Marty the marketer meanders on measurement

One day, Marty the hospital marketer was asked: “Marty, why aren’t you measuring your marketing results?”

Marty replied: “I have no clue where to begin. Every time I start to think about it, it overwhelms me. What are our goals? What objectives should we target? Whose approval do I need for those? What are we going to measure? How are we going to measure it? What metrics should we use? Where do we get the data? How will we know if we succeed? I believe in measurement, but I don’t really know how to do it, or where to begin. Maybe next quarter.”

The following quarter, Marty was asked: “Marty, why aren’t you measuring your marketing results?”

Marty replied: “Actually, I can’t seem to find the time. There’s not enough time to take care of all the meetings, marketing requests, politics, planning, PR responses – my plate is just too full. And my staff is the same way – who would I assign to take on measurement? We can barely find time to meet and properly plan a campaign, let alone build in upfront time to consider goals and objectives. Then tracking all the various metrics, reporting, trying to meet to review and analyze the results. Shoot, usually we’re half way through an effort before someone mentions measurement. Maybe we’ll start next month.”

The next month, Marty was asked: “Marty, why aren’t you measuring your marketing results?”

Marty replied: “I could probably figure this out, and find the time and resources to measure effectively, but honestly, no one is really pressing me for it. Sure, we get the occasional question about our strategy, or the “How do you know this will work?” inquiry from a physician. My CEO wants effective marketing, but so far he hasn’t pushed me to validate my approaches, so it’s just not a priority. Plus, it’s marketing, so people understand when I say this isn’t a science. Maybe we don’t have to worry about measuring after all.”

The next day, there was a knock on Marty’s door:

“Hi Marty, I’m Mary, and I’m going to be taking over as the new CEO. Tell me how you determine your marketing budget, why your staff is so large, and how effective your marketing efforts have been over the past couple of years.”

And Marty said: “Gulp.”

Don’t be the next Marty the Marketer. Despite the obvious benefits of measuring marketing efforts, many hospital marketers don’t make measurement a priority. But there may be no higher priority for healthcare marketers today than dedicating ourselves to measuring our marketing results.

For more conversation on measuring marketing efforts, be sure to visit our communities on LinkedIn or Facebook. Or check out our book, A Marketer’s Guide to Measuring Results.