What is Marketing: Part 5 - Evaluate Marketing Efforts

Part 5 of the “What is Marketing” series.

Evaluate marketing efforts

Finally, at the end of any marketing cycle, it is essential to evaluate the success or failure of the marketing efforts.  Did the marketing activities generate the expected return?  Sales data will inform judgments of success.  If the marketing effort was successful, that success may be replicated or built on.
On the other hand, if the marketing effort was not successful (e.g. if the sales targets were not met) then the marketing department must assess what errors were made, and determine the best potential repositioning strategy going forward.  Customer surveys and interviews with other channel partners and stakeholders such as customer service representatives may help the company to understand why a marketing campaign did not resonate with customers.

Conclusion

This miniseries has discussed the components of marketing, and how they relate to the development of a micro-enterprise with big dreams.  In short, to sum up, the entire marketing process should always be centered on the customer: understanding the customer’s perspective; relating to the customer in product design and communications efforts; designing a product and a sales strategy that will deliver the right product at the right price and all the rest.  It begins with determining who you’re selling your products to; and it is continuously improved by actually asking them what they would like best.  Future posts may discuss survey techniques and choice-based conjoint; but I think this is enough for today.

Resources

The “What is Branding” series was informed by the following resources.

Coughlan, A., Anderson, E., Stern, L., and El-Ansary, A.  (2006).  Marketing channels (Seventh edition).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Keller, K.  (2008).  Strategic brand management: building, measuring, and managing brand equity (3rd ed).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Kotler, P. and Keller, K.  (2009).  Marketing Management, Thirteenth Edition.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Ries, A., and Ries, L. (2002).  The 22 immutable laws of branding: How to build a product or service into a world-class brand.  New York, NY: Collins Business.