Executive Summary This How-To Guide has been designed to provide practical advice for preparing an initiative to determine marketing performance and creating a plan to implement marketing dashboards for measurement. Read this brief 2-page guide to learn: What Are the Proven Methods for Determing Marketing Performance How to Determine If Your Company Is Ready Capabilities Required to Measure Performance Action Plan for Preparing to Measure Marketing Performance Use Our Dashboard Readiness Assessment to Benchmark Read this report to learn how to prepare for an initiative to begin measuring marketing performance and how to implement marketing dashboards successfully. Utilize our Dashboard Readiness Assessment to see if you are prepared to begin this program. Demand Metric's How-To Guides are designed to provide practical, on-the-job training and education and provide context for using our premium tools & templates. If there is a topic that you would like to see covered, please contact us at info@demandmetric.com (link sends e-mail) to make a content request.

1. How-To Guide
© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Get Ready to Measure Marketing Performance
Executive Summary
Most marketing organizations are being told that they need to do a better job of
measuring marketing performance. While this task is certainly complex, there are proven
methods to determine the payback from marketing investments. Before you commit to a
Marketing Dashboard initiative, consult Demand Metric's downloadable Dashboard
Readiness Assessment to determine if you have the required capabilities to be successful.
This How-To Guide will explains the capabilities required to measure marketing
performance and provides a detailed action plan to help your business get started
measuring performance.
Capabilities required to measure performance
 Marketing Metrics & Dashboard Capability
o Key performance indicators are used to monitor, measure, and predict future
results

2. How-To Guide
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o Effectiveness measures are selected prior to campaign launch
o Causal links have been identified in marketing & business metrics
o A high-level dashboard exists.
 Business Process Documentation & Maturity
o Defined, repeatable processes exist for: sales marketing; billing; customer
service; order management; strategic planning; campaign planning; project
management.
 Data Management & Information Assets
o Customer and product information needs to be stored safely in either a data
warehouse or online storage system
o Transactional data can be used to glean predictive insights.
 Human Resources & Skill Sets
o Resources will be available for developing/learning new processes
o Members of department clearly understand their role & responsibility
o Staff is comfortable working with data.

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 System & Technology
o The following systems are deployed: customer relationship management
(CRM); marketing resource management (MRM); campaign management
software; business intelligence & marketing analytics; integrated demand
generation platform; sales & marketing portal.
Action Plan: How to get started
1. Conduct a Readiness Assessment
Use our downloadable Dashboard Readiness Assessment tool to measure your
preparedness across 5 dimensions.
2. Evaluate Results
Review your Scorecard to identify key areas that need to be addressed immediately, can
be completed over time, or can be ignored.
3. Communicate Abilities
Once you understand your capabilities, communicate with senior management to
ensure that they know what is required for effectively measure marketing performance.

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© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
4. Determine your Needs
Some organizations do not require a fully integrated, end-to-end, marketing
performance measurement solution. If you do have a need for this type of system,
commence budgeting discussions to get the proper systems, processes, and skill sets
you need.
5. Learn Best Practices
Read our Best Practices Report: Implementing Effective Marketing Dashboards to
discover implementation best practices.
6. Get Professional Help
Speak to an expert Analyst or Consultant about how to best approach this initiative.
There are consulting firms who specialize in implementing marketing performance
measurement systems for companies with a wide variety of needs. If you would like to
speak with an Analyst about getting help – let us know!
Bottom Line
Measuring marketing performance is not just a buzz phrase; this trend will continue to
gain momentum in mid-sized enterprises. Before you promise the world, analyze your
current capabilities and constraints to determine how able your organization can measure
the return on marketing investments.