By: Pete Cunningham, President, CCO Healthcare Partners
Date: December 2, 2011
“50% of your marketing dollars spent are on target, 50% miss the mark. The only problem is you don’t know which 50%.”
This old adage has been used repeatedly over the years by marketers when pressed about measuring marketing ROI, much to the chagrin of CEOs everywhere.
Think about it. If you’re a CEO, you’re accountable for results. If you walk into the boardroom and report that you’re not hitting your numbers and can’t provide a concrete strategy for improvement, you get fired.
So the idea that the marketing department can continuously spend money – oftentimes a significant amount – without accountability is ludicrous.
In today’s world, this 50-50 rule doesn’t cut it anymore and those still quoting it are going the way of the buggy whip. The truth is, you can measure marketing ROI. And, you should!
According to a recent IBM® survey of 1,734 Chief Marketing Officers from various industries, only 44% feel they are prepared to measure ROI. But yet, 63% think marketing ROI will become the most important measure of their success over the next few years.
Frankly, it’s a bit surprising that this idea has taken so long to be adopted. You can’t manage what you don’t measure. And today, the margin for error is razor thin.
In short, if you’re not measuring marketing ROI, you’d better start. As your competition may have already discovered which 50%.
