News
James Ashe, Managing Partner
Making an Impact: How to Demonstrate the Value of Marketing
We recently came across a study by the Chartered Institute of Marketing claims that many companies don’t truly understand the impact that marketing has on their results.
In the study, the CIM spoke to senior marketing and communication professionals, and found that despite marketing being responsible for driving revenue growth of up to 19%, two-thirds of marketing directors didn’t feel like their contribution was taken seriously. The study also found that 71% of those surveyed were concerned that the lack of clarity on marketing’s impact could lead to marketing budgets being cut.
We know exactly how much of a difference great marketing can make, but, depending on the campaign, results can sometimes be hard to demonstrate. We love working on digital marketing campaigns – social media, email marketing, retargeting, pay-per-click advertising – and it’s easier than ever to track the real-time impact that they’re having and showcase this to clients. However, when working with more traditional mediums, it can be more difficult for the people at the top to see the return on investment.
Of course, it’s easier to do this when clear goals are set. We often talk about the importance of having a good brief when we commence on a project, and having clear goals is also part of that. We work with the client to set benchmarks at the beginning of the project, and understand what success looks like for them and for us.
That’s why it’s important to ask for feedback from clients to help make those connections, and encourage them to keep track of what’s going on. When we worked with Laurel Funerals on the 1000/1 PR campaign, we asked branch staff in Kenilworth to keep track of how many people were coming in to make a donation and to note down the number of enquiries that came in the weeks that followed. We could then see that footfall increased by a whopping 12,617% throughout the campaign (honestly!) and that enquiries were up by 16%. It was great to see the immediate impact that the campaign had in terms of footfall, but even better to know that it encouraged serious enquiries that generated business.
Finally, it was also important to us to generate as much media coverage as possible for the campaign. We were able to achieve coverage for Laurel Funerals across all the local press, including Coventry Telegraph and Kenilworth Weekly News, with radio interviews on BBC Coventry & Warwickshire and Touch FM.
By knowing exactly what needs to be achieved, marketeers can work towards creating campaigns that will not only meet those expectations, but smash them entirely to achieve incredible results – that’s always our goal!
Make the most of your marketing efforts with our top insights:
- Is your marketing suffering from the X Factor syndrome?
- Forget everybody!
- Fashion retailer Boohoo nearly doubles profits thanks to Instagram
Found this helpful? Sign up for our newsletter!
Our monthly newsletter brings together the best of our blogs, work and news in one handy email. Why not sign up today to find out more about all things social media, PR, design and digital?