Has marketers' pre-occupation with 'numbers' led to one of the most important elements in marketing being overlooked?

The impressive facts, figures and analytics that have come with digital marketing have driven a focus on 'performance marketing'. Performance tracking tools have helped justify an increase in marketing budgets, as the rationale for the increase could be based on 'real world' empirical evidence. However, most of the additional marketing budget has been allocated to 'last click' channels, simply because the 'last click' is given credit for a sale or conversion.

The ability to use data analytics to determine where marketing successes come from, and use the analysis to enhance performance is a good thing. It’s what helps drive improvement. But, has it driven a focus on the 'numbers' at the expense of one of the most important and influential elements of marketing - emotion?

Is the human element of marketing being missed at the expense of 'metrics' and the 'short termism' of last click attribution?

There's no doubt that much more marketing investment has been made in digital marketing rather than in 'brand'. In some respects it's not hard to see why. Performance driven by investment in the 'brand' (building an emotional connection with customers) is nowhere as easy to measure as visible and ‘deliverable’ short term performance metrics.

Businesses and marketers shouldn't just be driven by the 'metrics':

• When making decisions humans still rely heavily on emotions
• Most of the buying decisions people make are emotional, not practical.
• Choosing one product over another is ultimately powered by the emotional relationship the consumer has with the brand

Still not convinced?

To get the full story on how 'emotional intelligence' adds value to marketing click here.
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