As marketers plan for a future that is increasingly focused on mobile, they need to let go of traditional measurement practices. New research from Econsultancy and Google shows how leading marketers are using smarter measurement to drive growth.
We know mobile has radically changed the consumer decision journey over the past decade. Today, people seamlessly move between channels and devices—from mobile to desktop to offline and back. As a result, our traditional rules and approaches to measurement no longer work. As marketers, we can't shy away from this new reality. Indeed, the leading marketers who are driving outstanding business results are those tackling these challenges head-on, and shifting their growth measurement mindset.
Google recently partnered with Econsultancy to better understand how senior marketers are adapting their measurement practices for our mobile world. Our findings show that marketing leaders―those who are succeeding beyond their business goals―share several common attributes:
- They focus on business metrics that really matter, like bottom line sales and profits, rather than campaign metrics, like clicks and conversions.
- They employ new tools and estimates to bridge gaps in measurement across devices and offline channels.
- They encourage a culture of experimentation to help answer strategic questions about new opportunities.
In more detail:
Leaders focus on business metrics that grow their business. 95% of the study's respondents agree that "to truly matter, marketing analytics' KPIs must be tied to broader business goals." Ad campaign metrics like clicks, impressions, and CPAs may be important, but in a mobile world they don't tell the whole story. Successful businesses are evolving their marketing KPIs to measure and optimize for strategies that drive the greatest business impact overall.
Leaders find new ways to bridge gaps. Leading marketers are 3X more likely to strongly agree that there will always be gaps in their ability to measure across devices and channels. They realize they're not always going to have perfect numbers for every point in their data set—but instead of waiting, they focus on building reliable benchmarks and estimates, learning what they need, and using those estimates to take action.
Leaders embrace big bet experiments. Top marketers are more than twice as likely to conduct strategic experiments than the mainstream. They invest resources in tests that answer business questions like "How can mobile help us reach our highest-value customers?" These leaders recognize that a culture and process flexible to strategic experimentation enables them to find the best opportunities for growth.
The secret weapon for these leading marketers isn't classified business insights or cutting edge technology; it's their mindset. They recognize that evolution is needed in order to measure marketing's real impact and to drive results in an always-mobile world.
Learn more about driving growth for your business from the Google/Econsultancy study, "Driving Growth with Measurement in a Mobile World."
