"Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.”
Albert Einstein
Direct marketers have long been obsessed with their ability to measure.
And they’re good at counting things – number of responses, number of leads, cost per lead, conversion percentages, average order size, ROI, …
Wait a second, did I say ROI?
Direct marketers are good at counting the ROI that results from the things that they’re counting. What about the things that they’re not measuring?
In this age of multi-channel integrated advertising, many direct marketers are stuck measuring the results of a single direct mail package, or display ad, or email blast, rather than taking a holistic view of measurement – embracing the idea that advertising has a cumulative effect, building a brand over time.
To illustrate this point to audiences at the Direct Marketing Association’s annual convention in recent years I’ve posed the following questions:
Q. Where do you go when you need to send flowers at the last minute?
A. 1-800-Flowers
Q. Where do you go when you want to send someone a gift box of steaks?
A. Omaha Steaks
Both companies are classic direct marketers who’ve built brands through frequency. Yet, when a consumer goes to Google (the entry point to the web for many), types ‘Omaha Steaks’ into the search box, and then clicks on the paid ad at the top of the search results, the classic direct marketer’s inclination is to attribute that web site visit to that ad. But in fact, that web visit is attributable to brand building – something direct marketers have not been good at measuring.
And that’s what turns them into villains – when a single promotion or campaign fails to achieve the target level of attributable sales within a specific period of time then they (or their clients) consider it a failure. But as Einstein said, “…everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.”
I’ll be exploring the issues related to measuring the effect of branding on direct marketing communications at DMA2010 in the session New Measurement for the New Direct Marketing. http://mydma2010.bdmetrics.com/SOW-29502690/New-Measurement-for-the-New-DM/Overview.aspx
It’s back by popular demand. I’ll also be expanding on these ideas in future blog posts.
Please provide your thoughts, ideas and measurement challenges below in the comments.
