Build the ‘Time Lag Effect’ Into Your Plan

Build the ‘Time Lag Effect’ Into Your Plan

Here’s the problem with trying to measure the impact of your marketing programs on Brand Image: It takes too long.

The impact only becomes evident after the fact.  It’s like looking in a rear-view mirror to judge where you’re going.

This isn’t unique to the goal of building Brand Image, as illustrated by this conceptual chart regarding lead capture as a sub-goal:

 

Perhaps because of my West Point background, I like to use a Pentagon missile analogy here.  The above example is the equivalent of firing a multi-million dollar missile at a target and missing it to the left.  The correction is made and a second missile is fired.  It misses to the right so another correction is made, etc. 

Meanwhile, millions of dollars are being spent firing missiles and making corrections based upon where they land!  I think most would agree this is a highly wasteful approach.

(For the record, the Pentagon doesn’t test missiles this way – it’s just an irresistible analogy.)

So what can you do as a results-driven marketer?

Instead of firing the missile and seeing where it lands, we need a built-in guidance control module.  That is EXACTLY what Six Sigma brings to the process, as depicted in the chart below:

 

Building the process to be measured “en route” assures that adjustments are made during the flight of the missile, making the “hit” a certainty. 

In the worst case scenario, if the missile is flying wildly off target, the “destruct” button can be used to terminate the flight without causing further damage (continually spending money on a loser).

The heart of Six Sigma is the measurement in-process function.