How Do You Measure the ROI of An Ambiguous Marketing Campaign?
Imagine investing substantial resources into a marketing campaign only to find it challenging to measure its return on investment (ROI). According to a VP of Market Operations and a Co-Founder, understanding the ROI of an ambiguous marketing campaign is crucial for strategic planning. This article explores expert insights, with the first tip emphasizing the use of multiple KPIs for measurement. The final takeaway, of the thirteen provided, advises breaking down campaigns into measurable components.
- Use Multiple KPIs for Measurement
- Allocate Costs and Track Metrics
- Focus on Secondary Metrics
- Utilize Multi-Touch Attribution
- Set Clear Objectives
- Look at Indirect Success Signs
- Implement Precise Link-Tracking
- Start with Clear Objectives
- Combine Attribution Modeling and Surveys
- Use Proxy Metrics for Insights
- Monitor Key Performance Indicators
- Focus on Indirect Indicators
- Break Down Campaigns into Measurable Components
Use Multiple KPIs for Measurement
This is another reason why using multiple KPIs is important. While it's fine to set specific goals for certain performance metrics, this doesn't always capture all the benefits of certain campaigns. Factors like total impressions don't always translate directly to sales or marketable leads, but they're still showing growth in things like brand awareness.
Thank you for the chance to contribute to this piece! If you do choose to quote me, please refer to me as Nick Valentino, VP of Market Operations of Bellhop.
Allocate Costs and Track Metrics
Calculating ROI is easy, but measuring it? That's where things get tricky. Here's the deal: ROI is just a simple ratio—profit from an investment divided by the cost of that investment. But figuring out those numbers can be a real challenge.
You've got direct costs like media buys, but don't forget about indirect costs, too. Things like the labor to create the campaign and the sales efforts to close deals add up. Plus, if a buyer interacts with multiple campaigns before buying, which one gets credit for the profit? This is part of a bigger conversation called marketing attribution.
Allocating costs can get complicated. How do you factor in brand value, website upkeep, or a global dealer network? Are any marketing campaigns truly profitable on their own? Remember, it takes a whole company to meet customer needs.
But I'm not giving up on measuring marketing impact or ROI! It's crucial to understand how marketing affects the bottom line. Every marketing tactic can be evaluated in various ways:
Cycle time (from idea to execution) > Direct costs > Impressions > Conversions > A/B test results. If you track these metrics for each campaign and run multiple variants, you'll gather valuable insights about costs and outcomes.
Each campaign manager's job is to maximize results and improve spending efficiency. For example, if you're an email marketer targeting different segments like C-level execs and developers, report on each segment's performance and suggest improvements for future campaigns. If you're an event marketer attending trade shows, evaluate which audiences or regions performed best to inform your strategy moving forward.
You should calculate direct-cost ROI for every campaign—ads, trade shows, emails, telemarketing. The goal is to boost conversions while reducing costs. This isn't about solving every problem but making each campaign more effective over time. One important note: always aim for statistically valid sample sizes. Campaigns often focus on small segments and short timeframes, so be cautious about making big changes based on limited data. Keep an eye on conversion trends, run experiments, and share your findings with management to support data-driven decisions for the future.
Focus on Secondary Metrics
When measuring ROI for ShipTheDeal’s awareness campaigns, I focus on secondary metrics like branded search volume growth and direct-traffic increases over time. I set up custom UTM parameters and conversion goals in analytics to track how users from different campaign touchpoints eventually convert, even if it takes months. While it’s not perfect, I’ve found that combining these metrics with customer surveys asking, “How did you first hear about us?” helps paint a clearer ROI picture.
Utilize Multi-Touch Attribution
When we launched our first Patek Philippe collection, we couldn't track sales directly to our social-media posts and email campaigns. So we built a simple system: we asked each buyer, "How did you hear about us?" and added a unique discount code to each marketing channel. The results were eye-opening: 68% of our high-end watch buyers came through Instagram, while email campaigns brought in more first-time buyers for entry-level pieces. Marketing expert Neil Patel backs this multi-touch attribution approach on NeilPatel.com, and we've found it works great for luxury items.
My practical advice is to keep it basic. Track phone calls, website visits, and store visits before and during your campaign. Note what customers say about where they found you. Add up your campaign costs and compare them to your sales spike during that period. In our case, we saw a 3x return on our Instagram spending for luxury watches—not bad for what started as a hard-to-measure campaign. The key is to pick 2-3 main metrics and stick to them.
Set Clear Objectives
Measuring the ROI of an ambiguous marketing campaign requires a strategic approach to define clear objectives. In a recent campaign aimed at increasing brand awareness rather than direct sales, I focused on setting specific metrics, such as website traffic, social media engagement, and brand sentiment.
For instance, I utilized tools like Google Analytics to track changes in traffic during the campaign, and monitored social media mentions to gauge audience engagement. After the campaign, I compared these metrics to baseline data collected beforehand, which provided insights into the campaign's effectiveness.
Additionally, I conducted surveys to gather qualitative feedback on how the campaign influenced perceptions. By combining quantitative data with customer insights, we were able to evaluate the campaign’s impact and inform future marketing strategies, even when the initial goals were not directly measurable.
Look at Indirect Success Signs
To measure the ROI of an unclear campaign, look at indirect signs of success, like engagement rates, shifts in audience sentiment, or the quality of traffic it generates. Comparing these results to past campaigns can help show if it's creating meaningful engagement or brand awareness, even if direct sales aren't immediate.
Implement Precise Link-Tracking
Measuring ROI for an ambiguous marketing campaign often requires digging deep into data and leveraging tools that offer insights beyond traditional metrics. At Chappell Digital Marketing, we rely heavily on precise link-tracking to pinpoint which elements drive conversions. For instance, when working with Sirge, our Shopify clients saw an increase in conversion rates because we could attribute revenue to specific marketing links, revealing which campaigns were genuinely effective.
Next, it's crucial to identify and target high-value customers. By segmenting customers according to spending behavior, we can tailor campaigns that align closely with the interests of those who are more likely to convert. This approach not only improves ROI but strengthens our ongoing relationship with valuable clientele.
Furthermore, implementing conversion-rate-optimization (CRO) tools helps optimize the user journey and improve marketing effectiveness. Utilizing A/B testing, like I teach in the Facebook Ads Expert Mastery Class, we refine our strategies based on data-driven insights. This way, whether we're running a campaign for a new SaaS platform or a consumer goods brand, we ensure our efforts are continuously aligned with maximizing ROI.
Start with Clear Objectives
With increases in user privacy and "dark social," accurate marketing attribution is becoming harder. This makes it more difficult to measure the ROI of any campaign. So, you must start with a clear objective to track—think less about impressions and more about revenue. Run a campaign for a long enough time (3-6 months) for it to have an impact on your business growth. Did you have a boost in sales or new leads during that time, not correlated with natural growth during that season? Digital marketing has become more about connecting your efforts to trends in the business with a dotted line.
Combine Attribution Modeling and Surveys
To measure the ROI of an ambiguous marketing campaign, I use attribution modeling alongside customer surveys. Attribution modeling helps identify which channels contributed to conversions by tracking user interactions across various touchpoints. Complementing this, surveys provide qualitative insights into customer perceptions, revealing how the campaign influenced their engagement. By combining these quantitative and qualitative approaches, I can gain a comprehensive understanding of the campaign's ROI, justifying future marketing investments.
Use Proxy Metrics for Insights
For short-term wins, I use proxy metrics. For example, for brand-awareness campaigns, I'll track the standard metrics (reach, impressions, engagement, etc.), and sentiment through social listening tools.
For long-term understanding, I monitor lifetime value by channel. For example, I'll monitor the cohort that was exposed to a particular campaign to understand their behavior and long-term value.
Then, I'll assign value to these engagement and behavioral metrics. For example, if I know that the leads coming from social media campaigns usually end up bringing in 15% higher LTV, I'll assign higher monetary value to leads coming from the same channels for my forecasts.
Monitor Key Performance Indicators
Measuring the ROI of an ambiguous marketing campaign can be challenging, but I've tackled this with a data-driven approach honed over my years at Nortel and Nokia, and now at my digital marketing agency, 12AM Agency. One method is to closely monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) like website traffic, engagement rates, and conversion metrics using tools like Google Analytics. For example, in one campaign, tracking upticks in specific keywords improved a law firm's client inquiries by over 30%.
Another effective strategy is implementing A/B testing to gauge the performance of different ad variations. I often apply this in our Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns, continuously optimizing ads and shifting budgets to the higher-performing ones—a practice that consistently boosts ROI, sometimes up to 50%. It's crucial to ensure you're setting clear goals and using conversion tracking to see which aspects truly drive business results.
Focus on Indirect Indicators
The key is to focus on indirect indicators and set clear objectives up-front. Start by identifying secondary metrics, like website traffic, engagement rates, or social shares, that align with your campaign's goals. Tracking changes in brand sentiment or conducting post-campaign surveys can also reveal insights into brand awareness or customer perception shifts. My advice is to approach it with a mix of data analysis and qualitative feedback—both can provide a well-rounded picture of your campaign's impact, even when direct sales are hard to trace.
Break Down Campaigns into Measurable Components
Measuring ROI for ambiguous or less-tangible marketing campaigns can be challenging but entirely possible with the right framework and metrics. One strategy I've used successfully is to break down ambiguous campaigns into measurable components and focus on surrogate metrics that, while indirect, still offer clear insights into effectiveness and returns.
Here's a step-by-step approach I recommend:
Define Clear Objectives and Proxy Metrics: Even if a campaign's outcome isn't directly sales-driven, you can still measure impact by setting clear objectives tied to engagement, reach, or brand awareness. For example, if the campaign's aim is to boost brand sentiment, track metrics like social media engagement rates, content shares, or NPS (Net Promoter Score).
Create Control Groups: To isolate the impact of the campaign, set up control and test groups. By comparing results in areas or demographics where the campaign was active versus inactive, you gain a baseline for interpreting lift or incremental impact. This approach is especially useful in measuring sentiment shifts, website traffic, or customer inquiries.
Utilize Multi-Touch Attribution Models: Complex campaigns often touch multiple channels, making attribution essential for understanding ROI. Multi-touch attribution models can capture the journey across these touchpoints, providing a nuanced view of how the campaign influenced customer decisions. For digital campaigns, tools like Google Analytics and AI-powered attribution models can be immensely useful for tracking these paths.
Track Incremental Lift: In my work with SaaS and digital transformation strategies, we measure incremental lift by analyzing any increases in conversion rates, customer acquisition, or retention during and after the campaign. For example, if a brand awareness campaign precedes a sales spike, that spike can be attributed partially to the awareness lift, especially when no other variables (such as promotions) were active.
Leverage AI to Process and Predict Outcomes: AI tools provide powerful ways to sift through data from ambiguous campaigns and identify patterns that might otherwise be missed. For more insights into leveraging AI to measure nuanced campaign ROI, see this guide on AI in digital strategy: [https://cush.digital/blog/leveraging-ai-in-digital-strategy-harnessing-potential/]
