Marketers have been trying to figure out how to measure the results of their marketing efforts for what seems like forever. If you think you know what you get for every dollar you put into your marketing strategy, the truth is that you really don’t. 

In a panel discussion at Advertising Week recently, one panel member said that at best, “[We] feel confident – plus or minus 10%-15% across disparate and disconnected tools – that it’s working.”

The focus of the panel was sports investment, but their measurement discussion can be applied to other areas of advertising efforts.

Another panel member said that focusing on the bottom of the sales funnel can be problematic, as it includes folks wanting to take credit and those wanting to deflect blame. There are other factors outside of marketing that affect the bottom of the funnel, such as inventory, price, promotion, competition and even weather.

For these panel members, a flywheel marketing strategy makes more sense than the traditional marketing funnel, because it emphasizes continuous customer interaction and satisfaction to fuel a self-sustaining cycle of growth.

Marketers are increasingly using live sports events to connect with consumers. Strategies such as enhanced digital fan engagement are particularly effective with younger people.

Even though advertising during live sports events has gotten much more expensive, it’s still more effective because Gen Zennials - a micro-generation born on the cusp of Millennial and Gen Z, typically between the late 1990s and early 2000s (roughly 1993-1998) – are a target audience, and they are engaging on digital platforms. As an example, a single 30-second spot during 2024’s college football playoffs was more impactful than 48 regular prime time ads. For Dr. Pepper, who was the presenting sponsor for the last college football championship game, there was 80% more engagement during the final game than there was across all of the brand’s ads during the rest of the year.