So you’ve built a great brand, your products or services are in demand and there’s a huge potential market of customers. Then why are some of your competitors being super successful while your revenue goals have plateaued? Could it be because you’re not measuring your online marketing activities the right way? Are you using some of the most common excuses not to address the problem?
As an industry online marketing has arguably never been in a better place to measure performance effectively and accurately. Marketing has grown increasingly complex with more channels than ever before to engage your target consumers (who expect a relevant, coordinated experience). Yet many marketers are still using siloed, outdated and inaccurate techniques to measure their efforts. The most common excuses usually include “I already measure the consumer journey”, “I can’t add another measurement platform”, and “It will disrupt the workflow”. So how can we address these?
Many marketers already use customer journey analytics to track consumer activity across channels, but while these tools can track various brand interactions such as the ads individuals click on, the emails they open, and the web pages they visit, they don’t reveal the value of each touchpoint. Typically all the credit then gets given to the final touchpoint, setting the value of other interactions at zero. The solution? Multi-touch attribution that accounts for the cross-channel consumer journey including direct mail, online display, affiliates and paid search. Only then can marketers pinpoint which aspects of their campaigns influence consumer behaviour and tailor communications accordingly.
When it comes to measurement platform, adding another to the mix is complex. Last year alone, the number of available solutions grew by 40%, so it’s understandable that the thought of implementing another tool isn’t initially appealing. The problem is that when marketing and advertising channels are managed separately, and all data pertaining to a channel is housed in its own system in a proprietary format, it’s impossible to get a holistic view of performance.
This is where implementing an alternative approach can help. By adopting platforms that take a unified approach to measurement — blending various streams of disparate performance data into a single repository with common measures — marketers can break down inefficient silos and create a ‘single source of marketing truth.’ More sophisticated solutions can even integrate audience attribute data to provide clarity into the messages and tactics that drive the best results – and the best experiences – for each audience. Painful? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely!
To provide the seamless and personalised experiences modern consumers want, they must achieve a holistic view of individual paths to purchase — including the influence of every touchpoint on the final outcome. With smart multi-touch attribution abilities, there is no longer any excuse for bad measurement or uncoordinated and irrelevant marketing communications.
Daniel Gross – CEO
