th a suite of management systems and development tools, providing a unique and fully integrated conferencing experience for the user. The company relies on an indirect channel to sell their solutions worldwide. For the past decade, VCON has consistently been the first to market with innovative products and technologies, both in the conferencing market and in the solutions needed to manage and deploy conferencing systems.

The marketing team realized that securing a larger marketing budget would r

Imagine an office without a desk, or lights, a computer, or even something as simple as a chair. When the architects and designers started planning a building or office space they knew they would have to make concessions for these items during each of the building activities. As marketers, we take part in many activities, much like a builder or designer does.

Of these activities, there is one that precludes each of these; the annual planning and budgeting process. One part of planning often gets left out though, measuring the effectiveness of the activities we plan. Yet plans without metrics are like offices without chairs, conference rooms without tables, or buildings without a foundation. Parts of each exist, but there is a major component missing.

Recently surveys have concluded that 55% of business to business marketing executives face the challenge of measuring marketing’s effectiveness. A recent survey conducted by Unica made this statement: "However, survey respondents also said they faced numerous challenges, chief among them measuring marketing effectiveness, which was cited by 55% of respondents." It was also stated that many executives don't believe marketing is measurable. And 63% of them don’t consider marketing to be measurable. So it should be no surprise to learn that as many as 57% of marketing plans overlook metrics and that plans are more about counting activities rather than measuring the impact on business outcomes as was determined the fifth Business Readiness Survey conducted by VisionEdge Marketing.

Can we measure marketing’s effectiveness? Does it really make a difference?

It certainly does for many companies. One company in particular, VCON, found incorporating a metrics framework into their planning process to be extremely valuable. Founded in 1994, VCON develops and manufactures collaborative communication solutions that include videoconferencing and audio conferencing products. VCON's entire portfolio is integrated together with a suite of management systems and development tools, providing a unique and fully integrated conferencing experience for the user. The company relies on an indirect channel to sell their solutions worldwide. For the past decade, VCON has consistently been the first to market with innovative products and technologies, both in the conferencing market and in the solutions needed to manage and deploy conferencing systems.

The marketing team realized that securing a larger marketing budget would re

ets left out though, measuring the effectiveness of the activities we plan. Yet plans without metrics are like offices without chairs, conference rooms without tables, or buildings without a foundation. Parts of each exist, but there is a major component missing.

Recently surveys have concluded that 55% of business to business marketing executives face the challenge of measuring marketing’s effectiveness. A recent survey conducted by Unica made this statement: "However, survey respondents also said they faced numerous challenges, chief among them measuring marketing effectiveness, which was cited by 55% of respondents." It was also stated that many executives don't believe marketing is measurable. And 63% of them don’t consider marketing to be measurable. So it should be no surprise to learn that as many as 57% of marketing plans overlook metrics and that plans are more about counting activities rather than measuring the impact on business outcomes as was determined the fifth Business Readiness Survey conducted by VisionEdge Marketing.

Can we measure marketing’s effectiveness? Does it really make a difference?

It certainly does for many companies. One company in particular, VCON, found incorporating a metrics framework into their planning process to be extremely valuable. Founded in 1994, VCON develops and manufactures collaborative communication solutions that include videoconferencing and audio conferencing products. VCON's entire portfolio is integrated together with a suite of management systems and development tools, providing a unique and fully integrated conferencing experience for the user. The company relies on an indirect channel to sell their solutions worldwide. For the past decade, VCON has consistently been the first to market with innovative products and technologies, both in the conferencing market and in the solutions needed to manage and deploy conferencing systems.

The marketing team realized that securing a larger marketing budget would r

o said they faced numerous challenges, chief among them measuring marketing effectiveness, which was cited by 55% of respondents." It was also stated that many executives don't believe marketing is measurable. And 63% of them don’t consider marketing to be measurable. So it should be no surprise to learn that as many as 57% of marketing plans overlook metrics and that plans are more about counting activities rather than measuring the impact on business outcomes as was determined the fifth Business Readiness Survey conducted by VisionEdge Marketing.

Can we measure marketing’s effectiveness? Does it really make a difference?

It certainly does for many companies. One company in particular, VCON, found incorporating a metrics framework into their planning process to be extremely valuable. Founded in 1994, VCON develops and manufactures collaborative communication solutions that include videoconferencing and audio conferencing products. VCON's entire portfolio is integrated together with a suite of management systems and development tools, providing a unique and fully integrated conferencing experience for the user. The company relies on an indirect channel to sell their solutions worldwide. For the past decade, VCON has consistently been the first to market with innovative products and technologies, both in the conferencing market and in the solutions needed to manage and deploy conferencing systems.

The marketing team realized that securing a larger marketing budget would r

eadiness Survey conducted by VisionEdge Marketing.

Can we measure marketing’s effectiveness? Does it really make a difference?

It certainly does for many companies. One company in particular, VCON, found incorporating a metrics framework into their planning process to be extremely valuable. Founded in 1994, VCON develops and manufactures collaborative communication solutions that include videoconferencing and audio conferencing products. VCON's entire portfolio is integrated together with a suite of management systems and development tools, providing a unique and fully integrated conferencing experience for the user. The company relies on an indirect channel to sell their solutions worldwide. For the past decade, VCON has consistently been the first to market with innovative products and technologies, both in the conferencing market and in the solutions needed to manage and deploy conferencing systems.

The marketing team realized that securing a larger marketing budget would r

th a suite of management systems and development tools, providing a unique and fully integrated conferencing experience for the user. The company relies on an indirect channel to sell their solutions worldwide. For the past decade, VCON has consistently been the first to market with innovative products and technologies, both in the conferencing market and in the solutions needed to manage and deploy conferencing systems.

The marketing team realized that securing a larger marketing budget would require taking a more metrics-related approach as a means to demonstrate the marketing organization’s contribution to the company. So when they realized the need for a metrics-based approach, they hired VisionEdge Marketing to help them develop the right set of metrics. VCON turned to an outside resource to help create a framework for their plan. They chose VisionEdge Marketing because the company’s metrics expertise and a model ties marketing metrics to the goals of the company.

Laura Shay, VCON’s Global Product Marketing Manager, wanted an approach that went beyond tracking results from a variety of marketing activities, such as metrics associated with web site visits, click-throughs, and participants at a webinar. Rather she wanted a way to connect the marketing initiatives to the company’s market share, partner development, and up-sell objectives. “We had a good idea of the adoption process for our technology and we were monitoring dozens of activities and outcomes. What we didn’t know was whether these were the right things to be monitoring and how to tie activity tracking to the success of our marketing objectives and strategies,” added Laura.

VCON’s limited marketing resources were overwhelmed with the number of things that were possible to track. The challenge was getting the team out of the weeds of tracking various marcom activities and more focused on identifying metrics that would really indicate whether the marketing initiatives were moving the needle for the business.

Prior to the metrics development and framework session, VisionEdge Marketing examined the metrics currently being used by the company and the company’s business objectives for the coming year. “This preparatory stage was very helpful,” commented Laura. “It enabled us to start thinking about tying our marketing initiatives to very specific business outcomes such as market share, order value, and repeat business.” The business goals were used as a framework for the plan. By understanding the spe