INDUSTRY GUIDE
MULTICHANNEL MARKETING Define, Design and Deliver Campaigns with Impact Part Four: The Results
Multichannel Marketing Part Four: The Results
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Multichannel Marketing Part Four: The Results
CONTENTS Introduction 4 Developing an effective measurement strategy 5 Reporting and bringing it all together
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Investment in measurement is vital
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Series conclusion
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Multichannel Marketing Part Four: The Results
INTRODUCTION Multichannel is where it’s at. But reporting across channels – particularly digital - and understanding the real impact of your campaign when recipients are jumping from one screen to another can be a challenge. Digital marketing measurement is no longer just about that “last click” and the single screen. In the world of mobile and attribution, digital marketing channels provide a double edge sword when it comes to measurement and insight. On the one hand you have a nearly endless amount of options when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of your campaigns across all devices and channels. On the other hand because of the amount of quantifiable data, you can easily find yourself in a state of data paralysis. The key is knowing which metrics matter and how to set yourself up from the beginning so that you can get the information you need to demonstrate ROI and optimize campaigns throughout the campaign cycle. Our multichannel marketing study revealed that more than one third (35 per cent) of marketers use measurement to track campaign results merely for reporting purposes and 27 per cent simply evaluate results post-campaign to report on ROI. Marketers need to move away from using measurement as a rear-view mirror and instead use data and insight to inform decision-making before and during campaign execution. For more best practice advice on developing an effective measurement program, read our ‘From Measurement to Management’ eBook series.
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Multichannel Marketing Part Four: The Results
DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE MEASUREMENT STRATEGY As discussed in Part One: The Science, it is imperative to set campaign goals and assess how your marketing efforts are going to contribute to those goals. This exercise is crucial to creating an effective measurement and reporting strategy and framework. Each business is different and each marketing channel is different. Force fitting all channels to meet universal goals, KPIs and reporting strategies makes no sense. This will set you up for failure from the beginning and give you a false sense of success for certain efforts. So where to start? Each measurement strategy will be unique to fit your business and your campaign, but one thing should be consistent and that is the structure.
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Multichannel Marketing Part Four: The Results
Digital measurement A three-tiered approach to digital measurement should be taken: primary, secondary and diagnostic KPIs. They all serve to help give you the most holistic level of insight into the performance of your paid channels and will dictate your reporting cadence. Primary KPIs serve as the final source of success. These KPIs should be numbers that can directly translate to bottom-line ROI and quantifying the business impact, as discussed in Part One: The Science. Secondary KPIs, while not used for optimization or direct ROI, are leveraged to determine the additional impact of media efforts beyond conversion. This could be the measurement of onsite activity, or it could be the ratios to help inform on breakdowns in the funnel, whether it is a quality of traffic issue or onsite roadblocks. Diagnostic KPIs are leveraged to give an indication of future performance. Going beyond primary and secondary KPIs, which are generally more onsite centric and looking more closely at the media itself. These could be metrics like click-through rate, cost per click, or interactions rates for rich media content.
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Multichannel Marketing Part Four: The Results
REPORTING AND BRINGING ALL TOGETHER So, you have your objectives and your measurement strategy. Now you need to report on it. Just like the measurement strategy, the reports and reporting cadence should be developed to fit your company’s needs and tailored to the campaign. Depending on the marketing channels you invest in, a reporting cadence of weekly, monthly, and even quarterly may be acceptable. Also, getting the foundations in place is critical. If you haven’t already synced your marketing platforms where possible – CRM, CMS, Google Analytics, marketing automation, email, social media etc. – this should be a key priority. Real-time reporting Real-time reporting and dashboarding, previously a luxury, is very quickly becoming a necessity. With all the disparate data sources, partners, and marketing channels, data paralysis can set in very quickly if you’re not focused. However, if you have the resources or an agency with the capabilities, a real-time reporting/visualization solution would be the best.
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Multichannel Marketing Part Four: The Results
This allows you the most flexibility, generating reports on different timeframes for the different stakeholders within the organization, while still maintaining the option for making real-time optimizations for the campaign. Beyond just ensuring the correct cadence has been established for your reporting needs, there is the little matter of the report itself. Back to the amount of data and the swiftness in which data paralysis can set-in, it’s important to ensure the reports being produced are clear, concise and offer high impact insight. To get the most out of your reporting follow these best practices to set yourself up for success:
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Integrate data sources. As mentioned above, having a data warehousing solution has become the requirement. This can be an internal solution or a third party, but making this investment is key for long-term sustainability. Focus on primary KPIs first. When developing your dashboards, integrating your data will open up a new realm of possibilities. Make sure the foundation for all reports are centered around your primary KPIs. Layer your reports to place primary KPIs at the top, followed by secondary and diagnostic, to create a natural ‘funnel’ that is easy to read and interpret. Always ask why. This seems likes a given, but it is easy to dismiss the why and just report on the numbers. With the multichannel world we live in, it is more important than ever to ask why, and with the right measurement strategy/data integration there will be more answers available than ever.
Multichannel Marketing Part Four: The Results
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Don’t take it personally. Removing the emotion from your reporting and analysis will help keep your mind open to all options. The best part about the digital world is that it is trackable. Sometimes the performance doesn’t go your way, but you can quickly learn and optimize if you keep an open mind to the results.
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Multichannel Marketing Part Four: The Results
INVESTMENT IN MEASUREMENT IS VITAL It is an amazing time to work in marketing. Digital has opened up a new realm of possibilities for understanding the audience, behaviors and channels. But that also presents many potential challenges and distractions. A sound strategy, action plan, and reporting will help you navigate the digital world with relative smoothness and keep your organization focused on success and growth. Taking the time to make the upfront investment to ensure proper data integrity, scalability, and measurement should be a top priority for all organizations. If you’re not doing it, your competitors certainly are and they are rolling out smarter, more successful campaigns while doing it. So remember, using a three-tiered measurement strategy creates a natural funnel that makes reporting easier to digest and derive insights. Also, make sure to follow these best practices while developing and executing your strategy:
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Integrate data sources Focus on primary KPIs first Always ask why Don’t take it personally
Multichannel Marketing Part Four: The Results
This won’t guarantee you success, but following this process will allow you to better understand what is working and not working more quickly, effectively and leave you in a position to generate long-term growth and success across all channels.
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Multichannel Marketing Part Four: The Results
SERIES CONCLUSION As evidenced in our multichannel marketing study, brands are investing in multichannel marketing as a key priority and are beginning to see real value from their campaigns. With plans to increase spend on multichannel marketing over the next twelve months, it’s vital that marketers are maximizing the potential of their multichannel campaigns. Effective multichannel campaigns should be data-driven and deliver a compelling, consistent message to buyers across all channels. Campaign planning and execution should be well informed and follow a phased approach. We hope you found our series of guides useful and informative. Here is a recap of the key learnings: Phase One: The Science
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Set campaign goals in line with key business objectives. You should have a clear view of the desired business impact at the outset. Define the key campaign metrics tailored according to your key channels. Build operational foundations to ensure substantial systems and infrastructure – sales, automation, analytics etc. – are in place from the start.
Multichannel Marketing Part Four: The Results
Phase Two: The Art
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Develop audience personas to understand who your audience is, what motivates them, which channels they frequent. Develop a compelling campaign story that will engage your target audience. Tailor your campaign story and creative and package accordingly for your key delivery channels.
Phase Three: The Delivery
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Identify your key campaign delivery channels based on insight from previous campaigns and audience persona research. Ensure the message is consistent across all channels and integrate channel activity as seamlessly as possible. Track channel activity in real-time according to tailored channel metrics and KPIs.
Phase Four: The Results
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Develop an effective measurement strategy and framework that will enable you to derive actionable insights from your data. Integrate data sources for a holistic view of results and to quickly and easily compare channel activity performance. Review and optimize activity throughout campaign and use actionable insight to readjust channel activity and investment accordingly.
Thorough research, planning and having the right foundations in place could mean the difference between multichannel campaign success or failure.
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Multichannel Marketing Part Four: The Results
With contributions from:
About us LEWIS Pulse is the digital marketing team of LEWIS PR, a full service global integrated communications agency. LEWIS Pulse specializes in social media marketing, search engine marketing, advertising, web design and development, analytics, content and mobile marketing. LEWIS Pulse serves a full range of client industries including technology, financial services, automotive, consumer, travel, sports and healthcare. Find out more at www.lewispulse.com or contact us at hello@lewispr.com Š Copyright LEWIS Pulse. 2015 all rights reserved.
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