The third generation of online marketing measurement

author: Jeremi Karnell – CMO & Founder
As the economy continues to put downward pressure on corporatemarketing budgets, there is an increased focus on the performanceof Internet marketing campaigns that attract and retain visitors.However, this task of measurement is more complicated than itappears on the surface.

Data for most integrated online marketing campaigns today issimultaneously collected and reported by media properties, 3rdparty ad-servers, 4th party ad-servers (rich media, mobile media,ITV, etc.), search engines, e-mail transmission vendors, affiliatenetworks, web site log files, CRM and commerce platforms.Furthermore, those same campaigns will undoubtedly contain a mix ofcompensation models for the selected marketing opportunities,running the gamut from Cost Per Thousand (CPM), Cost Per Click(CPC), Cost Per Lead (CPL), and Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)opportunities. If you are beginning to think that the abovesituation is complex, layer in the fact that these campaignsrequire weekly to real-time analysis and optimization.

As the interactive marketing landscape continues to becomemore complex, corporate marketers will seek innovative “NextGeneration” measurement solutions that will not only simplifyreconciliation of integrated initiatives, but also consolidatereporting views as well as comply with industry guidelines andstandards. Taking a brief look back at the historical evolution ofonline measurement will help us understand where this newgeneration of solutions may take us.