Jul 15, 2010

Making decisions based on data




When developing a learning plan fo a new RM campaign, one of the most important elements to compelte in your plan are the business decisions to be made should the metrics flow one way or another. There should be an in-market test plan, where the decision making criteria are clear depending on the test results.

Then after the campaign has been running for several months, the difficult decisions have to be made. Shifting media spending, improving your website, changing value propositions or incentives.

Think to yourself: what kind of marketer, or campaign manager are you? Do you like to review all the data, weight the pros and cons, and then choose an alternative yourself? Or do you wish your consultants or agencies to make these choices for you? That can be just fine, as they have experience, and should have the brand's interests in mind.

A third option is to remain indecisive; this is the urge to resist. Metricsare not just for learning. Whatever choice you make, choose the path of optimization.

Also, be sure to record what you have learned: the circumstances and the results. This is what knowledge management is, and where "best practices" and "industry benchmarks" come from, after all: actual recordings of in market events. You may as well make your events part of those benchmarks