Unless your marketing dollars grow on trees, a big part of your job as a marketing professional is about validating your budget to your superiors – especially in an economy such as this one.

As a savvy marketer, you need to align your activities and successes with those of your organization. We at MindFire Communications have very strong feelings about measurable marketing. So strong, in fact, that we’ve put together this (tongue twisting) MindFire Measurable Marketing Manifesto.

MindFire Measurable Marketing Manifesto

#1 - We believe in using research to help prioritize efforts.

In today’s world, you can’t afford to be wrong. It’s all about communicating the right message to the right person in the right place at the right time. Instead of a shotgun approach, use research to make sure you are spending smart. You’ll take the guesswork out of your marketing and end up becoming more measurable, too.

#2 - We believe in setting goals

Without a goal, you might as well be throwing your marketing dollars into a black (burning!) hole. You must determine what it is you are working towards. Align your goals with those of your business development team. That way, the success of your organization can be traced back to your marketing efforts.

#3 – We believe in a clear plan with measurable checkpoints.

Develop marketing plans with measurable checkpoints. Many companies do not create a plan that can be measured and monitored, and in turn are not considered successful by management.

#4 – We believe in setting measurable objectives.

What are your parameters for measurement? Are you basing your success on sales? Click-throughs? Calls? If you don’t set these expectations at the beginning, you’ll never know if your campaign was a success.

#5 - We believe in the power of web metrics to measure success

Incorporate unique URLs or jump pages into your materials so you can monitor traffic using web site analytics tools. There are many analytics tools available that are completely free, such as Google Analytics.

#6 - We believe in a call to action

This may seem like a no brainer, but many campaigns are missing a call to action. A clear directive makes it easy to determine if your customers sought you out because of a specific service. Tell them how to contact you – by mail, telephone, email or a unique URL.

Next time you launch a new campaign, stop and think about whether you will be able to measure the success of your efforts. Give us a call if you need some help applying some of these ideas…

Download the MindFire Measurable Marketing Manifesto.

- Inga Rundquist

Inga Rundquist

Inga Rundquist is a Public Relations Arsonist and Co-Owner at MindFire. When she’s not dreaming up ideas that will generate publicity, you can find her knee deep in the social media world, also known as the next PR frontier.