The Real Success Metric of Marketers

June 21, 2010

It is unfortunate that many individuals continue to judge marketing campaigns and initiatives based on levels of generated “awareness.” The purpose of marketing should be much more than to make consumers aware of products and services. The purpose of marketing should be to drive consumers to action. It is nice when a campaign makes a consumer aware of a new product, but it’s nicer when the campaign motivates the consumer to purchase the new product. This is not a new concept. Remember the old English rule? Active voice always trumps passive voice. Action always trumps inaction.

Awareness as a success metric is a cop-out. It continues to be used because creating a consumer action requires consumers to change their behaviors. That is no easy task. Few of us enjoy change and even fewer want to instigate it.

In most product categories, consumers are locked in automatic behaviors. Creating consumer behavior change requires that marketers break through the inertia and create new behaviors. This task is not as daunting as one may think. It starts by deeply understanding a consumer—not only their wants and needs, but how they make decisions.  A familiarity with their mental models is essential because it allows marketers to discern the opportune times to disrupt consumer inertia. It is then possible to provide consumers compelling rationale to act. Good marketers go one step further—they give consumers a reason to keep acting.  (Action always trumps inaction, remember?)

Marketers are not always judged by the degree to which they change behavior. They should be.

posted by brian newberry June 21, 2010 in blog, rehavior

comments

Brian S. Murtha says: June 22, 2010 at 12:18 pm I was reviewing some various marketing agencies websites last week and was reviewing some awards that the firm had one for their work. The work was very creative, entertaining, and engaging but nothing in the ad had a call to action for the consumer to buy or use the consumer’s product. The judges of the spots should be the client’s CFO to see if the company received an ROI on their investment with the agency. Judging good marketing is simple. Good marketing achieves the measurable positive results that the client was hoping for. Great marketing not only achieves measurable positive results but also creates awareness by creating campaigns that connect with the target audience, resonate the specific message, and influences their behavior. Humans by nature are creatures of habit and generally resist attempts to modify their behavior unless they receive a good reason. Great marketing gives consumers a good reason to act the way great marketers want them to act. This can be a difficult task that combines research, psychology, strategy, finances, and art. The great marketer will arm himself with this information and choose the right audience, with the right message, the most effective ways to deliver this message, and then will use metrics to evaluate the campaign. The next time you hear people talking at the water cooler about that great advertising spot, think to yourself, the ad may be memorable but does it have a call to action to change the way consumers behave. Reply