Marketing accountability and metrics

More than ever before, accountability counts. Marketers are using a variety of metrics (both quantitative and qualitative) to measure marketing and media results.

One of the key quantitative metrics is ROI. The Harvard Business Review defines marketing return on investment as:

(Incremental financial value derived from a marketing investment minus the cost of that marketing investment)

divided by

 The cost of that marketing investment

In this ROI definition, the marketer must not only know what marketing costs, it must be able to gauge the financial value gained as a result of making that investment--not so easy.

Often, a company has difficulty attributing a sales increase (financial value) that occurs because of a particular marketing investment (such as one specific promotional campaign). So many influences can affect marketing results, including competition, other marketing efforts, economic conditions, consumer buying behavior, retailer activities and more. In fact, marketing that used to produce a certain result may no longer induce that same result.

Online marketing can be measured in clicks, for example, but there are also quantitative metrics that can prove valuable to long-term financial success--such as the sentiment of social media comments (positive or negative?). This can be measured, but how does a marketer relate that to financial value? And what about ROI of investing in influencer marketing, meaning paying for popular YouTube or Twitter celebs to promote a brand or product.

B2B marketers have to be accountable too, able to measure social media and other marketing efforts. Nonprofits are thinking long-term, not just measuring immediate marketing results from fundraising programmes and other activities.

The art and science of marketing

art or science?

Of course marketing is a bit of both. But how much art and how much science?

The CMO of an Australian software firm believes that marketing today is 70% science, 30% art. His point: Every business should be using science (sophisticated analyses, big data, etc) to support decisions about marketing. At the same time, the creativity of art is key to developing marketing that touches hearts and minds.

Science is vital for targeting, in particular. A Google marketing exec points to the quest for 'right place, right time, right message' and how science can inform decisions about place and time. Yet art is needed for marketing that creates 'brand magic', in his words.

The CMO of an auto insurance firm observes that many marketers 'are so proud of their art but they don't know their science'. This firm is serious about the science of marketing, doing media buying in-house for tight control over targeting and timing. Still, given the intense competition in the insurance business, this CMO looks to art for the edge: 'We're not going to out-pend anybody. We're going to out-create them'.

Creativity is necessary to achieve breakthrough marketing campaigns that are memorable and drive results. And sometimes, as one agency exec notes, marketers have to take a chance and use intuition even when 'we know measurement is thin'. 

The bottom line is, in reality, the bottom line--science (metrics and KPIs, for instance) can tell us how well the marketing is working. Creativity in marketing, the art, must have a purpose. Through science (planning, testing and evaluating) we can determine how well the art delivered on the marketing objectives. Art and science in marketing!

Writing a marketing plan? Check newly updated links

If you're preparing a marketing plan, you may find some valuable ideas amongst the 80+ hotlinks here on my blog. The list is now updated with additional sources of marketing news and links to marketing resources around the world. 

• For marketing plan templates and tips, be sure to check the CIM Marketing Expert page.
• For an overview of the main components of a marketing plan, visit NI Business Info.
• For more detail about writing a marketing plan and planning for social media, visit Business Victoria.

Just as important as your marketing choices: Plan ahead for metrics to measure results to evaluate the outcome of each marketing programme.

The Most Social Byte Night Ever

It's back! Byte Night takes place on Friday, 3 October this year. IT professionals around the UK will be sleeping rough to raise money for the charity Action for Children.

This year, Byte Night is taking social media marketing to new levels. Understanding how important it is to engage participants and donors, Byte Night's marketers are offering 5 different Facebook banners (one shown above), 5 graphics for Twitter profiles/pages, 2 Twibbons and a banner each for LinkedIn, Google+ and Tumblr.

For other media, Byte Night provides adverts, business card templates and more. Of course Byte Night has an app and its own hashtag #bytenight.

Byte Night has a page devoted to explaining how to write your marketing plan for fundraising during the weeks leading up to Byte Night. The organisation itself has a detailed plan and specific metrics for its fundraising activities.

Last year, Byte Night exceeded its fundraising goal. What about in 2014?

This post updates the Marketing Byte Night opening example in Chapter 11 of The Essential Guide to Marketing Planning.

'Share a Coke' Goes Global

Two years ago, Coca-Cola and its marketing agencies created a marketing plan designed to boost sales and stimulate buzz in Australia. Research showed that teenagers and soft-drink lovers in their 20s weren't drinking Coke as much or as often. The marketers developed a plan for the summer months, with two goals in mind.

The primary campaign objective was simple: to increase consumption of Coca-Cola over the summer period. The secondary objective was to get people talking about Coke again.

Coca-Cola chose the 150 most popular first names in the country and printed them on Coke bottle labels. Before publicity or advertising began, the new Coke bottles were shipped to stores for shoppers to discover and share.

This started a lively social-media conversation that continued as publicity and adverts joined the mix. Consumer feedback via social media resulted in crowdsourced ideas for 50 additional names to be printed on Coke labels.

The campaign worked: Consumption by consumers in their teens and twenties increased by 7% during the summer months, giving sales a significant boost. The Coca-Cola Australia FB page was the most talked-about FB page in the country, with traffic increasing by an amazing 870% during the campaign.

Today, Coca-Cola Australia's Facebook page has more than one million likes and the company is constantly changing the content to promote its products and keep up a dialogue with brand fans.

Note the metrics: First, consumption--which drives sales--and then social-media interactions that involve the Coke brand. Results Down Under!

'Share a Coke' was so successful that Coca-Cola used it in Europe during the summer of 2013, again choosing the 150 most popular names, country by country. The long-term goal is to double Coke's sales by 2020, and successful campaigns like 'Share a Coke' are going global to help achieve that ambitious target.

Metrics for sustainability marketing

When Marks & Spencer announced its Plan A for sustainability marketing in 2007, it set goals for reducing its carbon footprint, achieving zero landfill waste, buying from sustainable sources, fair trade practices and helping customers lead healthier lives. The UK retailer pledged to invest £200 million over a five-year period to achieve these goals.

According to the metrics, M&S has made significant progress towards its goals and created a net cost-savings to the company. The retailer sends nothing to the landfill, has achieved its lower carbon footprint targets, is developing additional sustainable sources for products and materials it buys and has established workable fair trade practices as well as provided consumers with tools for healthy living. For transparency reasons, M&S reports its sustainability results on a special site and in periodic reports.

One important element in the marketing plan to keep waste from landfills has been M&S's partnership with Oxfam, which encourages shoppers to 'shwop it'--bring in an unwanted piece of apparel that M&S will give to Oxfam for resale or recycling. This partnership has kept 3.5 million items of clothing from landing in landfills, and given Oxfam the opportunity to raise £2 million by selling 'shwopped' clothing. One last metric: Shoppers feel good about participating, and their positive attitudes affect the way they perceive M&S and Oxfam.

Rolls-Royce 'not a volume-driven luxury car brand'

Rolls-Royce has great expectations for its latest Wraith model in India, a powerful yet elegant car. 'Wraith is drawing interest from the new customers who have not considered a Rolls-Royce before', says the automaker's general manager for emerging markets-Asia. 

Who is the target market for Rolls-Royce in India? Highly successful entrepreneurs, says the general manager. Although Wraith may attract new customers, it may also be purchased by current Rolls-Royce owners who own more than one car (the Ghost model might be used for business while the Wraith might be used for non-business driving, for instance). 

The company's approach to the market is not volume-driven, because the product is so very upmarket. Yet surely Rolls-Royce monitors sales units and revenues as metrics, and will be tracking progress toward sales goals, especially since overall car sales in India have been trending lower as petrol prices rise.

Festival time is traditionally a time when car purchases occur--and many brands are hoping to gain market share in the competitive Indian market. Rolls-Royce chose to announce its Wraith on its Facebook page, just one of many ways the company stays in touch with its market.

Goals and metrics for Byte Night 2013

On the night of 4 October, more than 1,000 people from the info-tech industry will sleep rough to raise money during Byte Night. The money goes to help homeless children through the registered charity Action for Children.

In 2012, Byte Night set a marketing goal of recruiting 1,000 sleepers and raising £900,000. It achieved these goals, raising a record-breaking £950,000. In all, Byte Night has been responsible for donating more than £5 million to Action for Children during its first 15 years.

Now, in its 16th year, Byte Night has ambitious new goals: It aims to recruit 1,500 sleepers and collect £1 million in donations. To do this, it is reaching out to info-tech businesses and professionals, asking them to organise teams for 4 October and hold other fundraising events. Companies like Workbooks and schools like the University of St. Andrews have already announced their support and started planning their participation.

How will Byte Night measure success? Of course, the top two metrics are (1) the amount of money raised and (2) the number of participating sleepers. Interim measures of the number of sleepers who have committed to the project helps Byte Night gauge the effectiveness of its marketing efforts and make changes as needed to improve awareness and involvement before the event takes place.

In addition, Byte Night can count the number of Facebook likes for its page and the number of Twitter followers, then track comments and posts throughout social media to see how quickly the message is spreading. Byte Night's LinkedIn presence is another platform for engaging sleepers. The higher the number of comments and participants, the higher the awareness of Byte Night.

This updates the opening example in Chapter 11 of the new edition of Essential Guide to Marketing Planning.