|
Part of the rebounding technology sector's recovery involves increasing spending for marketing, with a recent IDC survey finding that tech companies increased their marketing budgets 5.8 percent from 2003 to 2004. One popular method of keeping track of the marketing investment is to install marketing performance management systems, which are designed to track expenditures and measure their effectiveness. Marketing dashboards are regarded as an excellent way to make marketing more accountable and to subject it to specific performance metrics, which might include such corporate goals as increasing focus, identifying strategic growth areas, turning up the customer-centric focus of an organization, optimizing distribution channels, aligning the respective goals of sales and marketing, improving ROI, and increasing brand awareness. IDC has recognized Cisco Systems Inc and Tektronix Inc as the two companies exemplifying marketing dashboard development. In the case of Cisco, the dashboard development effort leveraged the data it has always developed, added a standard terminology for metrics and a process for collection. Metrics were also created for such factors as customer satisfaction, lead generation, and employee retention. At Tektronix, marketing metrics are being directly linked to the way sales staff are reimbursed.
|
Information Sources, Inc.
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}