InsideLegal

ROI has got to be the most overused (but not necessarily overrated) buzzword to come along in the last five years. Measuring return-on-investment has gone far beyond a mathematical equation that helps determine the ultimate financial worth (worthiness) of a given project. The upfront question seems to be “what is the investment you are measuring against”? Is it strictly a financial one (x dollars spent on y technology) or does the initial investment far exceed the monetary factors? What about time invested – human resources, “sweat equity”, intellectual capital expenditures (i.e., patents, branding)?

Just when you thought the whole idea of ROI and adequate measurement couldn’t be more convoluted, along comes the call for ROI measurement for marketing programs. Yes, being able to track, measure and account for marketing expenditures and how they positively impact the bottom line is super important, but it must not be the be-all, end-all of marketing project management. We regularly talk with marketers and executives who see ROI as the Holy Grail for marketing effectiveness, and use ROI as the sole measurement in determining what programs make the cut for next year’s budget. Well, how can you effectively measure PR or ad placements over the short term without considering the ramp-up (in the case of PR), or the frequency and required saturation in the case of advertising. Trust us, placing print ads will not provide immediate sales spikes or an abundance of qualified leads.

What’s the point here? Be realistic about how ROI can help you better measure success, but don’t become obsessed with its power or impact.

What’s the ROI on adding this post? Hmmm …

When is the last time you received a voicemail from an ad representative looking to sell you ad space in an upcoming publication? What about the call volume associated with any sort of press coverage or mention you received in that publication?  That number is probably much higher, with the ad rep telling you how ideal it would be to place your ad close to your editorial to increase the overall impact for your company/product. Another school of thought is that when ads run in association with editorial, they lessen, if not completely destroy, the credibility that might have been gained with "independent" editorial.  Ads are paid for, editorial is generally perceived (unless you a PR cynic) as not – the two don’t mix.

Why not, enjoy the reward of an editorial mention on its own and perhaps follow-up in a new issue with an ad? Just some food for thought…

With the beginning another year, this is a great time to think about the effectiveness and measurement of your marketing programs. Of course, all marketers aim to introduce and execute upon effective marketing programs, but what determines efficacy and how is it measured? The key lies in goal setting – realistic goals that contribute to a broader marketing aim or contribute to a corporate strategy. For example, if your goal is to introduce a new advertising campaign to support a product introduction, you will want to make sure to clearly define the campaign’s objectives – raise awareness of the product’s existence; motivate your targets to download a trial; redirect them to a website or unique campaign URL, etc.

Whatever the objective, make sure you rely on measurement to help gauge effectiveness and, beyond this, be realistic about what ultimately determines this. Again, an example: Let’s say you roll out a new document management software program and will rely on advertising solely to support the new product’s brand (identity). So, you don’t expect new sales or leads, but hope, by the end of the campaign, people will talk about your product and recognize it (and what it is and does) without a full-on sales pitch. OK, well how would you go about measuring your success in achieving this? The answer is one that most marketers hate to hear – you’ll need to spend money upfront and on the back-end in order to better understand what people think of your product.  You must measure before the campaign, during, and after to truly know “what moves the needle"? To what extent has your ad moved the needle from being just another DM product to being DocuWorld 2000 – the most affordable, full-featured, web-based DMS for IP boutiques?