One of the most discussed and challenging issues marketers face these days is measuring ROI. A study released by IBM a few months ago reports that nearly two-thirds of CMOs think return on marketing investment will be the primary measure of their effectiveness by 2015, and half of all CMOs feel insufficiently prepared to provide hard numbers.

A study released this week by Ifbyphone and published on Marketing Profs demonstrates even further the difficulty marketing executives are having effectively measuring a range of marketing channels.

Measuring ROI becomes even more problematic for B2B marketers. The buying cycle is complex and long – making it very difficult to associate ROI to one specific type of marketing outreach. Of course there are exceptions, there are some B2B marketers who offer ecommerce and sell widgets through an online shopping cart. These transactions are easier to measure, but are not black and white since the last click does not always accurately reflect how a buyer entered the sales funnel. A sale can be attributed to an online ad when in reality SEO had driven them to the site several times before they actually made a purchase. Google has been taking this type of analysis further with their ZMOT perspective (Zero Moment of Truth) and when you look at the average number of sources people use before making a decision across various categories, it would be extremely hard to say which one source had the best ROI.

So how do you begin to tackle measuring ROI? Albert Einstein is quoted as saying “Not everything that counts can be measured. Not everything that can be measured counts.” This highlights the data paralysis that can happen when you are trying to measure everything without clear perspective. Taking a step back and asking what it is you are trying to achieve, and how each channel is working to support that goal will allow you to narrow your focus to just the metrics that truly matter. As our Analytics Manager, Leanne Terpak, wrote earlier this year, having an analytics strategy in place that is clearly tied to business goals and objectives will make measuring ROI much easier.