the Value of Measuring [1 of 2]

Abstract


This document is a consideration of the metrics used in marketing measurement and a few associated key considerations.



Introduction

The writer has always been inextricably right brain, to the point of having inflicted upon himself the conversation that he was “mathematically challenged” (and, as self-fulfillment would have it, he is). Therefore, a certain intrigue attended hearing the possibility of “measuring everything”. “From an inch to a mile…” began the introduction. “I could say tomorrow I want to be happier, and tomorrow I am happier. I’m not happy enough to be happy, but I’m happier.” (Rosenberg, 1973) In an instant, the twin understanding sunk in that one could both measure the abstract, and there was a use to doing so.



The What, Why’s & How’s

This can be a blizzard of terminology if one is not using the vernacular daily. With this in mind, the creation of a table intends to make much of this plain.

These measures of consumer interactions, sales, etc. leveraged against a given marketing effort, in a vacuum would likely mean little. As the context of various moving parts grow, companies may see with increasing perspective the degree to which their marketing resources make a difference. This would be especially true within the confines of their (operational / managerial / etc.) area, of course.

Increasingly, the perspective will yield ever sharper opportunities to vision marketing direction itself (as data eventually becomes available revealing what kinds of, styles, methods of, et. al. marketing yield better / best results). Such expressions as these metrics (charts, reports, etc.) afford yield hard evidence, alleviating guesswork and helping steer the evolution of the offering, and with it the communication and the enterprise itself.