Successful marketing communication requires reaching the right audience with the right message at the right time: a small and ever-changing target. With traditional media, organizations have been able to mitigate the risk of failure through years of trial and error regarding which strategies actually work. This is not the case with the new marketing possibilities currently available. The influence of these channels can change rapidly, and there is little accumulated experience regarding which messages work, when marketers should use them, how they can be scaled, or even who they actually influence. Simply put, the degree of risk associated with R.O.I. – defined as the ability to generate sales results from a given amount of marketing spending – has increased.
However, while investing in new media is a risky bet, it is one that companies feel compelled to make. Thus, the question is how much risk is too much—or, in fact, too little. Pressure to deliver results and pressure from management can lead to spending on digital channels without properly weighing the options or considering which other resources to cut back on.
The available decision-making tools do more than just provide professionals with valuable information. They stimulate dialogue about real commitments and help manage expectations across business units and functions whose cooperation is often critical when companies implement a broader business strategy. Managing risk is a critical concern, and professionals must continually view well-designed scenario planning and cross-functional engagement within an organization as discussions that can be extremely rich and rewarding in terms of their impact.