Most marketing organizations are being told that they need to do a better job of measuring marketing performance. While this task is certainly complex, there are proven methods to determine the payback from marketing investments. Before you commit to a Marketing Dashboard initiative, consult Demand Metric's downloadable Dashboard Readiness Assessment to determine if you have the required capabilities to be successful.

Capabilities Required to Measure Performance:

• Marketing Metrics & Dashboard Capability - key performance indicators are used to monitor, measure, and predict future results; effectiveness measures are selected prior to campaign launch; causal links have been identified in marketing & business metrics; a high-level dashboard exists.
• Business Process Documentation & Maturity - defined, repeatable processes exist for: sales; marketing; billing; customer service; order management; strategic planning; campaign planning; project management.
• Data Management & Information Assets - customer and product information needs to be stored safely in either a data warehouse or online storage system. Transactional data can be used to glean predictive insights.
• Human Resources & Skill Sets - resources will be available for developing/learning new processes; members of department clearly understand their role & responsibility; staff is comfortable working with data.
• System & Technology - the following systems are deployed: customer relationship management (CRM); marketing resource management (MRM); campaign management software; business intelligence & marketing analytics; integrated demand generation platform; sales & marketing portal.

Action Plan:

1. Conduct a Readiness Assessment - use our downloadable Dashboard Readiness Assessment tool to measure your preparedness across 5 dimensions.
2. Evaluate Results - review your Scorecard to identify key areas that need to be addressed immediately, can be completed over time, or can be ignored.
3. Communicate Abilities - once you understand your capabilities, communicate with senior management to ensure that they know what is required for effectively measure marketing performance.
4. Determine your Needs - some organizations do not require a fully integrated, end-to-end, marketing performance measurement solution. If you do have a need for this type of system, commence budgeting discussions to get the proper systems, processes, and skill sets you need.
5. Learn Best Practices - read our Best Practices Report: Implementing Effective Marketing Dashboards to discover implementation best practices.
6. Get Professional Help - speak to an expert Analyst or Consultant about how to best approach this initiative. There are consulting firms like Quaero who specialize in implementing marketing performance measurement systems for companies with a wide variety of needs.

Bottom-Line:

Measuring marketing performance is not just a buzz phrase; this trend will continue to gain momentum in mid-sized enterprises. Before you promise the world, analyze your current capabilities and constraints to determine how able your organization can measure the return on marketing investments.