“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”
This is one of the most iconic quotes in marketing to this day, yet too many companies still have not learned the lesson it is trying to teach.
The digital transformation has ushered in a new age of the search for attribution. Thousands of companies, products and agencies will happily sell you the magical solution to marketing attribution and while we have come a long way, the dream of full marketing attribution is still just that, a dream.
Despite being able to track nearly every click, view and scroll users partake in, there is no great solution to unraveling the customer journey. Some companies have nailed down a piece or two (although they will sell it as much more) but in a world with content exposure available on every screen, billboard, TV and radio ad you hear, not to mention good old word of mouth, the journeys consumers take towards brand adoption are far too complex to break down onto a spreadsheet or dashboard.
Unfortunately, too many companies rely purely on quantifiable attribution and ROAS metrics to determine if their marketing works and this is what kills marketing efforts. The truth is, consumers are sick of being marketed to. The social platforms, our apps and every other website we go to buys and sell our information in an effort to better market to us. The sheer magnitude of it has caused massive marketing fatigue and has not only diminished the effectiveness of many marketing channels but its made them completely toxic.
This is why there has been such a shift to content and influencer marketing. The feel of authenticity from these mediums can lower a consumers guard and make them susceptible to messaging the way traditional advertising used to. The problem is, these mediums, that are becoming the most effective type of marketing are the hardest to quantify. Because of this, companies too reliant on Attribution and direct ROAS metrics are not leveraging the most powerful marketing tools at their disposal.
To these companies and businesses I say LET GO. Try new things. Make content. Make a LOT of content. Test constantly. Don’t be constrained. More is better than perfect. And lastly, you won’t be able to quantify it all and that needs to be ok.
Look at marketing as a vehicle to build brand identity and consumer equity. Be patient with it. The ROAS will come. Focus on the consumer for now.