Lippi and Co.: Is measuring your marketing all it's cracked up to be?

Is measuring your marketing all it's cracked up to be?

I had a ridiculous conversation about measurable marketing with someone this week. Although it nearly made my head explode, it gave me an interesting subject for today's Sticky Note.

I recently joined an association of small business owners. As part of getting involved, it is suggested that we share some one-on-one time with each of its members. Being new, I chose to invite a guy, for coffee, who was a media rep for TV and radio. I thought we might have some commonality since we are both involved in marketing.

It didn't take long before we got into what makes each of our companies tick. It was going fine while he was doing all the talking about the multitude of jobs he's had selling everything from direct mail to broadcast. When he asked what made me unique, I explained how in every marketing plan I create, a measurable response is a must.

That's when the bomb fell.

He said "measurable response is not all it's cracked up to be". After getting up off the floor I tried to keep my composure by using this time as a teachable moment.

I asked him what made him come to this conclusion? Apparently he had lost several ad placements from companies who complained that his media hadn't delivered any acceptable results for the dollars they spent. Gee, could a return on investment be a unique concept?

How does measuring response help an advertiser? Let me count the ways it answers the following questions:

Is it the right choice of media category?

Measuring here not only judges the media choice, but allows you to test the quality of your message and offers.

Within that media category, is your ad placement reaching the right target?

When you know what segment of the market is bringing in the bulk of the interest, then you can apportion your budget for more frequency to the smaller, more targeted audience.

Is your message answering a customer need?

It's great when your customers become engaged enough to open a regular dialog with you. This helps guide and direct future marketing and product decisions.

Remember, even poor monetary results offer information that tells you to change what you're doing and why.

Shame on my coffee mate for not understanding that advertisers deserve results. No wonder he's had so many jobs.

Marketing Maestro,

Larry

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