‘There’s no magic formula’: The challenges of measuring marketing effectiveness

From digital attribution to econometrics, there are multiple ways to measure marketing effectiveness. But marketers must ensure they are not just measuring what is easy and never forget the importance of creativity.

The ways to measure marketing effectiveness vary from brand to brand and campaign to campaign and can run the gamut from digital attribution to econometrics.

What marketers won’t find, however, is one technique that works in all circumstances. That’s the conclusion of the latest video in our series on marketing effectiveness, created in partnership with Thinkbox.

“There are lots of techniques, they’re all good in their own right, but there’s no one technique to rule them all,” says Matthew Chappel, partner at Gain Theory. “It’s about working out what the objective is, what the challenge is, what data you’ve got to fuel these, and then using all of those together to come up with the right technique for you.”

Yet Mark Ritson believes that annually reviewing strategy, spend and media is too often the “missing piece”. He admits he cannot tell marketers what the right mix is but suggests they get their strategy straight first, so they can make an informed choice, helped by a good media agency.

Once marketers have the right technique, they need to take the rest of the business with them. Annabel Venner, global brand director at Hiscox, says marketers must engage the rest of the business to “build credibility”.

What Paul Geddes, CEO at Direct Line, warns against is just measuring the “easy to measure bits, which is the short term”. Instead, he recommends marketers equip themselves to be able to measure the “harder bits” as well.

“The mistake any of us could make is to optimise marketing spend to generate short-term sales because your base is declining, and a few years later your brand will be disappearing from the minds of consumers,” he adds.

Creating effective marketing, says consultant Peter Field, most often comes back to the key tenet of reach and bringing in new consumers. To do that, he explains, requires marketers to achieve “memorable delivery”, most often done through emotional campaigns, particularly “fame” campaigns that get people talking.

And Geddes warns against focusing too much on science over good creative. “Good versus bad creative can be multiples more powerful and effective. We need to protect the importance of proper creativity.”

For more insights into ROI and the efficiency versus effectiveness debate, watch the video above. And head here to watch the other videos in the series.

Ebiquity and Gain Theory’s report on making the business case for advertising can be downloaded here.

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