Best read with a shot (or two) of Vodka.

I must have read this post by Spike over at Brains On Fire 5 times. It's quite sobering (hence my excellent recommendation for the booze). I've included half of the list he's compiled here...

• 84%: Proportion of B2B campaigns resulting in falling sales.
• 54 cents: Average return in sales for every $1 spent on advertising.
• 100%: Increase needed in advertising spend to add 1-2% in sales.
• 95%: Failure rate for new product introductions.

...take another shot (or two) and read the rest of the list and sources here.

Never fear, there's never been a better time to be a better marketer--and maybe these numbers will get companies to wake up, open up, and seek better ways to listen and connect with their audiences.

Comments

[Paul McEnany]

Ok, so, Is it time to start drinking again, yet?

And that is fucking crazy! 54 cents for every dollar. Jeez.

[Spike]

Preach on, preacher girl. Pour me a shot while you're at it, eh?

[vaspers the grate aka Pluto the Planet]

I spent many years in Direct Marketing, and we always made fun of Advertising, in fact some of my mentors absolutely hated ad agencies.

With direct response, you can track results, and do A/B split testing. In general advertising, it's hard to measure impact.

People today are getting product info from each other, online forums, and blogs... not ads, commercials, or ecommerce/corporate web sites.