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Lose The Marketing Love Handles Without Lifting A Finger
by Pat LaPointe, Tuesday, February 16, 2010 3:30 PM
I got an email the other day from a marketing technology company trumpeting its software's ability to help me "improve marketing ROI without lifting a finger." Wow. Incredible. Can't be true, can
it? I asked for a demonstration copy to see if I could realize the incredible benefit, but no luck. They wouldn't send me one. So to test the validity of the claim, I went to the center
of all things factual -- the Internet -- to see what else I could do without lifting a finger. The options are amazing. I can:
Lose 20 pounds Find a
high-paying new job Earn a college degree Write a book (someone else will do it for me) Drive more traffic to my Web site Be healthier Look
better Attract more members of the opposite sex And, my personal favorite, grow more hair. I feel stupid. I've been spending so much time at the gym, writing
my own books, taking my own college exams, choosing my own food carefully, and fretting over my hair. I could have spent all that time goofing off and gotten better results. And I'm really
pissed off about the effort I've wasted on measuring and improving marketing ROI. For seven years now, I've been working on improving marketing ROI all day every day; working with hundreds of
marketing, finance, and sales managers in dozens of companies; overcoming obstacles of technical, structural, cultural, and political dimensions; making slow and steady progress. NOW I
discover that, had I just purchased the right software, I could have achieved much more with virtually NO effort. If my clients ever find out, I'm screwed. On the whole, I think this magic ROI
elixir software is really a good thing. It will: Reinforce CMOs' desire to believe that they can and should delegate ROI efforts even further
down the org chart. After all, they have many more important things to worry about. Give marketing managers something more tangible to point to
when asked, "What are you doing to improve the return on our marketing investment?" Their answer: "Of course, we've bought some software to fix that."
Postpone the question another year while the software winds its way through the procurement process and then gets passed around the IT department -- all the while
allowing the marketers to keep doing things the way they have been doing them. Befuddle the finance department and get them off marketing's
back. You know how those finance guys love data. They'll gladly wait awhile if they think there's some data coming. So forget all that phooey about aligning on metrics, implementing smart
experiments, and methodically improving analytics. Don't waste time on smarter marketing research. Just cut the shrink wrap on the software box, hit "install," and off you go. Then wait for
the Easter Bunny to deliver your bonus check. Hyperbole is a dangerous tool in the hands of marketers -- particularly when it comes to measuring marketing ROI. It undermines our credibility
with the more serious financial types who often are key influencers on how much we get in the way of resources and what we can do with it. It reinforces their perceptions of marketers as wild-eyed
optimists willing to try anything new to deflect the gravity of the questions being asked. Besides, if there WERE a magic marketing ROI software, do you really think your progressively minded
organization would be among the very first to find it? Bad news. There is still no substitute for diligent, disciplined work when it comes to measuring the payback on marketing. Technology
enables, but vision and persistence win every time. Show me a company with the will to work at it, and I'll show you the company that will get clear insights into their ROI long before the software
buyers ever realize they've been misled. Measuring and improving ROI is much more like going to the gym every day; watching what you eat; taking classes to earn a degree; and (take it from one
who's done it) writing a book yourself. Persistent, methodical effort is rewarded with great benefits. So let's get after those spending love handles and the marketing muffin top.