Quantity matters, i.e. when and why the ROI increases

More than 3200 campaigns

The "How Advertising Works Today" study, recently published by the American Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), illustrates how many marketing tools involved in a campaign translate into a return on investment. An analysis of more than 3200 marketing campaigns in 2010-2015 showed that where more promotion channels were involved (e.g. radio, television, press, display advertising, on-line video, OOH or cinema advertising), the return on investment in these activities was higher.

The study presents other interesting conclusions. It was noted, among other things, that where expenditure on Internet advertising was combined with promotional activities on television, ROI for the campaign increased by almost 60%.

Interesting results were recorded in relation to the so-called millenniums. It would seem that in the context of this group we are mainly talking about mobile advertising, but research has shown that excellent results in the age group of 18-24 years are achieved by marketing activities that combine traditional media with on-line.

Is it just a return on investment?

Before we start referring the results of American research to Polish reality, it is worth considering for a moment the very concept of ROI, which for various people - marketers - may mean something else. One definition, of course, refers to the return on investment, i.e., to put it bluntly - the zloty, which, after a successful campaign, will be credited to the company's account. The second may relate to the implementation of specific KPIs, e.g. image KPIs, raising brand awareness in the eyes of customers. The understanding of this concept therefore depends on the very purpose of the marketing campaign.

We do not know the details which ROI was realized in the analyzed research, but we can assume that it was probably a direct return on investment expressed in USD. The media are one of the factors that undoubtedly influence the increase in this indicator.

From my own agency experience and implementation for Adexon customers on the Polish market, I can confirm that synergy of marketing tools and multiscreening on mobile devices brings measurable results. I think that the group of millenials in our country is influenced by television all the time. Of course, this is changing, but for the moment I think that this tool can be successfully involved in campaigns dedicated to this group of recipients. What's more, if we synchronize advertising on TV with the mobile channel, in the millenniums group we can be sure that the campaign will have the desired effect.

Not only the media

It is worth remembering that ROI is not suspended in a vacuum - it affects many factors. The media are, of course, one of them, but definitely not the only one. How we achieve a return on investment may also depend on the distribution model of our product (in the case of millenniums the most appropriate model will be e-commerce, for example). The next element will be the availability of the product, its ease of purchase or positioning on the market. Therefore, before we start to create the assumptions of the campaign and define its objectives, let's devote some time to the 'reflection' on the product itself, in the broad sense of the word.