When it comes to business, everyone wants to see that they are getting a return on their investment. While measured differently, the same is true for marketing. Because marketing campaigns often involve a big financial investment, the common questions that companies have about them revolve around what they are actually getting for the money they spend. However, the key when developing any marketing campaign, involves focusing on the big picture instead of focusing solely on your immediate returns. At Tayloe/Gray we understand the natural progression to ROI. By helping you develop alignment around the time horizons where you see a true ROI, you can effectively measure the results of your marketing efforts.
When you are tracking ROI, it’s easiest to think of it in terms of a graph. Most marketing campaigns follow the same arc, which starts with the foundational period. This is where we help you lay the groundwork for success. After we lay that foundation, we help you build all of the pieces that you will use during the sales and marketing stages. As with any long-term investment, it’s important to keep in mind that ROI may be flat or low when you are in the beginning and the initial stages of a marketing campaign, such as the planning, set-up and design stages. With patience and an understanding of the value of that foundational period, you will reach a point in the campaign when you can truly evaluate the campaign’s progress.
Known as the ROI period, this is where the real results happen. In fact, it’s not until after those initial stages that you will start to see measurable results. Ultimately, the ROI period begins once you take the sales and marketing assets that you previously created, put them into the marketplace and then empower your sales people and stakeholders to use them.
When you look at this on a graph, you’ll have two lines. By comparing the efforts you have made on one axis of the graph with the results from those efforts on another, over time there will be a point where they intersect. The point where they cross is your measuring point. That’s when the exciting stuff starts to happen. It’s where you start to see the real results for your marketing campaign and your true ROI.
Finding this sweet spot by charting your own ROI graph is something that you can do on your own or with our help as a part of the Tayloe/Gray Marketing Blueprint Process. Want to find out what you need to start yielding results for your marketing efforts? Contact us to learn more about the ROI graph and how to align your efforts with measurable returns.