The saying 'hindsight is 20/20' could've been coined by a marketer. Why do I say this? Pets.com's Superbowl ads, Van Halen plugging Crystal Pepsi, '90s law firm Canter & Siegel's global spam campaign. There's another type of campaign that's just as bad too – the kind that may be innocuous, but generates almost no sales.
The troubling part is that there WILL be more moments that deserve to be in the Marketing Hall of Shame. Some of these will be the victims of poor timing or uncontrollable events, but many could be prevented by simply looking at our own past efforts. Sure, looking at past activities may bring an uncomfortable reminder of that screw-up from a few years ago, but it can also spark memories of successes. You may find yourself dreaming up new campaigns once you've subconsciously stewed over the performance of past campaigns.
Some practical ways that looking back can help you look forward:
- Before you launch a campaign, imagine yourself standing up a month from now, presenting the results and rattling off lots of metrics. Eyes closed, ask yourself whether those metrics are all traceable today, because this is your last chance to put those measures into place.
- Don't try to sell people on you if it flies in the face of what they perceive. I worked once for a service business that was experiencing capacity problems. Coincidentally, marketing rolled out a campaign saying "Trust the company that handles the biggest volumes." Shortly after, an ex-customer who'd received the promo piece left a voice mail that said these exact words: "I can't believe you're asking for more business! Your biggest problem is volume - you can't handle the sh*t you've got now!"
- Look at anything that stands out from the norm (or for you quant heads, your control group). Look at bounce rates, both those that are much higher and lower than the average, and ask what you can do to bring them in line with expectations.
- Google Analytics goals, for example, let you trace back a conversion to see where that visitor started on your site. By looking at the page paths, you may see a trend among visitors that you never intended. You could also carry this analysis over to the conversions goals that aren't working.
- Where you have an apples-and-apples comparison with an old campaign, set your benchmark. The grueling process of campaign execution is not a good time to try setting objective forecasts. Going back to prior campaigns will prevent you from stabbing at an unrealistic number, as well as bolstering your confidence that you know what you're doing.
Looking back may not seem like the most productive use of time. After all, there are many new initiatives coming along all the time. The truth is that most of these are just bright shiny objects that Marketing could fritter away time on. I'm not saying to be so heads-down on current work that you miss the boat on a game-changing trend in your business. I'm saying you should ask "what's worked?" and learn the lessons of the past so that your future marketing activities can all have a good return on investment.
