In a business climate where every penny counts, companies today are increasingly asked to prove their ROI. So, how does a company realistically and accurately prove this ROI? The answer is simple … invest in market research and don’t forget one key element: benchmarking.
Evaluate ROI with Every Decision
How much visibility did the opportunity bring? Did it result in a sale, the booking of a key meeting or overall market penetration? Are we listening to our customers? How have their needs and desires changed over time, and how have we adapted our products and services to meet those ever-changing needs?
These are all viable questions asked by executive management, MarCom professionals, business development and, often, a company’s board of directors.
To get the answer to these questions, it’s imperative to include market research as part of the integrated planning process. In the end, this research saves you time and money. Basing decisions off of concrete evidence validates your decisions and helps you see the progress that has been made, so that you can stay on course or redirect as necessary to achieve positive results.
You Have to Know Where You Started to Know Where You’ve Gone
Benchmarking is essential to proving ROI and establishing future growth. Benchmark studies allow companies to take a snapshot in time, then evaluate future efforts against that benchmark to gage the overall level of effectiveness of their marketing investment.
Instead of relying on what has worked well in the past or intuition alone, marketers can use the results of the benchmark study to make sound, strategic decisions to help positively move the ROI needle. This data proves important in evaluating media expenditures, market penetration, overall market share and future program success.
Keep Your Finger on the Pulse
Airbus has made it their mission to focus on the future. So much so that they recently engaged in a two-year global consultation to gain valuable insight into what over 1.75 million people thought about air travel and what they wanted from air travel as we move toward 2050.
What did the market say they wanted out of future flight? Cheaper, greener, more sustainable, and less stressful flight experiences.
The results of that study helped shape and will continue to shape Airbus’ goals and objectives for the company as a whole and more specifically, their R&D team, marketing efforts and even the future workforce. With this data, Airbus focused on what the world in 2050 will look like, how passengers will get around and how the world will put an increased focus on taking care of the environment. They listened to customers and the industry, and have used that data as the basis for answering the call.
To learn more about the future of Airbus, visit http://www.airbus.com/innovation/future-by-airbus/.
Kristin McRee Walker
Vice President, Brand Strategy
