Martha Bush
Hats off to the marketing departments for the Marketing Technology companies who do a fantastic job at selling the sizzle of their technology! Unfortunately for the many failed implementations, falling in love with a tool is just not the right way to bring marketing analytics and measurement into your organization. Forrester’s Liz Boehm* phrased this nicely “Don’t Put the Technology Cart in Front of the Business Case Horse”
A more practical, step-wise and sustainable approach can be pursued in three steps:
1. Conduct a Metrics Discovery - Conduct in depth interviews with managers working in the various marketing areas to determine:
- Key Definitions and Metrics:
-
- What are you currently measuring in the marketing area, and why?
- What consumer audiences are you selling to, or trying to reach, and how are these
- audiences defined?
- When using key metrics, how are these metrics derived? From what data sources and
- with what methodology?
- What kind of reporting frequency meets the needs of each area?
2. Complete a Data and Tools Inventory Creating sustainable metrics depends on the data as well as the tools that are currently available for building measurement reports
- Key Data for Metrics – what measurement data is available in the different systems that currently forms the basis for tracking key metrics.
- Key Tools for Measurement – what tools exist across the different departments and how deep is the use and dedication to existing tools?
- Gaps – identify the standard metrics that others are tracking and those that are unavailable due to lack of tools, data or resources
3. Identify Marketing Analytics Opportunities
At the conclusion of a discovery process, workshops, presentations and recommendations on metrics and measurements are a great way to build buy-in across the organization– before a tools decision is made. Presentation should include findings on the current measurement and metrics processes from department to department, comparing them to other marketers– and practical recommendations on sustainable metrics that will help marketers drive towards a repeatable formula for profitable customer engagement.
Building a solid business requirements plan before making technology decisions about Marketing Analytics or measurement tools is truly a best practice that can save time, massive headaches and time and cost overruns. It can spell the difference between a failed project and a career booster!
Resources:
“Seven Trends Customer Experience professionals in Healthcare Can’t afford to Ignore” (Forrester Research)
About the Author:
Martha Bush is SVP of Strategy & Solutions at SIGMA Marketing Group. Follow Martha on or connect with her on .
Related Articles:
Why ROI Measurement Is So Elusive
CIO to the CMO – “Get Smart Fast!”
World class sales? Where is marketing?
