Marketing campaigns, budget and ROI

There are two things called campaigns in KudosCRM and they do different jobs. This one is the marketing record: an activity, its budget, and the revenue attributed to it.

The other is a bulk email send. Knowing which you want saves a lot of confusion.

Who this is for

Marketing and anyone accountable for spend against return.

Before you start

• Permission to read and manage campaigns.
• Real budget figures — an ROI computed from a guessed cost is a guess.
• Attribution working, so revenue can be credited.

Two different campaign systems
A bulk email campaign is a send: an audience, a message, and engagement stats. A marketing campaign is a record of an activity with a budget and attributed revenue — a conference, a paid channel, a programme. They are separate on purpose. If you are trying to send email, you want the other one.

Track a campaign

1. Create a record for the activity
   A conference, a paid channel, a content programme. Anything you spend money on and expect return from.
2. Put the real budget on it
   Include the costs people forget — time, production, the stand as well as the ticket. An ROI built on partial cost is flattering and useless.
3. Make sure arrivals are attributed
   Revenue can only be credited to the campaign if leads arriving from it carry that attribution.
4. Let it run long enough to close
   Deals take time. Judging a campaign before its pipeline has had a chance to close measures speed, not return.
5. Compare cost against attributed revenue
   This is the output — what it cost against what it produced. It is the number that should drive next quarter's spend.
6. Keep the losers on record
   A campaign that did not work is evidence worth keeping. Deleting it means someone proposes it again in two years.

What you get

• Marketing activities recorded with their real cost.
• Revenue attributed back to what produced it.
• A cost-versus-return comparison per activity.
• An institutional memory of what worked and what did not.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between this and an email campaign?

A bulk email campaign is a send with engagement stats. A marketing campaign is a record of an activity with a budget and attributed revenue. Different jobs, deliberately separate.

What should I include in the budget?

Everything the activity actually cost, including time and production. Partial costs produce flattering ROI figures that lead to bad decisions.

How long before I can judge a campaign?

Long enough for its pipeline to close. Judging earlier measures how fast leads arrive rather than whether they were worth having.

Should I delete campaigns that failed?

No. A recorded failure is exactly what stops the same idea being proposed again later as if it were untested.