Measuring inclusive marketing — why traditional KPIs hinder both customer success and brand growth
By sonia@soniaethompson.com (Sonia Thompson)
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Brands want to know that they are on the right track toward achieving their goals. That’s why measurement matters. Key performance indicators (KPIs) often give leaders signals to determine if what they’re doing is working or if they need to adjust.
A client I worked with a while back wanted to ensure they were effectively engaging the African-American and Hispanic communities as a part of their growth strategy. So, they tracked many of their brand KPIs by race and ethnicity. They identified that they weren’t performing as well with African-Americans as they should have been. My role was to help them figure out why and help them improve those KPIs.
As an inclusive marketing strategist and consultant, I’ve found over and over again that traditional KPIs don’t tell the full story. Marketers and business leaders will struggle to reach a diverse customer base and make informed decisions with this missing context.
Below, I share why traditional KPIs fall short and how metrics that focus on diverse groups are the key to unlocking customer success and brand growth.
Why Most KPIs Don’t Tell the Full Story
In my experience, most brands’ KPIs fail to accurately measure diverse communities. Why? The brands’ initial marketing collateral has not been tested on a diverse audience.
For example, I recently gave feedback on an ad during an inclusive marketing audit. The client noted that their team tested the ad and didn’t get the indication that there were any issues.
So, I asked them who they tested the ad with. Therein lay the problem. Their “general market” test failed to give them an accurate indication of how their ad would be received by diverse consumers.
Sinners: A Case Study
A compelling case study of this point comes from Sinners, the highest-grossing original film this decade. The hit movie earned $261m in domestic box office sales and $357m worldwide. Before I even saw the film, I knew there was a pivotal dance scene that mesmerized audiences. People had already been raving about it on social media.
When comedian KevOnStage talked about that scene, he said that he’s “never felt so seen, in a scene.” Commenters agreed with him on the impact.
Given the impact this scene had on a broad diversity of viewers, I was shocked to learn that it had been cut from the film at one point during the editing process. Actor Saul Williams, who was in Sinners, told Essence Magazine that he saw a version of the movie that didn’t include that scene because it didn’t test well with general market audiences.
The performance indicators showed that the scene should be left out. However, the feedback from audiences reflected the fact that the scene was pivotal to the impact and success of the film.
Where did this disconnect come from?
The performance indicators were captured from the perspective of the “general market.” What would have been more helpful — and this is true for most brands …read more
Source:: HubSpot Blog
