CMO ROI Metrics Every Advertising Campaign Should Track

ROI metrics are the foundation of c-level reporting, providing an immediate glimpse into the effectiveness of marketing investments. A 2021 CMO Spend survey revealed that 11% of the total marketing channel budget goes to digital advertising, with 72% going to all pure digital channels. That’s a big chunk of the budget. So it’s no wonder why ROI metrics matter so much to senior leadership.

Key points:

• CMOs have several common reporting needs
• Six issues keep CMOs up at night
• 80% of companies that proactively collect, analyze, manage and use data on customers’ emotional levels have better financial performance, year after year

The top-level metrics for CMOs vary across industries, go-to-market strategies, market maturity stages, as well as the role the CMO plays in the business. For example, sales-led companies follow metrics such as revenue generated from outbound sales, whereas product-led measures metrics such as revenue from closed free trial conversions. 

According to Deloitte, CMOs play four roles:

• Growth driver: creates and manages profitable growth across the company
• Innovation catalyst: uses data and intelligence to help them advance the growth agenda
• Brand storyteller: prioritizes protecting and enhancing the company brand
• Capability builder: identifies resources and builds teams to deploy marketing capabilities across the organization

Each role requires different metrics, but share common reporting needs.

• Easy-to-understand charts or a dashboard to help other c-level suite executives understand the effectiveness of marketing programs
• Access to real-time data to amplify or pivot programs as needed
• A way to measure return on investment based on reliable data such as customer

>> You Might Like: How to Boost the Power of Your Advertising

Six issues keep CMOs up at night (Ad Age) and highlight a common theme around how to track better metrics.

Planning by the minute—not the month or year. 

Audiences expect instant information and updates and that level of agility requires fast decision-making based on reliable data.

Deciphering confusing consumer signals. 

Changing patterns such as more people working from home make it hard to identify data trends, making customer feedback even more critical.

Shifting to e-commerce. 

Changes in buying behaviors has pushed digital advertising to adapt to shoppable formats, highlighting the need for better metrics that can track progress.

Ad shoots in flux. 

The pandemic disrupted ad campaign productions and not all production schedules are back to normal. Investing in the right media requires understanding attention and engagement levels.

Striking the right tone. 

Remaining unbiased while also sharing a unique position requires active feedback to make sure you are invoking the right emotional response.

Staying connected while working remotely. 

While some companies have opted for full-time or hybrid schedules, some employees want to remain remote. Having everyone on the same page requires access to real-time dashboards.

The common theme here is on having dynamic, real-time data available. We discuss more about how teams can capture the right data from marketing programs here.

Improving ROI of marketing campaigns involves:

• Establishing the purpose of the marketing campaign
• Identifying the most relevant target audience
• Defining the most effective distribution channels

While ROI reveals the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, it takes time to measure and doesn’t allow room to pivot quickly. However, one method enables marketing teams to be agile: predictive analysis.

Predictive analysis measures the target audience’s attentional and emotional levels to predict future outcomes. Using artificial intelligence (AI), marketers test content quickly and cut out what won’t work to attract the right audience.

Learn more about predictive analytics software for active attention and engagement measurement.

As this Campaign article states:

Sometimes the term “outcomes” is conflated with “performance”…. Today, though, aiming for a better kind of accountability is vital for marketers using digital … Sophisticated attribution modelling, econometrics, AI, and machine-learning, along with the right supporting technology and expertise, all help manage media towards serving strategic business goals, rather than just marketing precepts.

How can companies move beyond the standard advertising metrics to advance towards achieving strategic goals? The following three examples show how this is possible: 

How COOP repositioned its packaging

COOP, a system of Italian cooperatives including supermarkets, needed to understand the potential impact of new packaging for four of its major brands. Using attention and emotional response analysis, COOP identified the creatives that worked best and achieved an 8% increased sellout.

How Freeda found its winning media

Freeda, a media company, produces daily content targeting women. With the help of AI, Freeda analyzed three videos and identified the content with the best return on investment. The winning video generated 900% higher performance.

How RAI Advertising identified the optimal time for advertising breaks

RAI’s advertising arm manages advertising on all media and RAI platforms. Due to new regulations, RAI had to split up advertising breaks to a more balanced schedule. Through attention and emotion analysis, RAI identified the optimal time for breaks before losing the audience to other distractions, further securing brand awareness for the companies showing the ads. 

Read more about the case studies here.

Stay two steps ahead of the competition by leveraging CMO-approved ROI metrics such as predictive analysis through attention and emotional response measurement. Let your target audience tell you what appeals to them so that you can focus your marketing investments in the right places. 

Source:

https://www.webstrategiesinc.com/blog/how-much-budget-for-online-marketing