COMMUNICATION
The Balanced Scorecard As A Marketing Tool
By Katya Nyangi
As aptly put by Sun Tzu in The Art of War , ‘ Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory . Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat .’ The pandemic has placed many areas of our business operations in question with organizations and departments not only needing to better understand the digital space but also to more attentively interrogate how they have been managing their processes and customers in the past , in the present and for the future .
This brought me to reflecting on the value of the Balance Scorecard ( Kaplan & Norton ) approach in the context of Marketing Communication . The balance scorecard looks at four perspectives to assess how well the organization is running and if the objectives are being met . Gone are the days when this was simply a look at the financials . We can all agree that the journey to the ROI we hope to attain is reliant on factors that are not directly financial but do require a case for investment and a plan . The Balanced Scorecard keeps you organized as you go over setting your objectives , understanding the best way to measure this , setting aligned targets and then of course , the fun part , the initiatives you are going to pursue to meet these targets and objectives . This also motivates the team to synchronize efforts to achieve your shared goals for it clearly brings out the relationship between the various perspectives .
To ensure you get the best out of each perspective , you should have at least one KPI that is the north star to the objectives you aim to meet . A good way to navigate this is by starting with the Destination Statement - where to , by when .
Financial Perspective : From the marketing angle , we want to understand the ROI on our spend and how this generates income and growth . The questions you will ask yourselves here include : How much do we need to spend to generate the lead pipeline that would enable us to meet our targets . What is therefore the cost per acquisition along that customer journey , on average how long will this customer remain our customer and what is the marketing cost of retaining them . How do the various channels vary in conversion and why would we still spend on a channel that is not high on direct conversation - to which many appropriate answers linked to the other three perspectives come up . Working this out also means your marketing budget is more likely to get approved and a solid plan means it is more likely to achieve it ’ s financial targets .
Customer Perspective : If your customer is not satisfied with their customer journey with you then this will mean that your marketing spend is wasted and you do not acquire or convert the customers you require to achieve your targets . When it comes to customer satisfaction , my motto is to aim higher than what you think you can achieve and work toward that aim zealously . In this perspective you would be asking yourselves : How satisfied are customers with your service / product and their journey , how many customers are you acquiring and retaining . Customer feedback is the best way to improve and one of the important features to look out for here is consistency in the feedback . If in one quarter it ’ s an upward trend on satisfaction and in another down yet in another a combination , this then feeds into the next two perspectives on the scorecard .
Internal Processes Perspective : In this segment , communication is key . You would be asking yourselves : how are you communicating your value proposition , is your team and the customer aligned on this value proposition i . e do you understand your customer well enough , how do your systems and processes attract and progress a potential customer from enquiry to customer and how is the productivity measured . At what point do you close a customer journey , how does this feedback go back into improving your value proposition within the organisation at large as well as within the customer journey ?
Education & Growth Perspective : This is a crucial one in our digitally evolving times . Here you need to identify specific skills sets and either train or hire for them - stay up to date . Feedback from the other perspectives will inform you on the gaps where learning is required . This also relates to your team ' s job satisfaction . In marketing , your team has to be driven by a strong belief in what they do to engage with customers passionately and authentically . You will therefore ask yourselves : what other opportunities can you tap into , what skills do we need to build on or acquire , what is obsolete , what talent does the team need to most effectively deliver on the objectives and is your team happy doing what they do . If not , why ? How will this be measured ?
Some of the metrics within each perspective can vary based on your KPIs but overall they would sit within this summary . The beauty of the Balanced Scorecard is that it can be applied to any segment of your business drawing from the organizational perspectives and can even be narrowed down to specific campaigns and short term initiatives to keep you centered and organized around the vision and goal . Once this framework is set , the most important thing is to be very conscientious about how you measure and what you measure , as this will also enable you to more accurately forecast for the future . If your measures are not given the right attention , the framework would have been in vain .
The depth of the Balanced Scorecard cannot be covered in an article , but as you consider learning more , it is useful to know that it has been considered among the world ’ s top strategic management frameworks . Good luck !
Katya Nyangi works in education management as the Communications and Marketing Director for Makini Schools . You can engage her via mail at : Katerina . Nyangi @ gmail . com .
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