You're investing resources into a marketing research initiative. How do you measure its ROI effectively?

Marketing research - done "right" - is critical to marketers. The fail rate of innovation is horrendously high - even at Tier 1, even with research throughout Stage Gate. I've worked at 5 CPG multinationals ad also consulted 20+ clients moreso "scrappy" as low budgets. The #1 research I also recommend is Concept testing/optimization. It's simple math: can be as low as $3-$10k pending who you do it with (I have a direct account with Dynata, so a lower cost approach) and if done "well", you absolutely improve Innovation Revenues. Everything else are additional (U&A, Segmentation, Tracking, Homescan etc). However skimping on Concept optimization prior to launching is cutting corners that shouldn't be cut.

Defining ROI for any market research initiative is not an easy one. Especially since the impact of any research will come in after some time - rarely is it possible to calculate immediately and definitely not before commissioning the research. A good practice is to keep a % of the overall marketing spend as the MR budget and monitor that as a trend with overall KPI's for the company (Sales, profit or even reach - in case of a new brand). This become a lot murkier in the case of Qualitative or developmental research used for product or communication development. So be aware!

How does ROI apply to marketing? ROI = Net profit / Total costs Total cost of marketing or total cost of the company/brand? If we take the company's expenses, how is this net profit calculated? Who calculates this number? Calculated at the end of the campaign or monthly? How about brand?

Calculating ROI is essential for optimizing marketing strategies and ensuring that marketing investments are contributing to the company's bottom line.Importance of ROI in Marketing: Justifies Marketing Spend, Helps in making informed decisions on budget allocation. Evaluates Campaign Effectiveness: Identifies which campaigns are successful and which are not. Improves Future Strategies, Provides insights into which tactics are most profitable. Aligns with Business Goals, Ensures marketing efforts are contributing to the overall profitability and growth of the company.

ROI for the marketing research can not be measured just by mathematically involving "invested amount" and "Revenue generated". A lot depends on the post research execution, which actually affects the ROI. Do the perfect execution from the research study in suitable time frame, get the best ROI !

The goal of market research is not "when to get what numbers". It's all about what will the business act upon the numbers. The business must have clear action standard for all scenarios of result - what shall I do if the result is positive, neutral and negative. If the business don't know, stop moving forward. Even the research can generate great insights, those insights can not be used by the business, meaning the value is none. This action standard helps in design of the research. If we can do nothing against the outcomes, if the answer has nothing to do with the action, it's waste of money to collect such information or it might be wrong way to do the research.

Set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) goals. These goals should align with your business objectives and be directly linked to the outcomes you expect from the marketing research. Setting SMART goals provides a clear roadmap and benchmarks for evaluating progress. Goals might include achieving a specific percentage increase in market share, reducing customer acquisition costs, or enhancing customer satisfaction scores by a certain amount. Collaborating with cross-functional teams can help in setting realistic and impactful goals.

Your Market Research Goals should always align with org mission, vision, and purpose as well as your respective product pillars strategy and objectives M: To provide our customers with the most entertaining experiences V: The world leader in betting, gaming, and interactive entertainment P: To deliver the most entertaining customer experience S&O: Reimagine and enhance RIPPLEs (Rewards, Incentives, Payouts, Perks, Loyalty, Engagement) to boost user engagement and satisfaction through innovative, data-driven strategies. MR Goal Determine player preferences and behavior when engaging with reward offerings during acquisition, retention, and reactivation stages within six months. Quantifiable and actionable to achieve the product objective

Yes, every time! Sometimes they're hard to define in a SMART format and those working on them may need to find other ways to express the worth of the activity.

Accurately tracking all costs related to marketing research is crucial for measuring ROI because it ensures a precise calculation of net profit and investment. By documenting every expense, from data collection to analysis, you obtain a clear picture of the true cost of your marketing initiatives. This accuracy helps in evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of the investment. Overlooking or underestimating costs can skew ROI calculations, leading to misguided conclusions about the research's value and performance. Proper tracking ensures that ROI reflects the genuine return on marketing efforts, facilitating better decision-making and resource allocation.

The operational cost e.g. field cost is generally decided before the project kicks off. The analytical cost e.g. reporting cost, workshop fee is settled with vendors as well. The critical part is to get high quality operations regardless in quanti or quali, and right level of expertise to analyze the data. You don't need to track the cost but supervise the quality with robust QC methods and necessary check-in at milestones. The failure of process tracking would cost you huge in people and time, the worse missing opportunity in the market, if you have to redo the research even vendor charge you for free.

Track all costs associated with the marketing research initiative. This includes direct costs like survey tools, research agencies, and software, as well as indirect costs such as employee time and overhead. Insights: Comprehensive tracking of costs ensures that you have a clear understanding of the total investment made. Utilizing tools like spreadsheets or project management software can help in accurately recording and categorizing expenses. Regular audits of costs help in maintaining financial discipline and identifying any unexpected expenditures early on.

Costs can add up and if not tracked properly result in incorrect ROI calculation. Stakeholders should consider not only the direct cost of the campaign, but also make sure to include the indirect ones - such as time, opportunity cost of capital, people involved, etc.

Absolutely, especially internal time - this is frequently not measured and can quickly (and stealthily!) add up. Also, research activities are often deductible or can attract funding from different sources so you'd want to investigate and capitalise on these opportunities whenever you can!

It is very important to differentiate between the impact created by market research on paper and on the actual business itself. One of the things to note is let’s say- If there is an increase in sales for a certain product offerings which was backed by market research, make sure you can categorize whether it was just a wind-tail in the market causing temporary surge or there is an actual real pull from the market for your product. Calculating metrics like LTV and return rates provide a better idea on success of product launch.

It ensures that the data collected translates into actionable insights and tangible results. By assessing how research findings influence decision-making, strategy adjustments, and ultimately, profitability, you can accurately gauge the effectiveness of your marketing investments. This analysis helps identify which research initiatives deliver the highest returns, optimize resource allocation, and refine strategies. Without this evaluation, you risk investing in ineffective research, missing opportunities for growth, and failing to achieve desired financial outcomes.

Impact analysis is the best tool to measure ROI The sales data before and after will clearly quantify the effect of your strategy Deriving the difference in terms of numbers and percentage is a clear indicator of ROI

Measuring the impact can't be forced. Appetite to pay naturally for any product or services are the greatest sign to understand and define the impact. Let's understand how the appetite to pay will come, here are a few ways: 1. Are you trading the skill gap with your product? 2. Are you saving time and providing some ease by giving them the product? 3. Are solving for the desire to feel privileged? Understand what makes them restless, understand what they are craving for, is that desire strong enough to spend money on? This will give you all the answers!

Adjust your marketing strategy based on the insights gained from the research. This could mean reallocating budget, targeting different customer segments, or changing marketing messages. Flexibility in strategy adjustment is crucial. The insights gained from the research should be actionable and directly inform marketing decisions. Iterative testing and learning can help refine strategies over time. Keeping an open line of communication with the marketing team ensures that insights are effectively translated into action.

I believe that all 'failures' can become lessons and that we grow and become wiser as a result of having taken the decision and risk, and found better ways as a result. People and organisations who don't admit to their 'failures' are, essentially, not enterprise role models!

Using ROI data to refine your marketing strategy ensures that your efforts are aligned with business objectives and contribute to sustained growth and success. Improve Strategy Effectiveness: By analyzing ROI, you can identify which strategies are working and which are not, enabling you to refine and enhance your marketing tactics for better performance. Adapt to Market Changes: Using ROI data helps you stay agile and adapt your strategies to current trends and insights. Increase Efficiency: Adjusting your strategy based on ROI findings helps eliminate wasteful spending and improves overall marketing efficiency. Enhance Decision-Making: Data-driven adjustments lead to more informed decisions

Using ROI and A/B testing for various campaigns can be beneficial in order to decide where the main efforts of the marketing team can go. Some messages and campaign types might resonate better with the targeted customer base, and result in better ROI. It might be worth investing more in those directions and limit the spend on campaigns that don't meet the ROI targets.

The Launch Control Monitor helps to take decisive strategic actions by: 1. Tracking of Financial KPIs vs. launch plan 2. Monitoring of Financial KPIs, diagnosing deviations, and suggest directions for improvement 3. Tracking of Market KPIs vs. launch plan 4. Monitoring of Market KPIs, diagnosing deviations, and suggest directions for improvement 5. Mapping both perspectives into a joint and neutral recommendation: > Continue as ongoing > Continue but change > Discontinue

Maintain agility in your approach. Be ready to pivot based on ongoing insights and market changes. Agility ensures that you can respond quickly to new information and adjust your tactics accordingly. An agile approach allows for continuous improvement and quick adaptation to changing market conditions. Regularly scheduled reviews and updates to the strategy based on new data ensure that the marketing efforts remain relevant and effective. Employing agile methodologies, such as sprints and feedback loops, can enhance responsiveness and innovation in your marketing initiatives.

In today’s dynamic market, agility in marketing research is crucial for staying competitive. Rapid changes in consumer behavior, technology, and market conditions can quickly render outdated strategies ineffective. Agile research allows for real-time data collection, enabling swift adjustments to strategies and tactics. This responsiveness helps brands anticipate trends, adapt to new opportunities, and address challenges promptly. Maintaining agility ensures marketing efforts remain relevant, optimized, and effective, ultimately driving better customer engagement and business growth.

Apply the agricultural principle of "smart watering". 1. Further allocation of (scarce) resources only to those seeds which show a fertility at or above expectations. 2. Removal of resources from those seeds which show a fertility clearly below expectations The Launch Control Monitor (see above) applies basic ?smart watering“ principles to an innovative business context.

Before investing in any marketing research, ensure you have: a) clearly defined your research objectives and b) outlined how learnings will translate to different actionable steps for your business. Make sure you conduct your research with the appropriate target market and "right size" the research investment to the strategic decisions you wish to guide.

Key Performance indicators that need to be tracked over time. 1.Conversation Amplification and Applause Rates 2.Economic Value of Indicator Metrics 3. Determine Word of Mouth Coefficient. (WOM= New Organic Users/ Returning Users + Returning Non Organic users) This is a detailed mathematical analysis if you would like more info please reach out

I believe that measuring ROI on a Marketing Research Program can be challenging due to its indirect impact on revenue. While direct financial metrics might be challenging, consider these indirect indicators: # Impact on Decision Making a) Number of decisions influenced by research —> Quantify how often research insights were used to make business decisions. b) Decision quality improvement —> Evaluate the success rate of decisions made with research compared to those without.