Ah, the elusive ROI—three little letters that have caused more headaches in boardrooms than a case of cheap red wine. Marketers toss this term around like confetti at a wedding. Everyone’s chasing it, and everyone claims they’ve got it all figured out. But when it comes to actually showing the numbers, it’s a different story, isn’t it? So, why is it difficult to measure marketing ROI?
Because marketing isn’t a straight line from campaign to cash. It’s a giant tangled ball of string where you pull on one end, and a hundred other things move along with it. And guess what? The rules aren’t always clear.
The Problem with Traditional Metrics: Surface-Level Junk
Let’s cut to the chase: Traditional metrics are junk. Yeah, I said it. Sure, your campaign might pull in 10,000 clicks, but if none of those clicks are turning into customers, what’s the point? It’s like bragging about how many people glanced at your shop window without a single person stepping through the door.
That’s the problem with metrics like impressions, clicks, or even leads. They’re shiny numbers that look good on paper but don’t mean squat if they’re not impacting revenue. Marketers and sales folks need to get on the same page and focus on what really matters—money in the bank. Otherwise, we’re just stuck spinning our wheels. Why is it difficult to measure marketing ROI? Because metrics aren’t results.
Delayed Impact: Marketing Isn’t a Microwave Dinner
Marketing isn’t like whipping up a quick meal in the microwave. It’s more like a slow-cooked roast—it takes time, and the flavours need to develop. So, if you’re expecting your campaigns to boost sales overnight, you’re dreaming.
Let’s say you launch a brand awareness campaign today. You might not see a single sale for months. That’s because awareness takes time to turn into action. But try telling that to someone who wants results yesterday. If they don’t understand the lag effect, they’ll think your marketing efforts are useless. And don’t even get me started on B2B. Those sales cycles are longer than a summer in Darwin.
The problem is, when you’re trying to prove ROI in the here and now, those delayed results make you look like you’ve got nothing to show for your work. It’s not true, of course, but it makes measuring ROI a whole lot messier.
Multi-Touchpoint Madness: It’s a Group Effort, People!
Marketing isn’t a one-man show. It’s a team sport. You’ve got ads, social posts, emails, and maybe even a couple of cheeky LinkedIn DMs. So, when a sale finally happens, who gets the credit? Is it the Facebook ad they saw first? The blog post they read later? Or maybe it was the email that sealed the deal?
It’s impossible to pick just one. Every touchpoint plays its part in building trust, awareness, and familiarity. But if you’re using first-touch or last-touch attribution, you’re giving one player all the credit when it was really a team effort. It’s like thanking the striker for scoring but forgetting the midfielder who set up the play. No wonder ROI feels so hard to pin down.
Intangibles: How Do You Measure Magic?
Brand reputation, thought leadership, emotional appeal—these are the intangibles that don’t fit neatly into a spreadsheet. Yet, they’re often what closes the deal. Why is it difficult to measure marketing ROI? Because these things don’t come with a dollar sign attached.
Try telling your CFO that the reason a client chose you over a competitor was your hilarious LinkedIn post or that killer article you wrote. Good luck. CFOs want numbers, not narratives. But we know the truth, don’t we? It’s these intangible elements that turn a good brand into a great one. Sadly, most ROI measurements are too rigid to capture that magic.
The Real-Life Story: A Messy Marketing Foundation
Here’s a story for you: I recently had a client who was obsessed with ROI. They had a website that looked like it’d been frozen in time since 2005, a blog that hadn’t seen a new post in years, and social media accounts that were deader than disco. They asked me, “What’s the ROI on fixing all this?”
My answer? Darling, there isn’t going to be any ROI until you clean up this mess. Asking for ROI on a broken foundation is like asking for a house price valuation when the place is still under construction. You can’t expect to turn a profit if your online presence is stuck in the digital dark ages. Step one is to get your basics right. Then we can talk about ROI.
Stop Obsessing Over Perfect ROI and Focus on Results
At the end of the day, measuring ROI is a bit like chasing your tail. Sure, track what you can, but don’t get so caught up in the numbers that you forget the big picture. Marketing is a blend of art and science, and sometimes it’s about making a leap of faith.
Instead of relying on rigid frameworks, consider taking a holistic approach. Combine your hard data with softer, qualitative insights. Look at the bigger picture, and don’t discount the intangible stuff. Yes, it’s messy and imperfect, but that’s the nature of marketing. And you know what? That’s okay.
Because, let’s be honest, you wouldn’t ask a chef to calculate the ROI of salt in a dish. So, why demand that marketing account for every little grain? Check out our other articles here.
