Accountable marketing is a lofty goal. It is the idea that marketing can and should be measured. It sounds simple but is difficult to implement and execute. It starts with planning and identifying metrics for success up front and ends with calculating ROI and other relevant metrics as well as incorporating lessons learned into future marketing efforts.
I have written about metrics before. In fact, my New Year’s Resolutions post included a suggestion to test, measure and learn. Even in social media there are now agreed upon metrics. The Interactive Agency Bureau (IAB) has released social media ad metric definitions.
Given the current tough economic climate, there is no reason not to measure and evaluate your marketing efforts. How else can you know what worked, what did not work and whether your efforts have met your threshold or definition for success?