...or Is My Brand Working?

To measure the impact and effectiveness of marketing and branding on the bottom line alone is a mistake. There are far too many facets of the success equation. It is easy to lose enthusiasm and focus if there are no intermediate benchmarks of success for activities that will ultimately affect the bottom line.

The value of reputation, relationships, brand awareness and consumer attitudes related to your business, are impossible to measure just on financial return.

A thorough evaluation of where your business is now and the identification of the most important next goal is a good place to start.

Other measures of ROI are:

-number of leads generated

-total sales revenue generated

-change in awareness of your brand ? attention form the media

-change in market share

-change in buying pattern re products, days etc.

-change in intent to buy

-increase in incremental sales revenue

-customer retention

Look for ways to track your progress keeping the end in mind. It is all about prioritizing and being able to identify and sort the factors that are crucial to your success, from the insignifcant details it's so easy to get caught up in.

It may feel more productive to be doing, but it is actually more constructive to be planning. The odds of achieving marketing success increase exponentially if you are aware of what has succeeded and failed in the past. 80 to 90% of effort is well spent on identification, planning and determining the success metrics, with the balance on execution and assessment.

The owner of a successful business or product is often reported as saying, "It seemed to develop a life of it's own and just take off." It could be a lucky break but often it's the result of years of experience and thought finally put into action.

Nancy Fraser is the President of Nota Bene Consulting a marketing and advertising firm that encourages their clients to "First Ponder, Then Dare". Sign up for the free ezine at http://www.notable-marketing.com