Are Your Marketing Channels Performing The Way You Want?

If your organization is like most, you take an integrated approach to your marketing and your marketing communication. The idea behind integrated marketing communication is to ensure that all forms of your messaging are linked together and working in harmony. The premise is that by connecting various channels together, you can harness the value of each individual channel AND have bigger impact than if you used only one channel. Essentially, the notion is 1+1=3.

Integrated marketing and integrated marketing communication are sound strategies for engaging, serving and communicating. Customers and other constituents leverage a variety of channels. This proliferation of channels creates a number of data and measurement challenges for marketers. One of the primary reasons behind the challenge is that many metrics are still channel specific. This is a problem when programs are specifically designed to work together to produce a business result. Isolating your metrics by channel can actually be misleading.

How to Develop Models for a Better Understanding of the Multi-Channels Marketing

So what’s the alternative? Create models that help you understand the relationship between channel vehicles and the additional value derived by integrating channels. One approach to creating a model that reflects multiple channels is to structure your data as you would your investment portfolio. In this approach each investment and the entire portfolio is built for the purpose of creating value and reducing risk. With this approach, we would develop a set of specific outcomes associated with our investment portfolio, which may or may not change over time.

Likewise, your marketing channel portfolio should be measured in terms of performance of individual assets and the specific business outcomes they are intended to produce. Ideally each vehicle should reinforce the other vehicles. As with your investment portfolio, your channel portfolio will be easier to monitor if it’s all under “one roof.” You want a single point of integration. This will greatly aid you in monitoring, measuring and comparing the contribution of your portfolio.

Take an investment portfolio model approach

Three of the most common investment portfolio approaches are:

• Diversification. This approach is based on investing in a broad range of “asset classes.” The idea is that you “own” a variety of assets that will rise and fall and rise again at different times and at different rates. With this approach, it’s all about the allocation. To employ this approach for your model, you would want to select a broad range of channels for each stage in the customer journey in order to increase the likelihood of customer engagement during that stage. You might build your model around the allocation of channels at each stage in order to optimize the return for that stage and establish metrics to help you rebalance your allocation.
• Cost driven. In this approach the focus is on keeping the total fees associated with your portfolio at a particular ratio of the return. This approach assumes cost is everything. Basic arithmetic applies in this model. It is all about keeping your investment expenses under control. To apply this approach to your channel portfolio, you would select the most cost-effective return:ratio channels for each stage.
• Risk/Reward. As anyone who has ever picked their own stocks knows, picking winners is very hard to do. The approach associated with this model is based on selecting and allocating your investments based on your risk tolerance. Various factors are taken into account to determine how much risk you should be willing to take, for example, your age, your need for the money you’re investing and so on. Newer unproven channels present more risk. Your skills and experience with the channel also affect the degree of risk.

We’re not suggesting you select any of these models. We are suggesting you have a channel investment model and that you give deliberate, extensive thought into which model you create and why. The model you develop will have implications for the operational and outcome metrics you choose. Ideally, the more you can match your channels to your customers buying process, the better you can decide which approach is best for you. Want to learn more about integrating and optimizing the pieces of your marketing channel portfolio? Watch this informative presentation by VisionEdge Marketing to learn more to ensure your channels perform the way you want.