Marketing Metrics in Action

Talk about marketing accountability has become almost commonplace. Most marketing executives understand the need to know the numbers. The real question is, ""Which numbers?"" Marketing Metrics in Action: Creating a Performance-Driven Marketing Organization answers those questions and addresses those problems with a balance of sound theory and technique and practical application. The author, a veteran of marketing on both ""sides""--the client side and the consultant side--explains how you need to begin by identifying the elements of the right culture. First, every company's product makeup, competitive situation, resources, and internal strengths and weaknesses differ. So do its needs for particular metrics. It is necessary to be able to identify which metrics matter to your organization's circumstances. Next it is necessary to create a culture of accountability. Everyone in the organization has to be -and be seen as being--on the same side and n the same page. Finance can't be seen as ""the enemy,"" and Sales and Marketing need work especially hard to coordinate their efforts. But this sense of accountability needs to extend from the C-Suite to the customer service and order entry people. Quality approaches and sophisticated ideas then become much more productive in the marketplace. A metrics audit will help establish where you are now, and mapping will enable you to align processes to better develop your dashboard. This book provides wise counsel for identifying which metrics matter most to your organization and practical guidance for putting all the sophisticated marketing tools to profitable use in your company.

Laura Patterson is the co-founder and president of VisionEdge Marketing, Inc., a data-driven and metrics-focused marketing firm that specializes in improving marketing performance. Her passion for analytics and measuring value is shown throughout her nearly 30 years of sales and marketing experience at companies such as State Farm, Motorola, DME Systems, Alex Sheshunoff, and Evolutionary Technologies. The author of two other books, including Gone Fishin': A Guide to Finding, Hooking, Keeping, and Growing Profitable Customers and Measure What Matters: Reconnecting Marketing to Business Goals, Laura is also a regular columnist for CEO Refresher and Marketing Profs, and a contributor and Board Member at CustomerThink. She has appeared as a guest lecturer at various universities, including Purdue, Truman State, and the University of Texas at Austin, and at several associations, including the American Marketing Association, the Association of National Advertisers, The Business Marketing Association.