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Over the years I have worked under numerous marketing models in which the marketing team was charged with creating a marketing plan and strategy, implementing that on time and under budget, and then presenting all of the STUFF that went along with that work.  For one major campaign that I worked on, I actually had a marketing VP ask us to present to our sales team a 90 slide PPT (professionally designed and animated) illustrating all the stuff we created for them.  Needless to say, that VP is no longer with that company and I am sure they haven't completely altered that way of thinking.  However, for years that is what the company expected of marketing.  Show us your STUFF.

In fact, I would venture a guess that there are numerous marketers that still manage their discipline that way.  Here's how I know, this is a true story I heard recently of a marketing team that did just that for years....

Over the course of 10 years, the company built a marketing department.  The team had directors, managers, designers, and much more.  In fact, I'm told they could produce brochures and stuff better than any printer around.  They had closets of chotchkies (you know all those cool fun giveaway items with your logo on them) and gift baskets.  They had shelves of marketing collateral printed and ready to go.  They even had enough tradeshow booths to run a show all their own.  The team grew and grew and reached just under 15 employees.

They were very good at creating STUFF.  However, I'm not sure they accounted for a turbulent economy and never thought a company that built that much around marketing would eliminate the entire team.  They did!  Want to know why?!?  Well, the company had to make cuts because of the economy and because this marketing team was more concerned with timelines and stuff and not results, they were perceived as a mere line item and cut.

So you may ask what is the point to all the storytelling today?  The point is this:

You MUST hold yourself accountable as a marketer to bring true value to your company.

And no, I don't mean value in meeting a timeline or coming in under budget.  Those items should be assumed.  What I am talking about is tying every marketing activity to the results....are you tracking ROI on what you do?  Here at Delivra, I manage our marketing and make sure it is measurable.  I hold my self accountable to bring results to the company and if I am not bringing results, then I adjust my tactics and plan.

Here's a simple way to think about it:  All marketing efforts can pretty much be tied to three things-brand awareness, lead generation/nurturing, and client retention.  Everything you do should have an end goal of supporting one of these three areas.  Measure the ROI on each tactic that contributes to those areas and you will very clearly begin to see which activities bring the best results.  That's one of the reasons I have always liked marketing technologies like email marketing.  They make it easy for you to track results in real-time and make sure you are getting the return.  For every dollar your company spends on marketing, your ROI should not only recoup that dollar, but multiply it!  Here's an interesting stat....

Email marketing will generate an ROI of $43.52 in 2009. DMA (2009)

Are you able to illustrate ROI to your company in a way that makes you and your function indispensable?  Are you able to create, manage, and adjust a marketing plan off of more than a gut feeling?  If not, then you should definitely look into measuring results through ROI tracking and looking at marketing as a way to boost your brand, generate leads, or retain clients.  Plain and simple.

Here's a helpful calculator that may help you. I'd love to hear what you think....Comment today!

Carissa Newton | Marketing