Recently, on the Next MBA programme Jakob Stigler, from Mano Copenhagen, emphasised having a single Metric of Truth to ensure a radical improvement in the effectiveness of marketing.
We couldn’t agree more with this philosophy.
But this of course begs the next question: “Which metric do you choose?”
The answer can feel a bit like one of the crazy interactions between the Cheshire Cat and Alice.
Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
Alice: “I don’t much care where.”
Cheshire Cat: “Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.”
The truth is, most of the time we end up choosing a metric that is a lag measure (See The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Covey, Huling and McChesney). A lag measure is something that is an end result
E.g. Increase Revenue by 10x or Increase the sales of SKU Y by 200%.
It’s an end goal that has no intrinsic daily, weekly or monthly measurability. We need tangible, real tiem metrics that are quickly and easily measurable, and that will help us arrive at the bigger Revenue or Sales goal.
So, for example, if we want to improve a service orientated business’s revenue, we need a time frame in which to do it and we need to decide on the one, absolutely crucial thing that will assist to move that needle.
In this case it may be the quality of leads we generate through our digital marketing activities. That means we forget about big brand communication and organic social content and all we focus on is the a/b testing of lead forms, Call to Action ads and the vetting of the leads that enter the funnel.
Only once that is absolutely streamlined and refined do we then venture out into other areas to support it.
So one metric is absolutely crucial to overall success, but make sure you are choosing the right one and expressing it really clearly to your creative teams and media partners.