The

text below describes methods of assessing the efficiency of marketing

strategies and it contains several COMPOUND words (not derived!). They can be

nouns, adjectives,

adverbs or prepositions. Read the text and try to find 15 compound

words and write them in the order they appear (write each word

ONCE):

Measuring Input, Throughput, Output, and

Outcomes

There are clear methods for arriving at a solid return

on investment for marketing time and spend, and it's not about the 'vanity

metrics' of email open rates, Facebook likes, or Google Analytics page views.

Instead, it's about how you measure and understand input, throughput, output,

and outcomes. 

Before content is created, emails are sent, and ads

are placed, marketers work with stakeholders on capturing expectations and defining

the scope of each project. Though every marketer uses a calendar to track their deliverables and deadlines, the input

goes a step before even this critical tool.

Far from being merely a collection bin of ideas and

project requests, the backlog represents the sheer volume of possible work that

must be prioritized and doled out. Combined with the master editorial calendar,

which includes upcoming due dates and key milestones for events, the backlog

helps both the marketing team and the stakeholders visually comprehend the

enormity of possible work that faces the marketing team.

While the backlog of possible work is obviously

helpful for the marketer, it also clues stakeholders from other business units

into the bigger picture of how their project request must fit into the workflow

of competing projects. Yes, this means the backlog is actually visible to those

outside of marketing.

How much work did your team get done? To answer this

question, one must know the timeframe for the team's workload. There's no magic

number to attain when measuring throughput. It's either about how much work the

team got done compared to what they estimated they could do at the beginning or

about the cycle time required to move from one task to the next. 

Every marketer knows about measuring output, because

they're keenly focused on marketing

deliverables. However, measuring the wrong kinds of outputs leads to

false assumptions about the value of marketing's efforts. Examples abound in

the marketing world of campaigns that failed miserably in spite of high email

open rates, good click-through rates, solid landing page views, and plenty of

social media engagement when all of those actions lead to poor conversion rates

for Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs).

The ultimate

marketing conversion rate is tied back to a business outcome and not a

marketing deliverable, as marketing exists to enable the organization to meet

business objectives.