MediaPost's "Four New Marketing Realities To Live By" makes some points that I think are of great interest that need to be shared....
Reality #1: Consumer and Business Spending is Forever Changed
"It means that over the next three to five years (the average length of time most marketers stay at any one job), things are going to be more like the way they are now versus the way they were then. It means that every single company, including yours, has to demonstrate more value in order to hold on to the customers it already has, let alone attract new ones."
Reality #2: That 20% Cut to Your Marketing Budget is Permanent
"That means driving true integrated marketing that goes beyond campaign-based metrics like opens, impressions and clicks to ROI-oriented metrics like conversions, purchases and leads. We can maximize our limited budgets only when we clearly understand which strategies and tactics produce the best bottom-line payoffs. And hopefully, we are not waiting for someone to tell us to do it."
Reality #3: Measurable Marketing Tactics Get Funded, Others Get Cut
"The shrewdest marketers will not only continue to concentrate on measurable online campaigns, they will also build real-time ROI dashboards that detail their results. These performance reports serve two primary purposes. First, they make it easy to spot which tactics aren't working, so you can quickly trim the fat out of your budget. And, secondly, they make it easier to prove Marketing's relationship to revenue, thereby eliminating the call for additional budget cuts."
Reality #4: Highly Competitive Job Market Means All Marketers Must Up Their Games
"In cases like this, it's unwitting ignorance -- not technology constraints -- that keeps individual marketers and marketing teams from being the best they can be. You owe it to yourself to stay informed on industry best practices in your specific area of expertise and to explore what your marketing toolset can do (or what a better tool could do), beyond the basics of getting your next campaign out the door. If you lead a marketing organization, challenge your team to take this on.
This extra effort can transform "average" marketing results into "outstanding" ones, and even in this new economy, outstanding marketers are better positioned to succeed long-term"
Let me say that the article was focussed to Online marketers so obviously it has that bent, that doesn't mean you give up your broadcast property revenue and focus just online, it means that you need to become measurable across every delivery method you possess. Develop return for each of the delivery methods of a marketing message and take the extra effort to build campaigns that are integrated and deliver results.