Commentary
Marketing Meter: Brands Have Trouble Measuring ROI Across Channels
- by Ray Schultz , Columnist, May 23, 2023
Most marketers expect their budgets to increase this year. Sixty-four percent say they anticipate budget increases, according to Nielsen’s 2023 Annual Marketing Report, a study released Tuesday.
But will they know if they are getting what they’re paying for?
Only 54% are confident they can measure ROI across digital channels, although not necessarily for individual ones.
For instance, 53% are extremely confident they can measure email ROI, and 34% are very confident.
Social media shades email, with 61% saying they are extremely confident and 32% saying they are very confident.
Effectiveness of digital spending by channel reveals similar results. Of the marketers polled, 50% find email extremely effective, while 31% say it is very successful and 27% say it is moderately effective.
Search ranks high here, with 57% rating the channel as extremely effective, while 35% say very and 21 moderately. And 57% see their video online/mobile investment as extremely productive.
But there is one thing to keep in mind. “Traditionally, marketers have used products that tell them whether someone viewed or clicked a digital ad or content— either online or in an email,” the study states.
But it adds: “This point-in-time approach is much different from traditional television measurement, which is more continuous in nature.”
In terms of spending, 24% are planning increases of 50% or more in social media -- and foresee hikes of 50% and higher in online display, and 21% in online video. In contrast, 18% say the same about their OTT/CTV spend.
Meanwhile, in North America, 60% of marketers plan to increase their spend on marketing technology over the next 12 months -- four percentage points above the global average.
At the same time, “84% of global marketers now include streaming channels in their media plans.
“They also understand the importance of knowing who is engaging with the devices and channels that carry their advertising, as 71%, on average, acknowledge the importance of comparable measurement across channels,” the study states. The downside within the findings, however, is that marketers express relatively low confidence in channel effectiveness and their ability to measure ROI across channels.”
“On average, 62% of marketers globally use multiple measurement solutions to arrive at cross-media measurement, with 14% leveraging four to five.”
Good one, Ray. I would add that it all depends on the kind of advertising. If one is executing a direct response ---or search----effort it is fairly easy to determine what happened in relation to ad spend as you can see how many responses you got for each burst of activity---though even this can be tenuous if you use more than one platform due to audience duplication.
However the situation for branding campaigns which are usually seen as long term brand equity building as well as short term sales motivation efforts is quite different. While advertisers can track how their branding campaigns are building brand awareness and, more important, how many targeted consumers are getting their message and believing it, this doesn't always correlate on a timely basis with sales as many other variables are at play, not the least of which is what rival brands are doing promotionally. Also there are long term effects that appear in the sales charts well after the ads were noted and had their desired effect. This is because people who switched to your brand last year---perhaps due to the impact of your ads---- are deciding whether to rebuy the product this year---some do so as they liked what it gave them while others don't as they weren't that satisfied.
Brands often face challenges when it comes to measuring return on investment (ROI) across multiple marketing channels.
Data silos: Brands often have data scattered across multiple systems, making it difficult to track and measure the impact of their marketing campaigns.
Attribution: It can be difficult to determine which marketing channels are responsible for driving conversions. This is because consumers often interact with a brand across multiple channels before making a purchase.
Time lag: There can be a lag between when a marketing campaign is launched and when it generates results. This makes it difficult to track the immediate impact of a campaign.
Cost: Measuring ROI across channels can be expensive, as it requires brands to invest in data analytics tools and resources.
Offline/Online Integration: Brands that operate both offline and online face additional challenges when measuring ROI across channels. Linking online marketing efforts to offline sales can be complex. For example, a customer may see an online ad but make a purchase in-store. Without proper mechanisms for tracking and integrating offline and online data, brands struggle to measure the impact of their online marketing efforts on offline conversions.
Here are some tips for brands that are struggling to measure ROI across channels:
Invest in data analytics tools: Data analytics tools can help brands to collect and track data from multiple sources. This data can then be used to create reports that show the impact of marketing campaigns.
Use attribution models: Attribution models can help brands to determine which marketing channels are responsible for driving conversions. There are a number of different attribution models available, so brands should choose the one that best suits their needs.
Track results over time: It is important to track the results of marketing campaigns over time. This will help brands to identify trends and make adjustments to their campaigns as needed.
Consider the cost: Measuring ROI across channels can be expensive. Brands should carefully consider the cost of data analytics tools and resources before making a decision.
Good points, Mamun---especially about audience duplication between channels and individual media vehicles as well as the time lag between ad exposure and its effects---if any.
Except for direct marketers who can see the response generated by each platform at a given GRP level, the only hard information that most branding advertisers have about their sales is how much product is moving off the shelves, when this is happening and where---geographically or via each distributor---the sales are being attained. Beyond this almost all efforts to attribute sales effects to each individual platform or TV show "exposure" and channel, when many are employed, have failed---not only because the "audience " data is flawed but also because the variables usually interact rather than functioning independently.