A business can be measured by any number of metrics, with sales and revenue among the most important. But looking at the bottom line also means understanding other aspects of the business – including marketing strategy. Often referred to as a top line metric, marketing’s got a bad reputation as a cost-centre, but its potential to support key functions is much more significant than that.
Tying marketing to sales and other business objectives can be done with the right strategy and systems in place to measure the success of your efforts towards the right targets.
Start by gathering data
In order to craft a strategy that drives results that affect the bottom line, you first need to take a closer look at the market and your business – you know what we’re about to say: do your research. Research methods we use include:
- Customer interviews
- Focus groups
- Stakeholder interviews
- Observation
Data is the best teacher
Not all marketing efforts start out with a high degree of success – and that’s normal. What’s important is what you do with the insights you collect from your efforts.
When you’re able to look at the data to see what worked and what didn’t, and then combine that with what you already know about your customers, you’re able to continuously craft marketing strategies that deliver consistently better results.
Part and parcel of making these direct links from marketing to business objectives comes back to market research that leads to informed strategy, followed by consistent implementation and a reliable measurement process.
Systems are a prerequisite to marketing you can measure.
Using data, we can explore what stages of the buyer’s journey led to actions that are linked to business objectives and develop a marketing strategy around those successful touchpoints – but this is really only effective when you are consistent about tracking your results. Make sure you develop a strategy with KPIs in mind and a system to track those KPIs on a regular basis.
Support your bottom line with digital marketing that’s directly linked to sales. Learn more about our Impact Assessment market research process at https://www.wearebottomline.com/process/