Revenue-driven Marketing

Marketing Metrics - are we missing the fundamentals?

At a recent gathering of marketing execs, I informally polled the group on how they were measuring Online Marketing effectiveness.   It seems that metrics are not keeping pace with our new reality.

 
The majority are using web analytics tools, like Google Analytics and Omniture, to track page views and navigation paths.  About a quarter are working with a social media agency, or using a social media platform (like HubSpot) for tracking.  But hardly anyone is using CRM to track lead-to-sale metrics (like Google AdWords for Salesforce).  And some are using no tracking at all. 

It's true that many of us need to use a hodgepodge of tools to keep on top of our programs (I use Google Analytics, LeadLander and Salesforce, along wtih Google AdWords for Salesforce), and it's no fun to spend more time number crunching results than generating leads in the first place.  But if Marketing remains a nebulous science, we're not doing ourselves any favors by avoiding metrics altogether.

In Praise of The Short Form - Telegrams, AdWords, Twaiku and ATCs

Telegrams: My grandmothers lived half way around the world, without telephones, when I was a kid.  My mom (a former newspaper editor and headline-writer extraordinaire) would make composing telegrams (Happy Birthday, New Baby, Significant News) into a game -- how to convey an important message in 15 words or less?

Google AdWords: Today, my far flung cousins have cell phones (no landlines or email!).  But I find myself writing in the short form more than ever.  I've been tweaking Google AdWords campaigns for clients and I must admit that the restrictions of the medium only make it more fun.   It's hard to ramble on about your value prop or insert more marketing fluff when you're writing on a postage stamp.  Which is the beauty of it.

 
Twitter Haiku: Since I don't switch ads out daily, and still want to tone my extra "marketing flab"  I've started a new fitness program: writing Haiku via Twitter (or Twaiku). 

ATCs: Fine artists have long touted the advice "if you're in a painting rut and you paint small, paint huge for a change.  If you paint huge, go to miniature".  In January, I started painting ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) for that very reason. 
  
I doubt I'll become a true miniature artist (my brushes are way too big) but I'm up for the journey...