Marketing Accountability

Marketing accountability is a term that signifies management with data that is understandable to the management of the enterprise. Other names that have been given to this process include "Marketing Performance Measurement", "Marketing Performance Management", "Marketing ROI", "ROMI", and "Accountable Marketing".

Within marketing accountability the expression “integrated marketing communications” (IMC) implies that marketing and communications are integrated within the business and management of the enterprise, not as a stand-alone functional silo. Analogous to other business functions like manufacturing and sales, accountable marketing is based on a set of valid outcome performance indicators and the associated activity input costs. Outcome performance indicators are called Effectiveness Metrics; Effectiveness combined with costs is called Efficiency (effectiveness per dollar spent).

In order for indicators to be considered valid for accountability, they must meet a few minimum requirements. They need to measure marketing outcomes from the consumers’ point of view, they need to include all marketing activities, they must be repeated over time, and they must meet statistical and technical criteria required of all measurement systems.

The measurements need to be true outcome indicators. Unlike sales where the outcome is easily quantifiable, marketing is more difficult to define: there is not a direct, fast-acting relationship between marketing activities and sales. Some marketing materials are designed to inform, others attempt to portray the product or service attractively, yet others attempt to influence purchasing behavior. Most marketing campaigns include all three orientations; a brand may have glossy ads to boost attractiveness, brochures to convey information, and coupons with expiration dates to stimulate purchases. Thus a multiplicity of channels and contacts that influence target consumers needs to be measured together in order to understand the overall effect, and the separate effectiveness of the programs. The outcome indicator can be called “Brand Experience”, and only consumers can discern the resultant brand experience in the clutter of the marketplace as each message competes with others for attention.

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