But, one thing is usually missing from those articles and sales pitches -- explaining just how to calculate that higher marketing ROI that they talk about. Strategic Marketing for Growing Companies Why Marketers Must be Better By Cliff Allen on April 10, 2007 4:08 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks A lot has been written about increasing the ROI of various marketing activities. The reason they dont want to talk about how to measure marketing ROI is that its very hard to do. But being hard is no reason to skip the rigor of actually measuring the bottom line benefit of marketing. MORE >>

Some people who talk about increasing marketing ROI are referring to increasing sales revenue. So, theyre happy when they generate $2 in sales for every $1 in marketing expense. Marketing typically generates $1-$4 of sales revenue for every marketing dollar spent, so a $2 return is typical, but that still doesnt answer the question of how marketing compares with the rest of the company. In other words, an increase in net cash flow means an increase in profit - not sales revenue. Its very likely that your ROI is higher than the investments in the rest of the company! MORE >>

It reminded me that many experienced executives and sales managers have a good feel for where a potential market is -- but it may not be such a good market. The sales manager is likely to tell the marketing manager, "I found a new market we can sell to!". Every marketer has done market research, even if it's just looking at a competitor's traffic at Compete.com. But, we sometimes forget just how many ways we can use market research. Recently, I found a list of ways market research could be used that included a few I hadn't thought about. How big is it? MORE >>

It reminded me that many experienced executives and sales managers have a good feel for where a potential market is -- but it may not be such a good market. The sales manager is likely to tell the marketing manager, "I found a new market we can sell to!". Every marketer has done market research, even if it's just looking at a competitor's traffic at Compete.com. But, we sometimes forget just how many ways we can use market research. Recently, I found a list of ways market research could be used that included a few I hadn't thought about. How big is it? MORE >>

We all know that marketing is a process -- a never ending process of generating awareness, interest, leads and, of course, sales. 3) The importance of sales lead cultivation.all with a special emphasis on the business software industry. Michael has packed a lot into 12 pages, but if your B-to-B marketing and sales operation isn't meeting it's goals take a look at page 9 for the likely solution. Periodically we need to step back and review our online marketing strategy to make sure that our day-to-day tactics are the best uses of our resources. MORE >>