How do you measure the ROI of brand positioning and messaging?
It’s a mix of the measurable (aka data-driven) and anecdotal (aka belief-driven).
It’s an obviously mushy answer, something a CEO or CFO may challenge if they want to quantify the impact.
But marketing is a combination of art and science.
Let’s focus on what can be measured:
• Homepage conversions. Better messaging engages, motivates and intrigues prospects. It makes them spend time on a Website and take action — e.g. download content, book a demo, click on “Contact.”
• Advertising conversions. Prospects click on CTAs because ads talk to them and their problems and aspirations. More clicks make marketers happy and lead to positive things like Website visits and purchases.
• Better performing landing pages: higher conversion rates, lower bounce rates and form abandonment, more time spent on page, and lower cost per conversion.
So, what about the non-quantitative metrics:
• Better, more engaged sales calls during which prospects don’t answer obvious questions about your product or the benefits.
• Improved open rates and click-throughs on cold email campaigns. Even though you’re an unknown commodity, your messaging is on point and relevant.
• Better demos in which prospects are prepared and excited to learn more about how the product works as opposed to asking about what the product does.
• Employee surveys strongly suggest that insiders not only understand your brand positioning and messaging, but they’re excited to rally around it.
The impact and ROI of positioning and message made for an interesting podcast with Pedro Cortés.
In his view, homepage and landing page conversions are the best ways to drive ROI. If the story changes and results improve, it’s plausible to demonstrate ROI.
I believe that positioning and messaging success includes hard/soft metrics and all the work that happens behind the scenes: customer research, competitive analysis, and product exploration.
After that work is done, you have powerful assets to improve marketing, sales, product development, HR, and more. And that drives major ROI.
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