoint. Often consumers are swayed by numerous marketing tools and when surveyed share input that is often not accurate citing media that you did not employ.
Still with most businesses, marketing and increasing sales are essential goals and as such require significant investments in time and resources. Inevitably determining where to spend marketing dollars is critical for achieving key business goals including optimizing results and return on investment (ROI).
So we must address questions like these:
- What marketing tools are truly driving customer acquisition and sales?
- Where are you continuing to invest dollars and time and not seeing the returns you require?
- What other tools and strategies should you consider as you seek to expand your customer base and revenues?
- Does your team need to revisit our marketing and sales metrics and dashboards in place to measure and track performance?
There is a tendency to hang on to old tools that worked well initially but are getting a bit tired now. As good as the creative strategy may be, the law of diminishing marginal returns sets in with all tactics.
Few companies have the luxury of continuing to rely upon tools that are not delivering the inquiries and leads required for success. Effective and successful marketers approach marketing as an investment and analyze performance so that resources can be deployed appropriately. To do this, they determine and monitor the most appropriate KPIs, and they ask the questions that need to be raised.
Do you know what is working?