How to Prove Marketing's Value (ROI)
Kenneth Burke
VP of Marketing | 20 under 40 | Executive of the Year | Georgia Tech Executive MBA Candidate
Hey folks???, I'm Kenneth Burke. #BurkeBits is where I share stories, data, and frameworks to help you become a better marketer.?Subscribe for free?to level-up.
It’s probably the most terrifying question in our line of work:
“What does Marketing do, anyway?”
No one wants to pour their heart and soul into something only for those around you—especially your bosses—to question whether you’re doing anything at all, or to think that what you are doing is useless.
Yet so many marketers struggle to show how their work impacts top level business goals and bottom line revenue.
It’s a shame, too, because most marketers are doing good work that moves the needle. You just aren’t able to connect the dots for those outside of marketing.
And because you can’t connect the dots, people end up asking that terrible question.
But what if you could show marketing’s impact in an instant, and even keep people from asking that question at all?
I can’t promise you’ll never hear it again, but you can follow these 7 steps to clearly communicate what you’re doing, why it matters, and how it’s adding value.
This has worked for me, and it will likely work for you, too.
1. What’s the big idea?
Determine the top level business goal—the #1 priority driving the whole organization. It might be "grow revenue" or "become the industry leader" or "solve this one problem."
领英推荐
Companies aren’t always great at articulating this. The #1 goal may not be stated at all—you're just going about business as usual and hoping things get better.
This is common in smaller orgs, and makes it tough to prove that marketing is making an impact. (You can’t impact something that doesn’t exist.)
Fix that.
When a goal is not set for you, you’ve got to set one yourself.
Answer: What, in your opinion, is the most important thing for your business to accomplish, or the most important milestone to achieve?
That’s your goal. That’s your guiding light.
2. Give it a metric.
Your work has to be measured, or it doesn’t matter.
How are you going to know if you hit your goal? Assign a metric to it—dollars and customer numbers are common—and set a target to hit. For instance:
This is usually where marketers miss out. You have to set a number and be accountable to hitting it.
Every tenured CMO is able to set a number, hit it, and communicate why it matters to others in the company. Whether you want a long-term, big title job like that or not, you have to be able to do this to prove marketing’s value.
Fractional CMO & Growth Advisor, Award-Winning Executive Marketing Leader | Helping Brands Amplify Growth & Solve Marketing Problems
1 年It's the most cringe-worthy question to hard working marketers everywhere.
[AI-Generated Headline]
1 年This is great! Our most successful client relationships are ones where the client comes in with a metric goal in mind (CAC below $100 is one) or works alongside us to create both conservative and ambitious goals that are measurable. These are also the most rewarding because reaching and even exceeding the goal is so exciting for everyone involved.?
Marketing Consultant | Media Buying Strategist | Creative Video Ads | Statistical Analyst
1 年Great piece! I think you hit on a key point that is often missed, there has to be agreement on what the goal is and how success will be measured. Then follow through on the tracking and have the hard conversations. Ask, "Did it work?" Either way, it's about what can be learned and used for the next evolution.
I Help Women Entrepreneurs 3X Their Amazon and TikTok Business While Mastering Time, Energy, and Work-Life Balance
1 年I enjoyed the read?and will follow up with you.
Director, Digital Marketing @ Laivly - AI for CX
1 年I enjoyed the read and subscribed. Thanks for the thought leadership piece!