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Sean McCoy shares an older but always relevant post on why marketing departments need to align marketing spend with direction. 

The CFO says to the CMO, “Let’s boost marketing spend by 1% this month. Where should we spend it?” The ability to answer that question is true north for Marketing departments in B2C industries.

With big data and analytics radically reshaping the marketing function, CMOs now have the power to answer the CFO’s question almost instantly down to the specific market, message, channel, and product. Today’s analytical tools also allow the CMO to state with accuracy the expected incremental sales and profit from that incremental marketing spend.

That level of analytical prowess and business intelligence is true north for marketing departments. From our experience helping B2C firms with marketing strategy and marketing analytics, some marketing departments are already there, but most are somewhere along the journey. When we look at how Marketing departments can create growth and value now, the immediate priority for many companies is to develop a robust Marketing Analytics capability.

For firms we have seen at the beginning of the Marketing Analytics journey, achieving true north by building a best-in-class ROMI (return on marketing investment) tool and acting on the initial insights improved their marketing effectiveness by 10-25%.

Knowing is half the battle

The first step in this journey is the recognition that the old ways of doing things are fading. The old adage that “half of my marketing spend is a waste. I just don’t know which half” doesn’t hold up today when consumers can be tracked through their digital customer journey and digital decision-making process.

Marketing ROI

The second step is to build out the systems and processes to measure customer acquisition and retention at a detailed level. The entire marketing and sales function, including vendors, agencies, and IT departments must work together to understand and measure the journey; from prospect, through lead and first purchase, and finally repeat business.

Key points include:

• Building systems and processes
• Consumer behaviors and expectations
• Tracking the customer journey

Read the full article, Marketing’s true north capability, on McCoyConsultingGroup.com.