Can you say you are recouping $4 dollars for every $1 you spend on marketing? Probably not. That claim is reserved for companies with a solid marketing strategy in place. And by a solid marketing strategy, we mean complete integration across all channels and all visibility points a company has to offer. Who has the time to conduct such a symphony? Really, an ad in a local publication gets the phone ringing. Isn’t that enough? Or that trade show you went to last week. Isn’t that enough? Surely the price of printing 1000 brochures should reap you some customers. Right?

Wrong. Companies like AT&T spend up to 45% of their budget on marketing and the funds are not directed to one single visibility point. Rather, companies that have defined a marketing budget, have a strong approach of allocating those funds strategically across multiple channels. In essence, their marketing expenses are treated like investments. Whether you devote 2% or 12% of your budget to marketing, you have to expect returns exceeding your investment. This means companies need to apply investment fundamentals to their marketing strategy, eliminating a fragmented and ineffective marketing approach.

For instance, clarifying your investment objectives, targeting economic leverage, managing risk and tracking returns are components of any investment plan. Apply these principles to your marketing strategy and aim for strong returns.

It starts with defining what marketing really means. There is a definition that floats out there immutable to the situation. Sometimes marketing means PR –get me on Oprah! Or sometimes marketing means a gorgeous brochure tossed by your prospective client. Or, more often, marketing means only design.

In reality, marketing has four components to its definition. All four parts play a significant roll on providing return on your marketing dollars. Moreover, all four parts can be found in some of the most successful Fortune 500 companies. As a side note, for sustainable companies to not only stay competitive, they must adopt the larger and more successful corporate models of marketing:

Identify your Objectives
Good investment means you are asking about your long-term financial goals. In the same sense, set your marketing goals to align with your business objectives. You can then optimize your marketing initiatives to feed directly into the overall goals of the company.

For instance, if your business goal for ’07 is to penetrate a new market and increase revenue in your current markets, then your market investment should identify which portion of your investment is devoted to brand awareness, and which portion is devoted to brand loyalty. Each segment requires a different level of marketing and activity.

Find Your Sweet Spot
Like any good investor, devote your marketing budget to aligning your brand with the most compelling elements about your brand. Taking the time to understand what compels your customers to buy your product or service drives a targeted message that compounds returns.

For example, if your current client base is loyal based on your internal sustainability practices, then it may behoove the company to be more transparent about their alignment to sustainability. On the flip side, if your targets are not motivated by the environment and see sustainability as more of an obligation than a lifestyle, your targeted message would speak in that direction. Understanding the pathways that best reach and communicate to your targeted audience creates the highest regurns.

Manage Your Risk
Reducing risk is the most critical component to advancing your returns. When considering a marketing strategy, the amount of your budget must be aligned to channels that are proven.

For example, a media channel may not offer good returns when most of your target audience is subscribing to a publication aligned with your company’s business values.

Moreover, testing new techniques and learning to measure and assess new approaches is a part of managing risk. Marketing strategies must devote some component to uncovering new and unique ways of reaching targets. If all you are doing is what every one else is doing, your risk goes up in diluting your audience with a cacophony of noise. Be brave and support innovation –but measure it to determine it’s value and ROI potential.

Track Your Returns
Any investor will tell you that they have measures in place tracking their investments. Marketing strategies require the same approach. If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

For example, companies engaging in e-communication strategies enjoy steep returns when they measure conversion and open rates of their audience. This approach creates efficiencies in segmenting your audience base for a more targeted approach. Moreover, measuring the returns on sponsorships, ads, collateral and other marketing vehicles ensures you are investing your money on the right approach and eliminating the under performers –exactly as an investor would do with her portfolio.

Marketing is an investment. If you don’t have the resources to align your marketing initiatives with your business objectives, invest in an experienced employee or contract with a reputable firm. The investment will create deep returns and ensure a solid growth trajectory. Marketing is about integrating information into a solid approach yielding returns. Adopt a new view on marketing and realize that with the investment return it can provide, you can’t afford to ignore it.