ROI Measurement

A recent study released by the Content Marketing Association shows measurable success in custom publishing for retailers.

The average weekly spend for regular readers of branded supermarket content showed an increase of 13%. Similarly, readers of custom clothing publications spent an average of 17% more than non-readers.

According to the results of the 2010 Omniture Online Analytics Benchmark Survey, the majority of marketers value the importance of measuring ROI from online marketing activities but 55% can’t effectively measure it. The survey results also reveal that only 14% of respondents currently use all three emerging channels (mobile, social media, video) in their marketing efforts.

I was surprised by these numbers! I expected that more marketers would be using emerging channels and would have systems in place for measuring results. Take a look at the highlights below or click here for more survey results. What's your reaction to this?

ROI
80% of respondents believe ROI from online marketing activities is important to measure, but only 31% of marketers can effectively measure it.

Social Media
69% of respondents are using social media in their marketing efforts however, 41% lack a mechanism to measure social media conversion.

Mobile
23% of respondents are currently using mobile in their marketing efforts. Of these people:

• 73% can measure if website visitors are coming from a mobile device
• 30% are able to measure their mobile app conversions

Video
43% of respondents are using online video in their marketing efforts. Of these people:

• 59% feel that post-video conversion is one of the most important video metrics, yet 70% are unable to measure post-video conversion.
• 40% are using online video lack a mechanism to measure video starts.

Conversion
86% of respondents think conversion rate from online marketing activities is important to measure, but 25% cannot effectively measure it.

Results of the survey included here are as of May 7, 2010.

With all the hype about Facebook and Twitter, we marketers get that social media is the place to be. We’re repeatedly warned that if we’re not taking advantage of these new channels, we’re missing out on precious marketing opportunities. But with tight budgets, we need to prove that social media pays off before we can dedicate too many resources.

In his article Measure Social-Media Efforts to Grow Revenue, Lists and Leads, Dan Miller* boils this measurement process down to five manageable steps:

1. Set your goals (i.e. revenue, lead-generation, email-list-building, conversion goals)
2. Figure out how to measure your goals (i.e. what specifically are you going to track?)
3. Establish a baseline of activity
4. Create URL tracking parameters
5. Measure, study, analyze

It sounds easy enough, but you’ll need to read Miller’s article to get the details on specific ways to track activity and measure results.

*Dan Miller is professional services and sales engineering manager at Lyris.

While hand-wringing amongst those of us in the marketing business tends to intensify during down economic cycles, some recent studies suggest that marketers would be well-advised to think carefully before reducing or eliminating their custom media programs.

A recent study by Roper Public Affairs (Americans’ Relationship with Custom Publications and the Companies that Provide Them) that follows up a 2005 study of consumer attitudes has consumers maintaining or improving on measures of positive reaction to custom media and the organizations that provide them.  (Articles citing the new study can be found at Folio Magazine, Media Post, and DMNews).

Among the findings:

•  More than two-thirds of consumers surveyed (68%) say that companies that provide information about their products in these publication help them make better purchase decisions – a six-point increase since the 2005 study.

•  Nearly eight in ten consumers say that custom publications demonstrate that companies are interested in building good relationship with consumers, and more than six in ten say that they feel better about the company when they’re reading the publications the company has provided.

•  Seventy-four per cent of consumers said they would rather get information about a company from a custom publication than from advertising.

While there’s no question that many marketers have scaled back their advertising and marketing budgets, consumers remain interested in and responsive to the use of branded content and organizations taking the “long view” might want to take this into consideration when planning for 2010.