Making marketeers accountable for business results

Marketing accountability continues to be a hot topic. The reality is that there is a lot of talk, but not an equal degree of action by marketeers to be more accountable in the eyes of stakeholders.

The complaint has been that most marketeers were unable to determine the ROI of their initiatives over the years, hence there has been ambiguity around the business impact of marketing investment undermining the importance of marketing in business value creation in the eyes of other professionals.

But they all know and accept the fact that without marketing business cannot achieve financial results. So there is a conflict needing clarity and conviction across the entire organisation. While marketing accountability is a priority, studies done in Sri Lanka send a clear message: We're not there yet. As a marketing or a brand manager, you're being held accountable for the outcome from the investment your company makes in marketing.

However, lack of agreement on what those outcomes and how the company measures their value versus the resources invested are often at the root of the marketing blame game. Clear expectations short-circuit the accountability blame game. What then is right? Your approach to marketing accountability and ROI should start with a marketing plan that is specifically and unambiguously tied to the agreed business outcomes. This is the foundation on which marketing accountability should be built.

Improvement

With all the recent buzz over marketing ROI, the truth is, it is not necessarily the most appropriate metric for every marketing initiative. While determining marketing, ROI is ideal for large initiatives and initiatives where it can be easily determined, such as direct mail or online marketing, it can be a complex and cost prohibitive process to accurately determine marketing ROI on small offline branding campaigns.

Don't get me wrong, marketing ROI is the ideal measure, but it can be costly to properly implement it. Marketing initiatives that have a strong business case in itself should be measured and the cost of which should be factored into the marketing budget.

Profitable customers

Design and select metrics and clear standards of performance that enables marketing to measure its impact, effectiveness, efficiency and value if you do not already have it place. It is important to understand and select the right metrics. Marketing metrics should tie to your three primary responsibilities as marketeers: acquiring, keeping and growing the value of profitable customers.

Therefore, the metrics you select should in some way indicate the impact marketing has on market share, customer value and customer brand loyalty.

The marketing function should be properly and strategically positioned and to pull in the same direction as the rest of the organisation. Alignment of people results in higher productivity with less effort.

When you have achieved alignment the link between marketing projects, programs and initiatives and the broader company outcome is explicit. And each member of the marketing team understands the impact of their daily activities on the outcome. When you take this step you could prioritise projects based on their value and impact rather than what's most familiar, easiest or traditionally done. Make your marketing dashboard an iterative and cooperative effort.

A good marketing dashboard facilitates decisions. If your marketing dashboard doesn't enable you to make course adjustments, know what is and isn't working, and communicate the value of marketing in financial and strategic impact terms, then it's time for a dashboard makeover.

There are two things marketeers can do to improve accountability. First, ensure the link between marketing objectives and the associated programs, tactics and activities are directly linked to specific quantifiable business outcomes.

Second, demonstrate the value of marketing by setting, monitoring and reporting on relevant measurable marketing objectives, metrics and performance targets to the management team. It's hard to know where to go and where to aim if you don't know your current state.

Do an audit to identify and add the right talent, competence, systems and tools to help automate marketing and improve performance. Regularly assess the business critical data, analytical and measurement skills your team needs to possess to be accountable and provide training and coaching to ensure alignment.

For many marketing organisations these steps may need process and cultural changes.

There have been enough professional views expressed over the years in Sri Lanka and the world over to suggest that by implementing marketing accountability you could hold or add to your marketing budget and you will become more effective at using marketing to drive business results.