Sales
and Marketing Intelligence
We
start by helping you analyze your line of business to determine
the relative strength and profitability of both your vertical
and horizontal market spaces. The vertical markets are those
defined by a particular category, i.e., plumbing supply companies,
software companies, hospitals, auto supply chains, etc. In
other words, sales and marketing intelligence helps us to
look at the general condition of those generic industries
or business categories that you are your typical target markets,
and mine all available data for information that can help
you to be more effective. We will also research your vertical
markets, that broader network of contacts and opportunities
that might be identified by geography, location, past history
or relationships, etc, that are not defined specifically by
industry category.
Sales
& Marketing Efficiency
Marketing
accountability continues to be a hot topic. The reality is
that there is a lot of talk, but not an equivalent degree
of action.
Consider a recent study by the CMO Council that found less
than 20% of top technology marketers surveyed had developed
“meaningful, comprehensive measures and metrics for
their marketing organizations.” The last major study
on marketing ROI found that 68% of marketers were unable to
determine the ROI of their initiatives.
While
marketing accountability is a priority, these studies send
a clear message: We’re not there yet.
With all of 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 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. The majority of
CFOs will agree and want to set thresholds for when marketing
ROI is used as a measure of effectiveness.
The
real bottom line is that CMOs need to sit down with CFOs to
determine the appropriate marketing measures and who is best
suited to monitor these measures.
In 2002, I provided the keynote presentation for IQPC’s
“Measuring and Ensuring Return on Your Marketing Investment”
and recommended that CMOs work in cooperation with CFOs to
determine the appropriate marketing measures. Further, I suggested
exploring whether it may be most effective to have a member
of the Finance department take responsibility for managing
and monitoring these metrics. A number of consumer goods companies
have successfully implemented such an approach. At minimum,
CMOs should explore this option.
A
Marketing - Finance partnership is beneficial on two levels.
First, it helps create important CFO buy-in of marketing measurements.
Second, it can put responsibility for metrics in the hands
of the most qualified staff to handle metrics. Additionally,
having these measures monitored by a member of the Finance
department can eliminate the need to promote marketing successes
to the finance department. It also means an immediate awareness
of failures, which is probably the part that scares most marketers.
There
is another reason. The divide between Marketing and Finance
is often the greatest between any two business departments.
I believe that the CMO must make forging a strong relationship
with the CFO a priority. Finance must be a partner in determining
marketing metrics. This buy-in is essential to marketing gaining
the organizational credibility it needs to reach its potential.
by
Peter DeLegge
"Sales & Marketing Jobs Can Be Very
Lucrative"
Sales
& Marketing Quote
"Nothing focuses the mind better than the constant
sight of a competitor who wants to wipe you off the map."
--Wayne Calloway
Suggested
Reading:
Guerrilla Marketing : Secrets for
Making Big Profits from Your Small Business (Guerrilla Marketing)
by Jay Conrad Levinson
Marketing Management
by Philip Kotler
Principles of Marketing, 10th Edition
by Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong
Marketing : An Introduction (7th Edition) (Marketing:
An Introduction)
by Gary Armstrong, Philip Kotler
Your First Year in Network Marketing: Overcome
Your Fears, Experience Success, and Achieve Your Dreams!
by MARK YARNELL, RENE REID YARNELL
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing : Exposed
and Explained by the World's Two
by Al Ries
Marketing (Seventh Edition)
by Charles W. Lamb
A Framework for Marketing Management, Second
Edition
by Philip Kotler
Contemporary Marketing
by Louis E. Boone, David L. Kurtz
Strategic Marketing Problems: Cases and Comments,
10th Edition
by Roger Kerin, Robert Peterson
Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into
Friends And Friends Into Customers
by Seth Godin
Principles of Marketing
by Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong |
