Measuring Return On Investment

...or Is My Brand Working?

To measure the impact and effectiveness of marketing and branding on the bottom line alone is a mistake. There are far too many facets of the success equation. It is easy to lose enthusiasm and focus if there are no intermediate benchmarks of success for activities that will ultimately affect the bottom line.

The value of reputation, relationships, brand awareness and consumer attitudes related to your business, are impossible to measure just on financial return.

A thorough evaluation of where your business is now and the identification of the most important next goal is a good place to start.

Other measures of ROI are:

-number of leads generated

-total sales revenue generated

-change in awareness of your brand - attention form the media

-change in market share

-change in buying pattern re products, days etc.

-change in intent to buy

-increase in incremental sales revenue

-customer retention

Look for ways to track your progress keeping the end in mind. It is all about prioritizing and being able to identify and sort the factors that are crucial to your success, from the insignifcant details it's so easy to get caught up in.

It may feel more productive to be doing, but it is actually more constructive to be planning. The odds of achieving marketing success increase exponentially if you are aware of what has succeeded and failed in the past. 80 to 90% of effort is well spent on identification, planning and determining the success metrics, with the balance on execution and assessment.

The owner of a successful business or product is often reported as saying, "It seemed to develop a life of it's own and just take off." It could be a lucky break but often it's the result of years of experience and thought finally put into action.

Nancy Fraser is the President of Nota Bene Consulting a marketing and advertising firm that encourages their clients to "First Ponder, Then Dare". Sign up for the free ezine at http://www.notable-marketing.com

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Branding Information:

Related Articles

How Much Is A Great Business Logo Really Worth?
A great logo can help a business project a positive image while a bad logo can bring a negative impression about a company. For many companies, a logo is the only identifiable mark a potential customer may ever see, so it needs to be memorable, descriptive and easily recognizable.
Company Vehicles Have Advertising on Them; Tips on Driving in Parking Lots
Try to avoid backing up whenever possible. Occasionally some one in a small car will park directly behind you at a gas station or stop sign.
Branding Mistakes - Brand Identity Guru
1. It "sells itself.
What is an Artists Statement & How Often Should It Be Updated?
An artist's statement is a statement of ideas and thoughts that describe your philosophy, vision, and passion towards your artistic creations.Ponder over the following questions prior to writing your artist's statement:Is your work whimsical, thought provoking, or edgy?Does it portray a series of stories?Whom or what has influenced you the most?How is your work meaningful to you?How do you begin to write your artists statement? You could begin by writing a quote that has inspired you and your work, or you could create a strong sentence that summarizes your philosophy about your life and how art has changed your views on life in general.
Strategic Moves In The Branding Gamble!
The so called 'globalisation' has cluttered the world markets with so many products and services that nearly 90% of the marketing managers in competing companies do pretty much the same to sustain in the market. There is not much difference in the way P&G operates as compared to how Unilever gets its products to the market.
Brand Equity - Brand Identity Guru
7 Qualities Of A Strong Brand:1. Commands premium pricing while retaining loyalty2.
Jan Verhoeff: Brand Your Market
Marketing potential of any product is based on recognition and quality. Name based recognition happens with a variety of products.
Optimize Your Mailing List For Better Results
A list of customers who have previously bought from you is your most important asset. These are the customers who will provide you with return business, which is more profitable than the first sale.
Britney Spears Branding
How would you like to sell as much in one year as Britney sells in one day or in one hour? Have you put much thought into how marketing empires are created? If you're selling anything then you're a marketer and you should study the biggest successes to follow in their footsteps.We've all heard of branding, but do you do it? Have you branded yourself? If you have, are you expanding your marketing opportunities with your brand?Once you've created a name, built successful marketing campaigns and gotten people to know and like who you and your company are don't stop there.
Branding Your Products Is Important
I was chatting with a couple of friends, all of us are either copy writers or graphic designers?or both?.in the advertising industry, so, naturally, our conversations leaned towards the topic.
Are You Brand Worthy?
Branding is one hot topic, although it is wildly misunderstood. To make things even more confusing, branding is often tossed in the same basket as marketing which makes its application to an entrepreneur or sole-practioner even more unclear.
Logo Design - Branding - Brand Identity Guru
Do you have any idea how important your company logo is? Well you should. It appears on everything from your corporate identity system, brochures to your website, reaching customers, prospects, vendors and the press.
Branding On The Web Is Like Mining For Fools Gold
I am sick and tired of marketing geeks touting the beauty of branding, brand building and just spouting branding in any context, especially when the term is used with "internet" or "web" or "digital!" You can't have a conversation today for more than five minutes without some marketing type throwing in a line about brand building!Branding doesn't work with the net's warp speed - look at some of the leading online brand builders, including a certain big three TV network here in the states and a book seller in Seattle trying to do classic brand extension, from books to barbecues.We tell our B2B clients to build a revenue-producing online brand by developing a campaign that sells the value of their goods or services! Forget the esoteric, very expensive brand building campaigns that have no measurable impact! Here are my ten "cliff notes" to building an effective B2B Brand Online, B2C coming next article.
Boston Web Design Branding - Brand Identity Guru
A branding company's website purpose is to design websites that will attract attention, give a professional image and support the message you are trying to convey in writing. There are arguments for doing your website design in-house.
The Importance of Branding - Can It Really Make a Difference?
As consumers, we don't really think about the importance of branding. We just seem to go with the flow of brand names that have become synonymous with our daily living.
The Face of Your Business, Part I
When we initially started our businesses, we had to decide how we were going to market ourselves. Kind of an obvious statement - every business has to do that.
FTC Reviews The Franchise Rule
After more than a decade since the last attempt to update the 1970's Franchise Rule The Federal Trade Commission is at it again. May I ask why we are looking at reviewing these rules for franchising, where no problems exist? Why we are looking to tighten up ambiguities, which over time have occurred in this sector, when we should be dismantling the over regulations choking the industry? Why we are trying make rules upon rules, where no rules are needed since no problem really exits? Why can't we use the red magic marker approach and start drawing lines thru massive amount meaningless dribble required in these disclosure documents?Let me explain this philosophical thought for a moment.
Branding Junk Removal - He Did It, Can You?
What does it mean to be remarkable?Brian Scudamore, CEO and Founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, who in 1996 was operating the million dollar plus company at the age of 26, said it means, "You've got to get out there and be loud and proud..
Creative Branding Increases Sales Through Company Recognition
The one thing that everyone has in common is that we are all consumers; we all buy. Every day, from daily small purchases, like your morning coffee and newspaper, to big monthly or yearly purchases, like a television or a car.
The Role of a Visual Vocabulary in Brand Identity Design
Visual elements are a major part of your business's brand identity design. The keystone of that design is the logo, but in many cases, the logo isn't enough to convey all of your brand attributes.