Do you have standards for marketing measurement and data?
What exactly does this mean?
Well, it means you have a standard way to name, store and track data across your organization, according to new research (Registration required) From software provider Claravine and research firm Advertiser Perceptions. This might include a shared taxonomy of marketing data, measurement metrics, or even tracking code.
Do you have that?
According to research, probably not.
However, 95% of respondents believe standards are necessary to move forward and demonstrate ROI in advertising and marketing. The majority of agencies (98%) and client marketers (81%) believe that without data standards practices, their companies will fall behind competitors or lose market share.
Yet, curiously, the same study found that these advertisers reported an average 33% increase in ROI that was (or could be) seen by implementing data standards.
wait. If they don’t have any data standards, how can they be so confident in the ROI they get from it?
We wanted to know more, so we asked Robert Rose, CMI’s chief strategy advisor, for his take. Continue reading or watch this video:
Fascinating findings from new data standards research
When I talk to marketers at workshops, trainings, and consulting, I talk a lot about setting the bar—the definition of everything that crosses the threshold of marketing and content operations. That’s why I was particularly interested in the “State of Marketing Data Standards” report released this week by Claravine and Advertiser Perceptions.
It looks at the importance of setting standards and the challenges companies encounter when setting them. Some of these findings are fascinating, if not obvious.
For example, researchers found that advertisers who have implemented a data standards strategy (34%) have a greater understanding of data standards than those who have not (10%).
Well, that makes sense. If you haven’t implemented something, you’re unlikely to truly understand it. But wait.
This 34% stands out. Does this mean 66% of people have data standards strategy No Do you have a deep understanding of practice?
Although the study does not clarify this, the results almost certainly indicate that teams are implementing the standards even though they do not have a deep understanding of them.
Regardless of their understanding, marketers clearly believe that having data standards will improve things – this is reflected in the survey results where marketers expect a 33% return on investment after implementing a data standards strategy.
The impact of this policy implementation is even greater in categories such as privacy compliance and brand safety, and to a lesser extent in areas such as consumer experience, marketing campaigns, and productivity.
One in five ads goes to the wrong consumers
Another finding from the study caught my attention. Not surprisingly, it was concluded that a key benefit of having data standards is increased confidence and improved performance visibility. This is especially important since approximately 23% of ad creatives are targeted at the wrong consumers.
Let me say it again. According to these marketers, more than one in five ads ends up in front of the wrong consumers.
Is this just the advertiser’s opinion or an estimate? Or is it accurate, but the advertiser’s fault because they didn’t or had the wrong ad profile classified? Or is it an ad platform error that places ads into unspecified or misinterpreted categories? If the latter is the case, is it because the advertising platform does not have data standards for managing advertising inventory?
Research doesn’t shed light on why. However, the results become front and center in the business case to ensure you have the right data standards for your advertising.
This is the hardest part of the standard
What’s my opinion?
Well, I’m fascinated, but not surprised. I often tell clients that one of the easiest ways to get immediate ROI from developing a content strategy is to Company Content and Communications Standards. You cannot do this by downloading the template from the Internet. You can only do this if you come together as a marketing function and define them.
For example, what is an e-book? What is the definition of white paper? What is a blog post? What is the standard name for what marketing does? Is this an event? Is this an initiative? Is this a project? What is the difference between events and initiatives? What is a theme? What are content pillars? What is the standard name for your character?
From there, you can continue taking measurements. What is your standard definition of a lead, opportunity? What counts as a download? What is conversion?
Is it any wonder that marketing can do this? Feel So hard to measure? However, this is not the case. The hardest part of measuring is just Measurement standards.
as Ohno TaiichiThe founder of the Toyota Production System said decades ago, “Without standards, there can be no progress.”
Or, as I ask my clients many times, “How will you know if you are successful if you don’t agree on your criteria for success?”
Interestingly, this new research inadvertently suggests that as a marketer, your approach to setting standards must meet the needs of your team.
If you approach the development of team-wide marketing, content, advertising, or data standards by using external definitions, you will immediately fall into the trap of seeing how they don’t apply to your organization because you don’t understand how they work.
But if you sit down and collaborate to define what needs to be standardized so that you have a shared vision of your goals and objectives, you’ll find that they make sense for your organization, even if they differ from how the world sees them.
Remember, the purpose of any standard is to enable improvements to it. However, to improve anything, you first need to define what you mean by improvement. In other words, before accuracy can mean anything, you have to define the standard or truth.
Then you have standards that set the standard, and that should become your marketing standard.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
