Cutting through the Marketing Hype with ROI

Step right up! Gather round and see the latest technology to dazzle and amaze you. Tech industry marketers have gone so far over the top lately that they’ve become the snake oil salespeople of our time.

I understand the need to show unique differentiation, but so many marketing claims now are wildly exaggerated and downright sensationalistic. How can multiple vendors have the fastest, biggest, most cost-effective solution? The term ‘industry leading’ is so overused that it has no meaning. We are left with vapid hype.

Businesses don’t buy solutions based on what’s under the hood. They want validation that the solution will solve their problem and deliver on the promised benefits. They want assurances that they’ll get a good return on investment (ROI).

Win the War, Not the Battle

In fact, ROI is a powerful tool for cutting through the marketing hype. Clear and precise like forensics, ROI shows the bottom line. And the numbers don’t lie. Having the fastest processor, biggest ecosystem of partners and industry-leading cloud platform can very well contribute to success. But they are supporting points, not the lead. ROI is a much more effective indicator of success because it focuses on the overall value.

ROI cuts to the chase with the end result statistics that the CFO, CEO, COO and board can understand. That ‘industry-best’ widget makes their eyes glaze over, but understanding that a supply chain overhaul or CRM upgrade can deliver a significant payback will get that Purchase Order approved.

And while there is no guarantee that all businesses will achieve the same return, ROI provides a blue print for success and is more indicative of value than overhyped features. It’s the big picture versus a granular feature checklist. Just because a car has better fuel injection doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for a particular buyer. In fact, it doesn’t even indicate it will be the fastest car on the highway.

ROI looks at the overall value, not a single feature. This is why we built Nucleus Research around ROI with a sharp focus on value. In fact, we’ve published more ROI case studies than any other firm and continue to help businesses make better tech decisions.

It’s also why we launched the annual Tech ROI Awards back in 2002 to help showcase each year’s 10 most successful technology implementations. In addition to powerful examples of beneficial technologies, the awards have also shown great trends. We saw early on how the cloud had a positive, amplifying effect on ROI. Mobile and social technologies have also helped boost ROI and most recently we’ve seen how the integration of enterprise apps, particularly with analytics, is delivering more value.

We are opening the 14th Annual Tech ROI Awards this week. (Get more info at https://www.ROIAwards.com) If recent years are any indication, I fully expect to see some unique and smart technology deployments coupled with some of the highest ROI results to date.

We encourage businesses and vendors to submit their best technology deployments. This is a genuine, results-based awards program with no costs or fees. Just as marketing hype has created distrust in our industry, so have pay-for-play awards. That wouldn’t be fitting for recognition of ROI and we are very clear to keep this objective and independent – all based on the numbers. As far as awards go, this one delivers the best return on investment out there! Now that’s industry leading.