DIGITAL DOWNLOADED
30 July 2009 Media Promotion 11
Starcom MediaVest Group
METRICS MAY VARY Measuring the results of an online campaign means analysing a wide array of metrics. So how do you work out which acronym works best for you? Lee Yew Leong looks for the answer
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fter wrecking my brains for two weeks on how to cough up 800 words for this essay, I was going to hit the panic button,but my late-night online hobby saved me (and no,it’s not porn). I was going through old reviews of American muscle cars — Mustang, Dodge, and others (yes, I’m a closet petrol head) and noticed that some of them still use the abbreviation YMMV.‘Your mileage may vary’ was used in the 1980s and 1990s in the US auto industry as a caveat for published MPGs (miles per gallon). That would be quite apt as an acronym for digital measurement, wouldn’t it? We need not reinvent the wheel here.How about:‘Your Metrics May Vary’? You could,of course,come up with another: CPWYWITB — Cost-Per-Whatever-You-Want-ItTo-Be. The point is, what is the real measurement here? It really varies. Are you selling direct to consumers? Or are you creating a brand experience? Or generating targeted/mass awareness of a new product/service launch? Do a search and you’ll find that YMMV is also often used in email and postings (more so back in the BBS days), as this disclaimer removes any sense of endorsement from a claim the writer has made.Now,I’m not trying to put my own disclaimer here — what I’m trying to say is that how far you will be able to go depends on factors relating to yourself. While we may not have control over external factors, like economic fluctuations, natural disasters, or consumer preferences, I’m willing to place some money down and say that there are internal factors that we (as marketers, advertisers and agencies) can influence to create an outcome we would like, then use the appropriate measurement for it. Yes, it can get quite crazy out there these days with everyone touting all sorts of accountability and tracking capabilities, and if we can find some common standards,whether it’s CPM, CPC or CPA,it would save us agencies a lot of trouble in deciding what best to measure. Heck, it would make my job a breeze. Can’t measure sales (CPA)? We try to get you the highest volume of clicks at the lowest possible CPC then. Meanwhile, we can throw in a few more, like cost per user engagement,
cost per in-banner engagement, cost per video played,and the works. Question is, what are we offering to the consumer that will make him/her want to engage with us? If we can measure the value exchange,and I think that’s what all of us are trying to do,that would be the jackpot. Problem is, consumers are fickle. One moment it’s Youtube, the next you’ve got Facebook. Flavour of the month is now Twitter and who knows what is next. What do you do? Some will choose to ignore and hope that all this madness will go away. Some invest a small percentage and expect miracles.Some truly embrace and take the challenges that come with their agencies — experiment, pilot, measure, benchmark, retrial and reapply. I’m happy to say more are doing so, but I am worried about the scale and pace of this happening within our industry (not enough and too slow). To those who are about to paralysed by a fear of not knowing what to meas-
“Begin dialogue with your agency. Enable and trust them to take on the responsibility of measuring your digital campaigns” Lee Yew Leong, Starcom MediaVest Group
ure, don’t panic. Here are a few things you can start to do: • Begin dialogue with your agency. Enable and trust them to take on the responsibility of measuring your digital campaigns and help them pave the way (through IT, senior management etc). • Avoid using just one form of measurement as the “ultimate” KPI. You are setting the agency (or yourself) up for failure if you do so. • Always tie your measurement(s) back to your business and media objective. They have to be aligned. You will find that it often links back to the consumer. • Evolve the way your organisation sees measurements. As we shift marketing strategies to deeper consumer engagement levels, you start caring less about CPMs, CPCs and sometimes even CPA. It could be the amount of “time” each consumer spends with the brand, or the scale of positive indexing of your brand within the blogosphere.
• Create a transparent system where key people involved in your business have visibility on these measurements, and solicit input/feedback on all fronts (kind of like controlled crowdsourcing). • Self reflect and ask yourself if you would “buy it” as a consumer. We are often so caught up with what we think is the best that sometimes we neglect the true consumer. I apply YMMV to my personal life too,having just been promoted to a father six weeks ago. Some will define their success in child-raising by the academic achievement of their kid(s), some will base on the star appeal and talent, while some just want their kids to grow up normal and happy. Whatever the measurement is, your child’s (the consumer) interest would definitely be priority right? And, because every kid is different,YMMV. Lee Yew Leong, is executive director at Starcom MediaVest Group, Southeast Asia.