Even though marketing technology is advancing, existing tools don’t fully match arising needs and challenges of the industry. There are still no universal measurement standards, so marketers around the globe are struggling to justify huge investments, which amount to $560 bln annually, according to A. Guttmann research. In the article we will cover the limitations of the current ROMI approaches, that McKinsey experts point out, and our capabilities for dealing with them.

We are trying to keep you updated on all marketing measurement trends, that’s why we prepared an article on the use of measurement tools after the phase-out of cookies and IDFA. Get ready to privacy changes and apply solutions that won’t be affected by the new conditions. See how MMM, MTA, brand studies and other approaches are going to function without third-party cookies.

Due to users massively shifting to online and mobile content, a huge part of the marketing spend is allocated to digital channels. It’s a reasonable strategy, but what we do wrong is measure the results of such campaigns. We focus too much on short-term results and user-level data, that seem more accurate, just because the tools like multi-touch attribution allow it, and not always because it’s necessary. Personalized messages and near-time optimization are important, but we shouldn’t forget about the upper funnel and earlier stages of the customer journey.

A large share of marketing spend goes into brand-building activities, but it is not so thoroughly analyzed or its performance is evaluated by the same standards as the lower funnel spends, which results in a false understanding of the impact. Even though such activities do not usually have immediate direct outcome like sales, they ensure future demand and customer loyalty. As we have already mentioned in an earlier article, brand is one of the most valuable assets of an enterprise. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to get a real picture of brand marketing performance, so companies have nothing else to do but rely on media agency for guidance. But if you have reliable tools that generate data-driven insights, you can optimize your marketing spend and achieve significant incremental growth.

There are two main cross-channel ROMI approaches for tracking marketing effectiveness: marketing-mix modeling (MMM) and multi touch attribution (MTA). Each has its strength and weaknesses and results they produce are not always satisfying. Further we will discuss limitations of existing ROMI measurement approaches pointed out by McKinsey experts and explain how our platform can be used to overcome them. 

• Focus on late-funnel stages: our models can take into account many KPIs at different stages of the customer journey, not only sales and conversions. Brand advertising can also be included in the model as a factor. The advantage of our approach is that you don’t need to gather a new dataset or build a new model for each KPI.
• Focus on the past: Initially MMM was a backward looking tool, but AdoptoMedia can measure the effectiveness of both digital and traditional media almost in the real time, as well as forecast an outcome of a campaign based on historical data. The use of a metamodeling approach even allows for making forecasts in cases without historical data, such as a new product launch or market entry.
• Data on traditional media is not granular enough. For Marketing Mix Modelling we use aggregated data sets and obtain results at the regional and branch level, which have proved to be very accurate.
• The impact of message and creative is not taken into account. With our solution these aspects can be accounted for as factors in the model.
• Gap between measurements and implementation of insights: Our AI enhanced platform not only calculates the effectiveness of your media mix in real time, but it also automatically generates optimization suggestions without changing the set budget. You can quickly change you tactics to improve campaign performance.
• Lack of real-time optimization: With our comprehensive platform you can track campaign execution and make real-time optimizations when necessary.

As you can see, our solution is exactly what many companies are looking for today. It will help marketers justify investments, prove their effectiveness and get financing from CFOs, which has always been an issue. According to a recent McKinsey survey, 45% of finance managers claim that marketing proposals did not get enough or even any funding because their contribution wasn’t clear.  However, marketing contributes much more to the growth than one might think, that’s why these investments should be protected and optimized during a downturn, not cut. Researches show that companies with better marketing accountability usually demonstrate significant performance improvement, so Forbes started an initiative to improve marketing accountability and raise awareness about its importance.

Effective brand marketing requires a few elements:

1. High-quality data and a single standard for different parties. AdoptoMedia checks data quality, and all our models pass about 20 statistical tests before they are used. Data in our system is stored in convenient manageable databases where you can set different access levels. Our platform gives visibility into marketing operations for C-suite manages. So reports on marketing performance are always available to top executives.
2. Agile operations. With our system it’s easy to manage contracts, approve media plans and adjust them, so the whole process becomes much easier and quicker. And with ongoing real-time analytics you can use data-driven insights to make tactical changes to your campaign.
3. Collaboration with experienced agencies. Our platform helps to arrange workflow with agencies to manage media deals, contracts and invoicing processes. Media planning process becomes structured and simpler with AdoptoMedia.

AdoptoMedia offers a flexible platform that can be easily integrated into company’s IT-infrastructure and with different management software. With all three modules you can even create a full-cycle in-house agency to manage your media mix, media planning and media billing. Our solution is combined with AI, which allows for automatic building and updating of ROMI models. With our platform you can automate daily marketing processes and increase ROMI by 10-30%.