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Track and measure the activity. Be straightforward and use your creativity.

This layer is the most challenging and crucial part of the process — not because it’s the most important but because it’s the final piece of the puzzle that reveals the whole picture. When done right, all the efforts in planning and executing the campaign have meaning.

The digital space expands the possibilities and offers different tracking methods, whether through traffic driven to the website or attributed traffic (tracking by advertising platforms). However, a significant portion of marketing activity cannot be tracked in traditional ways (Criss Walker, CEO of Refine Labs, calls it “the dark social”), and this is where we need to be creative.

In the “Brandformance guide,” we’re developing methods to measure brand awareness by explaining the straightforward approach on the ad platform and giving different examples of tracking the “dark social.”
As a start, we recommend mapping the channels you will use with the criteria: Can they be measured directly? Or can’t they? Having visibility gives you a common ground to talk with your organization’s marketing performance/analysis.

We encourage you to send a quick questionnaire to all stakeholders involved (digital markets, product marketers, and more) with the list of the KPIs and ask them what they think can track for the indication. You can set up a brainstorming meeting to discuss this thoroughly.