Chrysler’s in bankruptcy. GM may be next. The silver linings on the cloudy horizon are pretty faint right now. And, yet … I’m not ready to give up the ghost and I doubt that you are either.

The question is, what to do? Sit around and wait for things to change? Or take some action that will give destiny a nudge in the right direction?

Personally, I’ve always believed the philosopher who said “the only reality is in action.” And one action I believe everyone needs to consider in tough times is how marketing dollars are being spent.

Right now all the experts are advising us to focus on our customers (that’s always been our business at Loyalty Builders). Customers are the core strength of any business and an even more important asset in a slow-down. The programs that support customers, keep them happy, and keep them coming back to buy, are critical.

The mistake that’s often made, however, is looking only at how marketing dollars are being spent. It’s very important to understand what customers are doing as a result of the expenditures beyond just buying. That may sound obvious. But gross revenue is only part of what you need to know to sharpen your marketing pencil.

So, when Loyalty Builders’ customers asked us to use their data to put a finer point on marketing spend, we developed a new way to measure marketing effectiveness. Our new Marketing Effectiveness Score (MES) blends six measurements we make for every customer into an overall score that ranges from one to 100. The six measurements in the score are all derived from customer behavior.

As a customer, you can use the MES to compare your current performance against your past, or against other, similar, companies. You can dig down into the number and examine its components in the same way. You can identify where you’re improving vs. yourself and others. You can identify the marketing functions you need to get in better shape. It’s a unique new tool. As far as we know, there’s nothing like our Marketing Effectiveness Score available from anyone but us.

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