To introduce this topic of how measurement can impact your bottom line, let’s start with a story about a man who created the Genius Bar at Apple and moved to another company to transfer his leadership skills and vision. Here is how to story goes.
Ron Johnson didn’t like the way JC Penney did business. Every time a customer walked in, they were faced with inflated list prices and then had to wait for sales and coupons to bring those prices back down to earth.
Ron, who was hired as their hotshot CEO for the struggling iconic retailer, wanted to introduce a new approach to pricing called “fair-and-square.” Under this approach, everyday low prices would be the norm and there would be no more waiting for sales and coupons.
Johnson was a man of action. He believed in relying on his gut instincts and quickly got rid of meetings to review data and store performance. He saw no need for a pilot program – he would just jump right in and take the company in the direction he felt was best. Unfortunately, this approach didn’t work out so well.
When the numbers started coming in, sales were down, way down, and customer satisfaction ratings were plummeting. It quickly became clear that Johnson had made a grave miscalculation.
Their customers didn’t want fair prices – they wanted to feel like savvy bargain hunters! They loved scoring discounts on top of discounts and showing off their skills at getting the best deals. They wanted to win the game of shopping.
JC Penney was in trouble, and Johnson was quickly losing credibility. He tried to change too much too fast without adequate testing on the potential impact. Jumping in this new and exciting direction ended up decimating JC Penney.
By learning from our actions, we can do better. Especially in the wake of the pandemic. Many business owners have been running a little too fast and loose without paying attention to their numbers. And this cautionary tale illustrates how ignoring the numbers can not only create a failing marketing campaign, it can bankrupt an entire company.
So how can we do better? The first step to better marketing is understanding your customers. We can all do a better job of listening to our customers. And measurement marketing is how that’s done. By paying attention to what their behaviours are on our websites, reviewing what ads resonate with them and reviewing the metrics to see what works and what doesn’t.
With this knowledge, you can create a marketing strategy that resonates with your audience and drives better results. When you have a better handle on your numbers it creates clarity and certainty about the future of your business.
When we don’t have measurement marketing in place, these are the common side effects of not listening to your prospective customers:
- Inability to pinpoint where you’re losing prospects in the customer journey
- Wasted ad spending on campaigns that aren’t working
- Lack of clarity on how to scale the business
- Inability to forecast business revenues months in advance
- No metrics in place to visualize the middle steps in the buying journey
- Unaware of your key performance indicators
- Management decisions are rooted in guesswork as opposed to metrics
- Blind to the changing buying behaviours due to the pandemic
Every marketing dollar counts, especially during challenging times. Marketing measurement is the key to understanding your customers. Without it, you’re flying blind. Thanks to advanced marketing techniques and the right technology, there are many small changes that can be made to drive revenue up and costs down. Let us show you how it’s done.
We will dig into the customer data hidden in your website and turn it into actionable insights to improve your sales and business growth. Contact us today for a consultation.
