In today’s “do more
with less” environment, holistic measurement is essential. Measurement doesn’t just validate the past. It informs what to do next, why it matters, and how it drives the business.
Too often, measurement is fragmented, reactive, or buried in a PowerPoint. That’s a mistake. Marketing must be measured holistically:
Brand Health: Do people know us? Trust us? Want to buy from us? Brand equity, NPS, and ongoing
qualitative research give shape to how the Brand is perceived and how that perception shifts over time. And Brand health is one of the most reliable predictors of long-term
growth.
Creative Effectiveness: Great media can’t rescue bad
creative. Pre-testing and in-flight evaluation (i.e., lifts, testing, or eye tracking) help ensure ideas resonate and evolve. Creative is a multiplier, not a variable to ignore.
Campaign Effectiveness: Paid, organic, owned, and earned media - plus events, sponsorships,
content, websites, and macroeconomics - should ladder up to something measurable. But rather than drowning in dashboards, focus on holistic insights: what’s working, what’s not, and where
to pivot.
Commercial Impact: Marketing must drive business results.
Attribution and incrementality testing help quantify returns and make the case for sustained or increased investment. But be cautious about using ROI as the only success metric. ROI reflects
efficiency, not scale. The goal isn’t to chase the highest ROI. ROI may dip, even as revenue grows. The goal is to grow the business efficiently. Any ROI above 1 means you're generating more
than you’re spending.
Many organizations struggle with this. Why? Because it’s not easy changing the culture of siloed teams, underinvestment
in tech and automation, and “reporting” over insights. Without executive buy-in, integrated systems, and a clear purpose behind the metrics, even the best frameworks fall flat.
High-performing teams embrace a measurement culture rooted in agility and accountability. They test, learn, and adapt. They treat “failures” as feedback loops, not red
flags. They prioritize learning agendas and avoid analysis paralysis. Most importantly, they turn data into simple, human insights that inform decisions, not just reports.
Technology is essential. Connecting fragmented data, automating reporting, and surfacing insights in real-time is table stakes. And AI can accelerate everything.
From creative testing to predictive modeling, AI can reduce what used to take weeks to hours. It won’t replace marketers, but it removes friction so they can focus on
interpretation, storytelling, and decision-making.
The best CMOs don’t just ask, “What did we get for our spend?” They ask, “What did we learn,
and how will we do it better next time?” They also recognize that expectations must remain grounded, e.g., halving the budget is unlikely to deliver exponential growth. Measurement shines not by
performing miracles, but by enabling better, faster decisions, within the bounds of reality.
Marketing measurement isn’t just about accountability. It’s
about acceleration. It gives marketers the clarity to act, the confidence to invest, and the credibility to lead. To unlock that value, you have to invest in the people, technology, and processes to
build that culture.
Chris Potts is the VP, Marketing Analytics & Operations at Mariner. Connect with him on LinkedIn here.
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