In 1928 the ‘pioneer of marketing’ John Wannamaker was famously quoted: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”

This sentiment rang true for the best part of Century afterwards. Brands adopted an approach to advertising that was later to be defined as ‘shotgun’, investing their A&P budgets in what they believed to be the most suitable media options, often dictated by circulation and reach (whose figures were often reported by the owners of the media themselves).

And then came digital media, and the age of analytics.

Today, John would be pleased to discover that the introduction of digital marketing has greatly reduced this uncertainty and speculation in assessing ROI.

However, he may also be disappointed to see that his quote may have been somewhat misaligned with reality.

Everything we now do online we can measure, from eDM open rates to assessing participation and results of medical education programs.

More often than not, we’re often disappointed with online metrics. It turns out that 50% is a stretch for a vast number of online initiatives.

It’s no secret that digital success correlates closely with engaging and relevant content, but it’s just as important to review your campaign analytics at each step of the way.

It is pivotal that you work alongside your digital team and/or agency, access the analytics platform yourself and analyse the reports.

Keep expectations in check, break down reports to see which segment is engaging with which type of content and iterate your campaigns. Over time the analytics will go up, the required investment will go down, and Mr Wannamaker will stop rolling in his grave!