Understanding Marketing Control
Marketing control refers to the process of monitoring and evaluating marketing activities to ensure that they align with the organization’s goals and objectives. It involves setting performance standards, measuring actual performance against these standards, identifying deviations or discrepancies, and taking corrective action when necessary. Marketing control allows businesses to assess the effectiveness of their marketing strategies, allocate resources efficiently, and make informed decisions to improve overall performance.
Key Components of Marketing Control
- Setting Performance Standards: The first step in marketing control is establishing clear and measurable performance standards or benchmarks against which marketing activities will be evaluated. These standards may include sales targets, market share goals, return on investment (ROI) metrics, customer satisfaction ratings, or key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to specific marketing initiatives.
- Monitoring Performance: Once performance standards are set, marketing control involves continuously monitoring and tracking the performance of marketing activities in real-time or at regular intervals. This may involve collecting data, analyzing performance metrics, and comparing actual results to the established standards to identify areas of strength and areas that require improvement.
- Analyzing Deviations: Marketing control requires analyzing deviations or discrepancies between actual performance and the established standards to determine the root causes of any problems or issues. Deviations may arise due to changes in market conditions, competitor actions, internal factors, or unforeseen external events that impact marketing effectiveness.
- Taking Corrective Action: Based on the analysis of deviations, marketing control involves taking corrective action to address any issues and bring performance back in line with established standards. This may involve revising marketing strategies, reallocating resources, adjusting tactics, or implementing new initiatives to improve performance and achieve desired outcomes.
Types of Marketing Control
- Strategic Control: Strategic control focuses on evaluating the overall direction and effectiveness of marketing strategies in achieving long-term objectives. It involves assessing the alignment between marketing activities and the organization’s mission, vision, and strategic goals. Strategic control helps ensure that marketing efforts support the organization’s broader strategic priorities and contribute to sustainable growth and competitiveness.
- Tactical Control: Tactical control involves monitoring and evaluating the execution of specific marketing tactics and initiatives to ensure that they are implemented effectively and efficiently. It focuses on assessing the performance of individual marketing campaigns, promotions, pricing strategies, distribution channels, and advertising efforts. Tactical control helps identify opportunities for optimization and refinement to maximize the impact of marketing activities.
- Operational Control: Operational control focuses on managing day-to-day marketing operations and processes to ensure that they run smoothly and efficiently. It involves monitoring key operational metrics such as lead generation, customer acquisition costs, campaign execution timelines, and resource utilization. Operational control helps identify bottlenecks, streamline workflows, and improve operational efficiency to enhance overall marketing performance.
Example of Marketing Control
Let’s consider a fictional company, ABC Electronics, that manufactures and sells consumer electronics products. Here’s how ABC Electronics implements marketing control:
- Setting Performance Standards: ABC Electronics sets performance standards for its marketing activities, including sales targets, market share goals, and customer satisfaction metrics. For example, they aim to achieve a 10% increase in sales revenue and maintain a customer satisfaction rating of 90% for their latest product launch campaign.
- Monitoring Performance: ABC Electronics continuously monitors the performance of its marketing activities by tracking sales data, analyzing customer feedback, and measuring website traffic and engagement metrics. They use marketing analytics tools and dashboards to monitor key performance indicators in real-time and identify any deviations from established standards.
- Analyzing Deviations: If ABC Electronics identifies any deviations from the established performance standards, such as lower-than-expected sales or a decrease in customer satisfaction ratings, they conduct a root cause analysis to determine the underlying reasons for the deviations. This may involve analyzing market trends, competitor actions, or internal factors affecting marketing effectiveness.
- Taking Corrective Action: Based on the analysis of deviations, ABC Electronics takes corrective action to address any issues and improve marketing performance. For example, if sales are below target, they may revise their pricing strategy, launch new promotional campaigns, or invest in additional advertising to stimulate demand and increase sales revenue.
References:
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing Management (15th ed.). Pearson.
Armstrong, G., & Cunningham, M. H. (2019). Principles of Marketing (18th ed.). Pearson.
Conclusion
Marketing control is essential for businesses to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing activities, ensure alignment with organizational goals, and make informed decisions to improve performance. It involves setting performance standards, monitoring performance metrics, analyzing deviations, and taking corrective action when necessary. By implementing effective marketing control processes, businesses can optimize their marketing strategies, allocate resources efficiently, and achieve sustainable growth and success in the marketplace.