As we move forward into this economic downturn and marketers struggle with their budgets, branding must remain a factor in advertising programs. However, traditional branding campaigns must adapt to new marketing initiatives as companies focus on lead generation and the need to track ROI. I once saw an ad that said, “Your brand is your lifeboat and you never abandon your lifeboat.” This was further collaborated by a blog post on Publicity Works I recently read discussing branding in a down economy. By proactively marketing and staying in front of your customers or potential customers, it sends a message that your organization is strong in this economy. While other marketers may go dark with advertising, organizations that continue their messaging have the ability to stand out and become market leaders.

While there is no doubt about the importance of branding, how can marketers track ROI when all advertising dollars are being closely monitored and sales departments fight for their need for lead generation programs? It is crucial for marketers to invest in programs that provide branding, lead generation and measure ROI.  

So what type of programs work to meet both marketing and sales objectives? Looking at some of the campaigns I’ve managed lately, I find that those that are focused on interactive marketing tools provide a number of benefits. For example, a client of mine created a microsite program, which unlike their corporate website provided a custom environment where marketing controlled the content. The purpose of this was to brand all their business units under one umbrella while of course generating leads, but how do you track ROI for branding?

For the microsite program, we teamed up with Dynamic Logic to show ROI, and the client saw 90% significance in aided-brand awareness, online ad awareness and messaging association. The significance is the index of all campaigns surveyed and how these programs weigh against the norm. A 90% significance means it outperformed the industry norm, which were great results for the client.

My educated guess says that branding and lead generation programs will continue to become entwined rather than stand alone initiatives. What are your thoughts? Please share any branding programs in which you were able to track ROI.