As a follow up on our recent post about standardized marketing metrics, we explore the conversation as it progresses within the marketing community. Marketing NPV published an interesting article furthering the case for (and against) a standardized set of marketing metrics. In particular, they argue that CMOs should be spending more time asking a set of difficult, yet critical, questions about their marketing strategies and efforts then working to develop a standardized set of marketing metrics. Continue reading
All posts by ngibby
Thoughts on Fast Company’s CMO Balancing Act: Marketing Creativity vs. Analytics
The publication touts the 100 most creative business people
It is only responsible for Fast Company to publish an article about a CMO’s balancing of creativity and analytics in its most recent issue featuring the top 100 creative people in business. After all, Serfwerks has been touting the need for using data and analytics to drive the creative process (see Unbounded Creativity parts I and II) in marketing since its founding. We’ve seen too many cool and creative ideas and approaches to marketing flounder when it comes to what matters most to business—driving bottom line results. Continue reading
Marketing Capabilities and Firm Performance
A recent article in the Journal of Marketing (vol. 72) by Krasnikov et. al. finds a stronger correlation between marketing capabilities and firm performance (r = .35) than those for both R&D (r = .28) and operations (r = .21). The managerial implication is that “increase in marketing capability is associated with stronger improvement in firm performance than increases in operations capability and R&D capability (Hanssens, D, ed., 2009, Empirical Generalizations about Marketing Impact, p. 3).
Check out the article: Relative Impact of Marketing on Firm Performance
About Correlation (r)
Correlation is a statistical measurement that determines the “goodness of fit” of a relationship between two variables. It does not determine cause. Correlation is measured on a scale from 1 to -1. The closer the “r” score is to 1, the more positive the correlation is between the two variables. The closer the “r” score is to -1, the more negative the correlation is between the two variables. The closer the “r” score is to zero, the less correlation exists between the two variables.
Standardized Marketing Metrics
Last week, Marketing Profs published an insightful article by Banks and Nahama calling for the standardization of marketing metrics. Banks and Nahama wrote the following:
We are chagrined to see marketers still putting forth hundreds, even thousands, of disparate measures for their specialized fields, with most of them stopping short of linking to financial return.
It saps years of progress from the marketing discipline to hear marketing specialists, many at the top of their field, still make passionate arguments that it’s all about viewers or listeners or impressions or eyeballs or click-through or brand or awareness or pass-along or engagement, etc.
That trend seems only to be accelerating in the age of digital and social marketing.
These thousands of measurements may have use for daily activity, but when they attract such, well, un-standardized attention, they hurt marketing and they distract CMOs from their main tasks.
Continue reading
The Genesis of Strategic Marketing—Tier II Marketing (Part II)
In a previous article about the genesis of strategic marketing, I explored the first several components of Tier II marketing, what we call the genesis of strategic marketing and the departure from Tier I or tactically driven marketing. Again the foundation of Tier II marketing is data-driven marketing where all media (e.g. brochures, web sites, advertisements, etc.) are integrated or are characterized by similar graphics and messaging. Where the previous article explored key performance indicators, market research, customer segmentation, and positioning, this article describes the remaining characteristics of the organization engaging in Tier II marketing. The remaining characteristics include:
- Marketing strategy drives tools
- Touch Point Integration
- Performance measurement
- Marketing mapped to sales process
The Genesis of Strategic Marketing—Tier II Marketing (Part I)
In a previous article, I explored the difference between marketing tools and marketing strategy and described Tier I marketing in detail. This post continues in that vein by exploring the next step in an organization’s marketing sophistication, what we refer to as Tier II marketing. Where organizations engaging in Tier I marketing are tactically driven, Tier II marketing is driven by strategic goals and insights. The strategy drives the tactics. The characteristics of a Tier II marketing organization include the following:
- Key Performance Indicators
- Preliminary market research
- Customer segmentation
- Positioning strategy
- Strategy drives tools
- Touch Point Integration
- Performance measurement
- Marketing mapped to sales process
Serfwerks to Unveil Marketing Training Products
Today Serfwerks announced that it is set to unveil a series of marketing training for marketing professionals, executives, entrepreneurs and business owners. Focusing on several different components of the marketing function, the training will consist of a series of workshops focused on helping businesses achieve significantly improved marketing results. The workshops will include subjects such as marketing metrics, the 360º Environmental Analysis (internal, customers, competition, etc.), go-to-market strategy development, marketing performance evaluation, and campaign optimization among others.
Serfwerks is also pleased to announce that it will be partnering with Sales Sigma Consulting to provide a workshop series that will help the marketing & sales functions improve the integration of their disparate processes to deliver improved marketing & sales results. Topics will include the organizational alignment, performance management, understanding your ideal customer criteria, and more.
The workshops will be delivered at various locations throughout the Salt Lake metro area. The workshops will also include a series that can be customized and delivered to an individual organization.
“The new training products represent a huge step forward for Serfwerks,” said Nate Gibby, Serfwerks’ co-founder and director of marketing services. “They will provide small to medium-sized business with the marketing strategies, practices and tools that were previously available only to big business with large, sophisticated marketing departments and technologies.”
More information about Serfwerks’ marketing training services will be released soon. In the mean time, those interested can sign up for more information.
Serfwerks to Instruct SBDC Marketing Workshop
Serfwerks will be teaching the strategic marketing workshop through the Small Business Development Center at Utah Valley University on Thursday, May 6 2010. Continue reading
Marketing Tools v. Marketing Strategy—Tier I Marketing
When it comes to the marketing function, many of business owners, executives, and yes, even those of us who are marketing professionals tend to be very diminutive in our thinking. Marketing is about tools and how to use them rather than a concise game plan that drives marketing decisions. When tools take precedence to strategy, the marketing function becomes no more than the process of developing content to fill brochures, ads, web sites and tweets rather than a deliberate and planned process where the strategy not only determines which tools to use, but how to use them as well as how to deliver a concise, integrated message.
New Marketing and Sales Survey
For too long, marketing has remained the last great business function to be driven by gut feelings and random experimentation. In an effort to change this, Serfwerks has partnered with Sales Sigma Consulting to develop a longitudinal study to looking at various marketing and sales strategies and techniques. The study will help provide a body of data that marketers and sales professionals alike may use to make better decisions in regard to their sales & marketing practices. All are invited to participate in the survey.
