Marketing can be complex. And it can certainly be expensive.

But we do it because we love it, and it’s the thrill of making an impact that keeps us going.  The new creative test that lifts your response rates, or a killer multi-channel campaign that brings sales pouring in, there’s nothing like a successful piece of marketing to lift the spirits.

But it’s not always easy to get a clear picture of which channels or campaigns are working.  With so many messages going to your customers, often at the same time, how do you sort out the wheat from the chaff?

Many companies are having to base their marketing plans on incomplete or inaccurate data.  Maybe you’re familiar with some of these issues –

• Attribution reports that don’t include offline channels
• Econometrics that don’t not have all digital or direct marketing efforts
• Siloed media reports based on blunt rules such as last click or first click
• Multiple channels taking credit for the same sale

You don’t need to put up with inaccurate data though.  Multi-channel, real-time measurement is possible, as long as follow some key principles.

Removing bias

Biased reporting can lead you to the wrong conclusions and therefore the wrong actions.  You need to be sure that your reports are channel agnostic and impartial in their analysis.

Where are you getting your attribution reports from?  Are you confident in their independence?

Include all your channels

It may seem obvious, but you need to include all your channels in your analysis.   Not just the outbound channels of email, direct mail, telephony, but your website, SEO and social.  You can’t ignore a channel just because it’s more difficult to measure, or your results will be skewed.

Differentiating customer types

Again, it may be obvious, but different customers will react to different channels in different ways.   New customers for example may be more influenced by your website than existing customers.  Or is your SEO strategy really driving any sales from your existing customers?

So, just as your marketing strategy differentiates between acquisition, retention and win-back of customers across customer segments, so should the recommendations from your attribution models – which is only available from your database analytics.

Contact us on 01273 220510 for a demo of our attribution and multi-channel measurement solution.

Read more about how to approach attribution modelling here.