The ROI Playbook: Measuring Marketing Success

The ROI Playbook: Measuring Marketing Success

The top 6 of the metrics that matter Part 3 of the “Marketing as a Profit Center” Series In the first two articles of our series, we established that marketing must move beyond vague goals like “brand awareness” or “engagement.” To become a true profit center,...
The ROI Playbook: 3 ways that marketing drives incremental profit

The ROI Playbook: 3 ways that marketing drives incremental profit

For too many businesses, marketing remains an expense item—a necessary cost of doing business – not a strategic driver of profit. But what if marketing wasn’t just an expense? What if, instead, it operated as a profit center—accountable for delivering measurable,...
Ditch the Budget Merry-Go-Round: 4 Steps to Revenue-Aligned Marketing

Ditch the Budget Merry-Go-Round: 4 Steps to Revenue-Aligned Marketing

If end-of-year sales results against the 2024 marketing budget were lackluster, it may be time to shift thinking on budget planning. For decades, a rule-of-thumb for setting marketing budgets has reliably been a simplistic percentage-of-previous-sales formula. We’re...
Let it snow, but don’t let a frozen marketing budget derail 2025 goals

Let it snow, but don’t let a frozen marketing budget derail 2025 goals

6 ways to optimize marketing ROI during economic uncertainty Depending on whom one asks, anywhere from 30 to 35 percent of North American firms plan to increase marketing budgets for 2025 – apparently the lowest number to do so of any region in the world. Why the...
Can the “universal branch” please everyone?

Can the “universal branch” please everyone?

The grand opening of a new bank branch we attended last week proves it’s possible. Similar to the illustration, the branch featured a wonderful, open-space “Universal Branch” design demonstrating the “branch of the future” we’ve written about, and the intersection of...