Why read this article: This article will unpack why ROI is not a fixed, or, constant number. In the increasingly real-time marketing world, we need to understand the “message-level” ROI and other dynamics that can dramatically alter your ROI.
Years ago, there was a person at Procter & Gamble who carried a little card in his front pocket listing the ROI of each media. I heard the story from a digital sales person who pitched him. He pulled out his card, looked at the ROI of digital, which was 15% lower on the list than TV, and said, “Nope, you don’t have the ROI to get my budget.”
What a silly way to look at ROI. It is like sleep walking – it is moving without intention. Looking at ROI in such a limited fashion shuts a marketer off from the world of possibilities to improve ROI.
The forces that influence Media ROI are, in order of influence, as follows:
1. Message
2. Targeting
3. Reach/Frequency dynamic
4. Media
So it is an outdated convention for us to talk about ROI in relationship to media, as in “the ROI of TV” or “ROI of Social” or “ROI of Radio.” When you hear “Media ROI” pinch yourself and remember they are combining lots of factors from the last campaign (or average of lots of old campaigns). There are lots of ways the ROI could be a different number – a much better number.
