5 Steps to Measuring the Real Value of Marketing Campaigns

With departments across businesses of all types and in all sectors feeling the pinch, marketing is too often first on the chopping block. Marketing is often typecast by senior stakeholders as a discretionary expense, rather than being integral to customer acquisition and retention. Without detailed planning, marketing can seem quite like shooting in the dark, where measurement is often incomplete or impossible. It can worsen with attempts to retrofit measurement strategies leading to an inaccurate or inflated view of performance. 

Data gaps or lack of a joined up infrastructure are common practice for marketing professionals making it difficult to determine which activies are driving results. As campaigns span more channels, this challenge becomes more complex.

However, the switch from a reactive approach to a strategic, data-driven one can fundamentally change how campaigns are measured. Defining long-term value and goals specific to your business, deciding relevant metrics and what data is available, understanding all the touchpoints before campaign launch, stress testing measurement strategies and processes, and checking in at sensible intervals are five key steps to follow. As belts continue tightening, marketing can no longer be creative first, numbers second - but how can these 5 steps be integrated?