Moving The Needle: Key Performance Indicators
The true result of any targeted marketing campaign is how well it affects the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that drive business growth. These indicators are usually confidential within the organization, but they should be quantitative measures that both the operational and executive leaders can agree are essential to growth. In the final analysis, your marketing budget is being spent to make these indicators grow or, in cases of unfavorable elements (charge offs, errors, etc.), decrease.
Before beginning the campaign I consulted with executive managers to get a feel for which indices we wanted to see increased. Then we had to decide what the operational definition would be for an increase.
For most indices, I used a running six-month mean average and calculated a standard deviation (sigma) for each. If an index increased more than one sigma following a key event, then we could safely assume that there was at least a correlation and likely a causal relationship.
We routinely saw such increases following each of our large TV media buys, and often those increases were two sigma or more. In terms of total assets, the Credit Union was at $130M when we started the rebranding campaign in late 2006. And by early 2010 total assets had grown to over $200M.
An unintended benefit of the targeted media placement and provocative advertising content was that board members and staff were taking notice of the increased media exposure being given to Charlotte Metro. This allowed everyone in the organization to better understand the marketing campaigns, their intent and their results.
Charlotte Metro continues to conduct strong product development and marketing campaigns in its targeted market. Growth in key indices has continued and the brand is recognized as a formidable alternative to larger financial services brands with very well-funded marketing budgets.