Field Note 002
Marketing Momentum • 4 minute read
Marketing Has Never Been Easier to Measure.
That doesn't necessarily mean brands are becoming easier to build.
One of the great advantages of modern marketing is that almost everything can be measured.
Clicks.
Conversions.
Cost per acquisition.
Customer lifetime value.
Return on ad spend.
For marketers, that's an extraordinary advantage. We can see what's working faster than ever before and make smarter decisions in real time.
That's progress.
But I sometimes wonder if our ability to measure marketing has quietly changed what we choose to value.
The metrics we rely on most heavily tend to have one thing in common.
They're immediate.
They tell us what happened today.
This week.
This campaign.
Those insights matter.
But they're only part of the story.
Some of the most valuable marketing assets a company can build don't reveal themselves in a weekly dashboard.
Trust doesn't.
Reputation doesn't.
Customer advocacy doesn't.
Neither does the confidence a retailer has in your brand or the credibility you've earned with journalists, creators and consumers over time.
Those things are difficult to measure precisely.
That doesn't make them less valuable.
In many cases, it makes them more valuable.
Because unlike a campaign, they continue creating value long after the original investment has been made.
As a reporter, I learned that not every important story announced itself immediately.
Sometimes the significance of a trend only became clear after stepping back and looking at the bigger picture.
Brand building works much the same way.
If we're only measuring what happened this week, we may miss what's quietly being built over months—or even years.
That doesn't mean we should stop measuring marketing.
Quite the opposite.
It means we should be careful not to confuse what's easiest to measure with what matters most.
The strongest brands understand the difference.
They measure performance.
But they also invest in the things that make future performance easier to achieve.
Continue Reading
Field Note 003: The Momentum Everyone Notices Is Usually Built Long Before Anyone Sees It.
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