- A benchmark helps you understand your starting point
and provides a point of reference to measure your results,
meaning know where you stand
before you launch your marketing campaign
so you have a basis for comparison.
Determine your benchmark for each objective.
Let's say you work at a company
that provides IT help desk services for companies.
If your marketing objective is to obtain 20% market share,
what's your starting point?
Is it 10%? That's a benchmark.
Or let's say your communications objective
is to have 5,000 followers on your company Facebook page
by the end of the year.
How many followers do you have now?
If you currently have 3,000 followers on Facebook,
that's a benchmark.
You can set up a simple chart in Excel
or as a table in Word.
In the left two columns,
list each marketing and communications objective.
Then fill in the benchmark or starting place
for each of these objectives.
After your campaign launches,
add the in-market results that pertain to each objective.
I recommend including a comment section
so you can include information or points of view
about the why behind the results
or perhaps thoughts about how to revise
your objectives moving forward.
I know this may seem like it'll take a lot of time
or slow down your schedule,
so let me share some benefits of benchmarking.
You'll know your starting point.
Without this information,
you have no basis for comparison for your in-market results
or understand if you were successful
or what needs to be improved.
Executives will know your starting point.
This is really important to set expectations.
Objectives sometimes can feel distant
or not tangible to executives
who have so many other things on their minds.
Also, executives may have more experience than you.
When they know your starting point,
they can advise you if your objectives are not attainable.
Your colleagues will know each other's starting points.
This is important to collaborate
and align efforts across internal marketing disciplines.
Determine your benchmark so you know your starting point
and understand your campaign's performance in market.