19th Century US retailer John Wanamaker famously said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

Today, you’d expect him to be thrilled with the accountability of digital marketing and the fact you can analyse every element of your campaigns.

But if he was alive today he’d see that the majority of brands are still pumping out content with little real idea of the actual impact on sales. With so much time taken up creating and broadcasting content, there’s little left to work out if it’s really working.

Whether you make trainers or engineering components, all brands now have an obligation to be broadcasters – filling up the omni-channel world with a continual stream of content. Sometimes there’s method, other times it looks like pure madness. And the wackier posts are often reckoned with getting the most ‘engagement’.

Most businesses simply do not know the value of their content, digital and social media marketing efforts beyond a few simple vanity metrics. And with Instagram trialling the removal of the ‘like’ feature we could be entering a new era of measuring social success.

Being ‘Always on’ is an ambitious goal for most marketing budgets.

How about ‘On – where and when you need us.’

It might need a bit more thought and planning to balance relevance and frequency – but we owe it to Wanamaker to at least have a go.

The post The content conundrum appeared first on Milestone Creative.