Print May Be Dead, but ROI Sure Isn't

The focus of the next five years needs to shift — from channels to customers. Your measurement techniques will increasingly focus on measuring the ROI your holistic strategies yield. The issue isn’t whether print is dead or if social media represents a pot of gold. You're going to be required to look at what I call “holistic investment.” In other words, you'll evaluate customer performance across all activities, and if performance isn’t optimal you'll reduce the level of advertising.

For some of my customers, this will result in a reduction in print because it's least effective for them. For others, they'll increase their investments in print because this is the preferred shopping method for their customers.

The focus will shift from measuring ROI in specific channels to measuring total ROI for individual customers. As you evolve, you’ll learn that the average customer prefers between one and three microchannels. You may manage hundreds of microchannels, but be parsimonious with the number of channels that you push at an individual customer. This will maximize ROI.

Print may be dead; it may not be dead. But ROI is never dead.

Kevin Hillstrom is president of MineThatData, a database marketing consultancy. He can be reached at kevinh@minethatdata.com.