Marketers have a tendency to confuse measurement with accountability. We assume that every request for marketing accountability needs to be answered in terms of ROI.
In my experience, the issue of marketing accountability revolves around three issues:
- Relevance: explaining where and how marketing adds value to the business
- Alignment: proving that marketers are focused on the success of the business, not just the size of their budget or health of the brand
- Rigor: developing a fact-based, disciplined approach to marketing strategy and execution (to include relevant forms of measurement)
Until marketers demonstrate these qualities, their colleagues in Finance will continue to ask the ROI question (which is their way of asking “can I trust you to spend the company’s money wisely?”). When marketers begin to behave in ways that explicitly demonstrate these three qualities, the requests for ROI miraculously disappear.
As a former Finance person, I can assure you that Finance people do not want more ROI models to review – they just want Marketing colleagues they can trust.
[BTW a version of this post now appears on the ANA's Marketing Accountability blog]
