Online. Offline. Bottom Line.™
(skip to the content)
Home | About | Jobs | Privacy Policy | Contact | Login or Register
Posts on the topic of ROI
It’s budgeting time in corporate America, and given the flow of money into the digital marketing space, marketing managers are dealing with a new set of strategic questions about online’s role in the marketing mix. ClickZ columnist Mark Kingdon offers up key questions for marketing executives to consider when mapping out 2007 budgets.
How many key performance indicators do you track on your Web site? Blogger Gary Angel cites one measurement guy whose colleagues had given him 300 KPIs to track. But what’s the point? Web KPIs gone wild is like taking a multi-vitamin: it includes every conceivable vitamin and mineral, even if you don’t need it.
Will $850-per-linear-foot granite-paved sidewalks provide the kind of return on investment to keep Rodeo Drive as the premiere shopping district? Beverly Hills city manager Roderick Wood thinks that’s exactly what the city needs to do to help protect, market and defend the posh shopping area.
How will Marketing Departments use the Web to create growth and profitability? A 2006 WebTrends CMO Report (free download with registration) suggests that while CMOs “get it” that the Web is the hub (or will be the hub) of their marketing strategies, those surveyed admit that they don’t fully know the latest in interactive marketing trends, strategies and technologies—this at a time when a majority of the CMOs plan to increase Web marketing budgets.
Great creative that connects with the target audience doesn’t come out of the ether. Creative that works, begins with insights into the feelings, thoughts, actions, and behaviors of the people you are trying to reach. Sometimes that data is soft data that arises out of focus groups or interviews, but often the best, most actionable information and insight is determined by hard data that lets you determine how to best reach a specific segment or improve your marketing ROI. Heath Podvesker at iMedia has a great article on how analytics and creative should work together to solve marketing problems.