How to justify your marketing dollars
Marketers often face the challenge of justifying their spending to finance teams, the CEO, or the a board or directors. It’s a constant challenge to draw a straight line between marketing dollars spent and increases in traffic, sales, and brand awareness. It can be even more difficult for brands that don’t sell direct to consumer as they have limited sources of first-party conversion data.
We’ve been through this on both the client-side and agency-side, and we think these tips can help:
Collect and socialize baseline data within the organization
Knowing where you started is the only way to know how far you’ve come, so collecting a robust set of baseline data is key when showing the value of a campaign. Keeping baseline data to yourself can seem smart, so no one knows if you don’t hit your own targets, but this may cause more problems than it solves. If the entire team is aware of the starting point, getting to the finish line can be a more collaborative effort.
2. Assign a dollar value to non-transactional actions
Return on ad spend using your own transaction data is the easiest way to show the organization that a campaign is working, but what if you don’t have that? Assigning a dollar value to non-transactional actions like email sign-ups, visits to a contact page, or social media follows can help show the impact that the campaign is having on the organization as a whole. If 10% of your email list purchases annually, then an email sign-up might be worth 10% of the average basket value. Brand awareness is a bit more challenging, but it is possible to assign a value to brand awareness using a wider variety of data inputs.
3. Ensure that the campaign is seen in market by key stakeholders
Marketing teams are steeped in their campaign creative from inception to wrap. Other parts of the organization may not be exposed at all, except for when they get the bill. Help them feel as proud of your campaign as you do by telling them where they can see the campaign, especially if it’s in a prestige placement like a big billboard or on must-see TV. One drawback to look out for is having them see the campaign too often – no need to seem like you’re wasting money!
4. Anticipate questions and concerns in advance
Seasoned marketers know that the same questions come up year after year: why do we need more non-working spend? I watch sports, why aren’t we advertising there? Can’t we just coast on our ads from last year? Anticipating the questions from higher-ups allows you to gather the right data and resources to answer them on the spot, rather than having to come back with a list of follow-ups. It also inspires confidence that you’ve given your plan as much scrutiny as they did, and so they’re more likely to trust your decisions. Workshopping your presentation with colleagues or agency partners with this goal in mind is a great way to get ahead of questions down the road.
Rebel & Thorn has over 40 years of combined marketing and media experience, and has been asked MANY tough questions from CEOs, finance teams, and boards of directors. We arm our clients with the right data and points of view to withstand even the toughest scrutiny on their marketing plans. Let us help you make a strong campaign plan and celebrate your successes at the end.
Meaghan Condron, Head of Strategy & Analytics