It was John Wanamaker who claimed that half of what he spent on marketing was wasted. Since his death in 1922, new technologies allow advertisers to better understand what compels people to buy and how best to reach potential customers. If your marketing seems to be missing the target, digging into the data with an eye on the history of your advertisements and the outcome can help.
Look Backwards To See What’s Coming
Using media or marketing mix modeling to review the effectiveness of previous marketing campaigns as a way to build a better campaign in the future offers many benefits. This form of marketing review uses
- original marketing attempt
- historical sales data
- economic conditions
- weather issues
- competitor behavior and results
By reviewing the impact of all of these factors on sales, these reviews can give businesses information on the best way to move forward based on what happened the last time certain factors were in play.
Projections from this data aggregation can be then created. A business working to establish a new marketing campaign that includes a new logo or a brand improvement can review the results of the last promotion. What were their competitors producing at that time? What financial pressures were households under, and what benefits did the improvement offer?
While this data can prove highly useful, it is somewhat limited by the inability to pick up real-time events. Reviewing historical sales data doesn’t offer the chance to reach out to the buyers of today. Though current business owners may well have data on sales from the last time the nation moved towards recession, they may not be able to track the impact of the pandemic’s “YOLO” mindset.
Where To Get the Data
When setting up a media mix model study, you need to track
- on what platform the product is being marketed
- how much each platform is costing
- the results of each campaign
For example, social media platforms may serve one demographic much better than other demographics. A Facebook campaign that does poorly may have more to do with missing the mark on the age group you’re trying to touch than the graphics or video quality.
A hum-drum ad on a cheap platform could be quite lucrative. Put the same ad on an expensive platform and you’re starting to waste money. A quality media mix modeling campaign will also track the season that you launched the campaign, the effort your competitors were putting in, and whether or not it was flu season in the cities where your product was being strongly promoted. If the majority of your sales are still flowing out of sticks and bricks, great campaigns can be derailed by a significant weather event. Media mix modeling review can help you track the dip.
Media Mix Modeling In The B2B World
Media mix modeling in the B2B world offers a simpler data set with fewer variables in some ways. For example, if you’re a manufacturer selling to a wholesaler, the granular breakdown of single-item sales will likely not be included. Garment makers creating 1,000 handbags don’t need to trigger the “I want that” button of one shopper; they need to note trends and focus on large batch sales.
Those not selling directly to the consumer also need to focus on pipeline creation for larger quantity sales. Because large bulk sales take more time to close, fund, and ship, the need to expand your data timeline should not be overlooked. Though the sale may not close until June, the work from January to May will need to be included in the calculations for an accurate understanding of the outcome of the campaign.
B2B companies also need to carefully review post-sale data. Selling just one purse that doesn’t please a customer is generally not a hard hit to the bottom line. However, those selling large shipments of products to a retailer need to know that product outcomes are generally positive. Is this marketing or customer service?
It’s both marketing and customer service. Marketing needs to know what didn’t work and why. All the sales skills in the world will not repair a damaged relationship. A retailer who feels they’ve been hung out to dry by a poor product line will have a great reason to look elsewhere and competitors are always ready to step up. B2B marketing teams need to keep their finger on the pulse of products that aren’t satisfying customers at the retail level.
B2B Specifics: Using Media Mix Modeling To Demonstrate Steady Deliveries
Pipeline proof is also of great benefit to many retailers. If you’re a wholesaler providing to retailers, this means that your marketing team needs to be closely enmeshed with logistics to be sure that what is offered can be ordered and what is ordered can be delivered.
Historical information on what didn’t work in these instances can obviously be skewed. Nobody really planned to run out of toilet paper in 2020, but panic buying is certainly a risk when life gets uncertain. A thorough understanding of what fails when orders back up should be tied to marketing; maintaining an effective relationship with retailers often means tracking down this history and making small corrections to avoid a similar product or time crunch.
Marketing impacts the brain on an emotional level. Consumers note an image or a message and develop a feeling about the product. Nobody really needed a Cabbage Patch Kid or a Tickle Me Elmo, but there were many folks who were willing to fight for one when supplies got low. One of the challenges of reviewing the results of marketing by media mix modeling is that it is driven by historical data. Whether you’re selling directly to the public or marketing your goods as a wholesaler to a retailer, knowing what worked and why can help set up markers and options for the next marketing campaign.
