It may not rank up there with the first moon walk or man's
discovery of a polio vaccine, but if you ask Shift
Communications, its new "LeadSensor" methodology is the
equivalent of one giant leap for PR's measurement-starved
mankind.
For years, companies have been trying to quantify the return on
investment (ROI) of PR, lamely reverting to the much-ballyhooed "Ad
Value Equivalency" data system (see PR News, Jan. 19), which
has been blown out of the water. But sign up for this new program,
claims Shift principal Todd Defren, and you can pinpoint the exact
contribution and number of sales leads generated by your
employees.
"The best way to prove the validity of PR and other marketing
initiatives is to develop a credible, replicable methodology for
measuring marketing's impact on inbound lead generation and revenue
trends," says Defren, adding that Shift has been working for the
past two years to do just that.
Here's how it works: The vice president of marketing will work
with a Shift consultant to "remodel the touch-points associated
with inbound sales leads" (e.g., Web-site contact forms, Web
analytics) -- assuming a company has some -- "so that each new
lead's source data can be optimally captured, analyzed and
displayed," Defren says. The whole process takes about two weeks,
during which the company "will be empowered with Real-Time
Marketing ROI Dashboards" or online charts that offer up such data
as:
- Number of raw leads per marketing program.
- Number of qualified leads per marketing program.
- Number and revenue value of closed deals per marketing
source. - Retention rate of existing customers.
Thus far, only one current Shift client has used the process.
Bethany Mayer, vice president of marketing at Vernier
Networks, which offers companies access management solutions,
raved about the service. "I don't see how any vice president of
marketing thinks they can keep their job without this level of data
analysis," she says.
Shift executives think that the market potential for its
LeadSensor program is huge. "Instead of just giving them a fish to
eat," says Parry Headrick, director of sales and marketing at
Shift, "we're teaching them to fish. It's a double-edged sword,
though. I'm not sure every PR agency wants this, because if you're
not getting leads from PR, it means, for the first time, that PR
firms can be held truly accountable."
Contact: Parry Headrick, 415.591.8402, [email protected]