Does marketing work? This isn’t a new question. Frankly, this question has been asked for years and marketers have done a fantastic job of answering the question with their best interpretive tap dance in front of senior management since marketing has historically been difficult to measure.
Today, we live in an age where marketers can understand the impact and influence of marketing has on sales and their customers’ decision journey. This dichotomy of past versus present has created three distinct types of personalities that exist within marketing today:
The Check Writer – This personality leads with the question of “How much will it cost?” This personality represents the mindset of the past and is managing their marketing spend to a predetermined budget amount set at the beginning of the year. Marketing is truly an expense for this personality resulting in a fragmented and inconsistent marketing strategy.
The Gambler – This personality leads with the statement, “I think I know what works.” This personality makes decisions based on gut-feel developed through perceptions of what they think is effective. Marketing is truly a roll of the dice for this person as marketing strategies tend to lack creativity and utilize what has been done historically as the norm – after all, they think they know what works.
The Investor – This personality represents the future of marketing and leads with the question, “What is my return on investment?” Their approach is grounded in being good stewards of their organizations’ resources and are driven to make investments in marketing channels based on the strategy and goal of each marketing campaign. Marketing for this personality is based on a holistic data-driven strategy that enables them to clearly understand the impact and influence marketing is delivering to their organization.
Through the years I have encountered all of these marketing personality types. While I have encountered a few marketers who fear actually being measured, I usually find that most marketers are Gamblers desiring to become Investors. They simply don’t have the resources and knowledge to get there, which is our core focus and passion at Alight Analytics.
Which personality type are you? Start today by asking the right questions. Instead of asking “Does marketing work?” ask “What is my return on investment?”