1. Copyright 2013 by Saurage Research, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without permission in writing from Saurage Research, Inc.
Susan Saurage-Altenloh
August 2013
Measurement for Successful
Communications and Marketing

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• Know [everything] about
customers and how they make
choices
• Convert any and every thing you
know into marketing strategies
that expand the business
• Leverage [all of] this knowledge
for stronger positioning, greater
share of wallet, enhanced
customer loyalty and a stronger
bottom line…in any economy
The marketer’s challenge…

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Knowing this information modifies your own
communication strategy.
How might this kind of knowledge help
modify a company’s plan?

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Integrated Marketing Communications Plan
Research & insights (initial, periodic)
• Gather: baseline, SWOT, customers, communications,
competitors, empirical data
Refine strategic communications plan
• Create messaging / marketing matrix for segments,
company, partners, employees, etc.
Design & execute tactical plans
• Establish messaging consistent to segment. Measure
effectiveness of every effort and platform.
Measure effectiveness overall
• Benchmark impact of strategic marketing
communications plan against goals

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Measurement m’s and m’s
“Continuous monitoring of performance against predetermined targets
is essential in achieving effective and efficient integrated marketing
communications.”
Knowledge replaces guesses and estimates ROI of MR difficult to calculate and justify
Reliable and cost-effective MR reveals
insights
Dollars needed for higher-priority marketing
initiatives
Link marketing spend with related
performance
Investment of time and resources too much
for time-starved marketers
Track marketing against budget and on-time
execution
Learning new methodologies, platforms,
language…overwhelming

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Insights available in many forms…
Quantitative
• Measurable, structured, projectable, expressed in numeric form
• Format: Statistics (metrics)
• It asks: How many?
Qualitative
• Subjective, exploratory, open-ended, anecdotal
• Format: Metaphors, symbols, stories
• It asks: What? Why?
Competitive Intelligence
• Gathering, analyzing, and managing external information that
affects plans, decisions, operations
• Format: Interviews, info retrieval, market analytics, empirical data
• It asks: Status, history

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Inexpensive tools are available…
With customers:
• Simple onsite surveys
• Roundtables, lunch & learns
• Direct ask, IDIs
• Online customer surveys
With external markets:
• Quantitative surveys
– Online, phone, email, direct mail
• Qualitative surveys
– Focus groups, IDIs, OQR, ethnography
With internal markets:
• Roundtables, lunch & learns
• Direct ask, IDIs
• Employee communities

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11Image from ProvalisResearch.com ad in AAPOR 2013 conference guide
 Text analytics
 Content / sentiment analysis
 Integrating data and images
 Social media metrics
 Data mining
{SCARY EXPENSIVE NEW STUFF}

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Metrics for Successful Marketing
• Revenue Metrics: Marketing’s aggregate impact on
company revenue
• Marketing Program Performance Metrics: The
incremental contribution of individual marketing
programs
• Customer Profitability: Lifetime value of an
incremental customer
• Web Analytics: Measures Web visibility to target
audiences against potential audiences, and compares
against industry and competitor benchmarks
• Public Relations: Measures views and impact of corporate communications initiatives
• Product Performance: Comparatively measures the total sales and margins of
individual products
• Brand Preference and Health: Assesses brand preference in relation to preference
for competing brands
• Sales Tool Usage: Measures which product marketing materials are being used the
most
Marketo.com’s “Definitive Guide to Marketing Metrics”

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Where Metrics Go Wrong
• Vanity metrics: impressions, views, FB Likes aren’t the rights choice for CEO
deliverables, only for internal uses
• Measuring what is easy: stand-in numbers for difficult-to-measure items
• Focusing on quantity rather than quality
• Activity, not results: activity is easy to see; marketing results are harder to
measure
• Efficiency, not effectiveness: Effectiveness metrics (doing the right things) differ
from efficiency metrics (doing – possibly the wrong – things well)
Marketo.com’s “Definitive Guide to Marketing Metrics”

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Case 1 – Expanding Customer Base (B2B)
• Understand true customer – completely
• Identify selection influencers – situational, regulatory,
cultural
• Integrate all insights with internal stakeholder objectives
• Measure using established empirical data
Cable Management Solutions Company

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Case 2 – Responding to Changes in the Market (CPG)
• Industry data and scanning – significant consumption changes
• Define the product space – attributes, grocery shelf
• Reposition the brand – packaging, messaging, delivery strategy
• Measure impact of strategic actions taken
Beverage Manufacturer

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Case 3 – Renewing a Brand (retail)
• Understand true customer – completely
• Identify retail dynamics, brand churn, gaps
• Test concepts, strategies
• Gather empirical data – evaluate bottom line impact
• Implement ongoing linear measurement
Electronics/Home Furnishings Store Chain

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Case 4 – Encouraging Different Choices (program)
• Baseline behaviors of customers
• Identify triggers for change – emotions, hopes
• Implement programs that utilize / reflect triggers
• Gather empirical data on new program usage
• Measure customer recognition of program availability
• Regear programs
State Employee Benefits Program

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Case 5 – Defining Brand Equity (service)
• Understand the offering – completely
• Identify and profile promoters and detractors of the brand
(NPS)
• Build marketing strategy based on new insights
• Track changes in awareness and NPS against marketing
initiatives
Valve Service Network

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Consider…
• Internal (empirical) data – put it to work for you
• Understand your market – industry scanning
• Establish ways to proactive listen to customers
• Measure what is useful, effective, important, actionable
• Build cache of insights and knowledge

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Does your marketing measure up?
ssaurage@SaurageResearch.com
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Explore the research possibilities:

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About the Presenter
Susan Saurage-Altenloh specializes in designing research
strategies and producing results that meet clients' information
needs – completely and exactly. Susan has gathered
actionable data for a client list that includes nationally known
medical facilities, large manufacturers and refineries,
prominent financial institutions, municipal and national
governmental agencies, and advertising/ marketing firms.
The most notable ones – Tenet, Conoco, Cameron, the EPA,
HP/Compaq, Chicago Board of Trade, BP, Exxon, Dow,
Siemens Transmission Products and McDonald’s – include
several Fortune 500 companies.
Susan has authored several articles appearing in national and
regional business publications and regularly appears on
television as an expert in market information and research
trends. She is a graduate of the MBA program at University of
Texas at Austin and graduated Magna Cum Laude from
Houston Baptist University.