Article(s) relating to Benchmark Data, Marketing Metrics, Marketing Tests

Summary: Social media is gaining respect at a critical time – when budgets are being formulated. And this attitude adjustment is having a major effect on marketing spending. continue...

Summary: Email marketing continues to evolve. We surveyed 1,493 email marketers to find out how they’re managing traditional email tactics while adapting to new opportunities like social media.

Download this 16-page PDF excerpt from MarketingSherpa’s 2010 Email Marketing Benchmark Report for a highlights overview. The report features six charts that share new data on:
o Anticipated challenges for 2010
o Changes in email budgets
o Tactics that work
o Social media’s influence on email continue...

Summary: With budgets under pressure, management may expect marketers to be more accountable for their campaigns. But don’t fret -- establishing a process to provide greater accountability for your marketing efforts can give you the metrics you need, when you need them, and help you improve your campaigns.

We dove into the topic of marketing accountability with a senior director of marketing operations from Wal-Mart. She shared the four biggest challenges to establishing a culture of accountability in your marketing department, and offered advice for overcoming those challenges. continue...

Summary: Marketers are under constant pressure to measure everything they do. The result is often a default to tactics that are more easily and accurately measureable, regardless of their effectiveness. This is especially true in social media marketing which often requires qualitative measurement rather than quantitative metrics that are more familiar to online marketers. continue...

Summary: Social media marketing and public relations is emerging as a practice at a critical time. The economic recession has marketers exploring new tactics to generate revenue with minimal investment.

But what do you really know about social media marketing and PR? Do you know its ROI? Do you know... continue...

Summary: The most effective social media tactics are the most difficult to measure quantitatively. Don’t employ less effective tactics for the sake of measuring ROI. Consider the value of qualitative factors to gauge more effective tactics. continue...

Summary: Focusing on clicks and conversions can obscure the real indicators of a campaign’s success. For a more complete picture, try these neglected metrics.

We pulled together a Top-5 list from MarketingSherpa’s Search Marketing Benchmark Guide and experienced marketers who volunteered their favorites and tips on implementing them. Two major themes emerged: analyzing visitor behavior before and after a click; putting conversions into context to determine ROI. continue...

Summary: The open rate for email is not what it seems. In fact, the stalwart of email marketing metrics is flawed because image blocking reduces the ability to measure an open rate. So, it’s limited in its usefulness for email marketers.

This is why email marketers should think twice before making changes to their strategies and programs based solely on open rates. continue...

Summary: Search marketing continues to show good ROI despite rising costs. And those marketers who enhance their knowledge of analytics will see their investment in both, search engine optimization and paid search, yield positive returns.

In our latest chart, we break down the value for SEO and PPC marketing and answer the question: Is paid search becoming too expensive? continue...

Summary: Your customers open and read transactional emails – shipping notices, receipts, statements, etc. – far more regularly than typical communications. That’s why it is a missed opportunity for many marketers who don’t add complementary products or offers to these service messages.

However, if used incorrectly, few tactics have the potential to sour a permission email relationship as quickly. See three steps to create a transactional email with a purpose. continue...