If there is a single inviolate rule in database marketing, this is it. It’s just amazing how often otherwise very smart marketers discover that they’ve put a campaign, a new product launch, sometimes even an entire database marketing program together without first determining with specificity how they’re going to measure it on the backend to figure out how much money they made or lose in the effort. I’ve stepped on that land mind myself, more than once.
Even when they do think about ROI up front, they sometimes don’t take the time to sit down with the analytical resource that’s going to provide the data to verify that everyone has what they need when it’s time to count the beans. The whole premise of the discipline is to improve business measurably and the senior managers in most companies have this funny habit of expecting marketers to cost-justify their budgets. Beginning with the end in mind is a lot of trouble, but it sure beats waking up to discover that you’ve becoming a living example of that old joke:
“Ready! Fire! Aim!”
Sure, you’re busy, I know that. But make the time. There really isn’t any way to overstate the importance of this exercise.
– Richard N. Tooker
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