Every company determined to pursue ROI marketing should take a cue from this exchange in The Untouchables between Sean Connery's Jim Malone and Kevin Costner's Elliot Ness.
ROI marketing allows companies to build competitive strategies based on powerful, data-driven insights, but this potentially game-changing approach to marketing is not for the faint of heart.
Malone's interrogation of Ness about his commitment to the daunting task of pursuing Al Capone lies at the heart of the drama in the Untouchables. Yet, when it comes to developing an ROI and optimization framework, drama is often just the beginning.
So the question is, "What are you prepared to do? And then what are you prepared to do" to be a true ROI marketer?
This question of commitment is an essential consideration when pursuing the extremely challenging, if ultimately rewarding, goal of ROI marketing. Companies that take on this challenge should be commended, but few are prepared for the significant enterprise-wide transformation that it takes to be successful.
No matter how savvy the marketer, the impact that ROI marketing will have on the corporate culture can be an eye-opening experience. ROI isn't just a nifty tool to keep vendors in line. The infrastructure frameworks that serve the ROI model will lay bare the decisions of everyone who touches the marketing program, and that includes you.
So what must you be prepared to do if and when your company embarks on the lofty quest of ROI marketing?
1. Be prepared to bear the scrutiny that ROI marketing introduces to the organization
Think carefully on this one. There are lots of folks who fear the transparency that ROI marketing demands. You and your colleagues will have to come clean with sales and marketing communications data that are too often kept in dark silos, away from the glare of enterprise-wide analysis.
2. Be prepared to make the additional investment in research, measurement, and data management that often accompanies the cost of building the model
A solid, continuous measurement framework is imperative to understanding the soup to nuts of marketing's contribution.
3. Be prepared to ensure that IT shares its domain with data management services
Resistance to new systems and new thinking within IT has often thrown up significant roadblocks to ROI marketing implementation.
4. Be prepared to leave the safe havens of organizational silos
You'll have to form the integrated, cross-functional teams necessary to successfully develop and implement ROI marketing programs.
5. Be prepared to sacrifice the perfect to achieve the good
ROI can be measured and optimized at every level of the purchase funnel. If the data does not support harder financial measures such as purchase, sales, or market capitalization, softer measures like awareness and consideration can be easily tracked and assessed and still provide useful guidance for future marketing initiatives.
6. Finally, be prepared to use good marketing and business judgment when ROI models don't offer the perfect solution
While this may seem like an obvious statement, one of the more surreptitious motives for ROI modeling and optimization is the desire of some marketers to have sophisticated analytics make the decisions for them. Remember, there is no substitute for solid business and marketing acumen.
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ROI marketing can be a powerful tool; be prepared to implement it and use it wisely.
