Are You Guilty of “Meat Grinder” Marketing? - Measuring the Immeasurable
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Often you will find that your client is their own worst enemy when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of a campaign. They may come up with a million reasons why it’s impossible to track the metrics of a given campaign. I have heard most of them:
- The customer service folks don’t have time to record any info
- The information won’t be accurate enough
- Our business doesn’t work that way (regardless of industry or tactic)
- Don’t worry about the measurements, I know this tactic will work
This is often a result of the client with a desperate need to “Get Something Going”. They are more concerned with showing that initiatives are moving forward than with the actual effectiveness of such initiatives. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of the “let’s do something, even if it’s wrong” plan, but let’s measure it, so we actually know if it’s wrong. The objective is to make the tracking system simple enough that the client won’t have any reason to dismiss it. Granted most clients will bend over backwards to help track the effectiveness of a campaign, but there are some who don’t perceive the value, or don’t see a high enough value to invest their time/money into it. Sadly, it is often this same type of client that tells you what horrible results they had from their last marketing endeavors and will enjoy a repeat performance of the same disappointments if you don’t give them the incentives necessary to convince them to measure.
Bottom line -- make measurement as pain-free as possible and an inextricable part of the campaign.
Next: Defining the Objectives >>
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