Governance is the first in the series of Last Mile Marketing white papers. This white paper series complements the Last Mile Marketing webinar by Performics.

1. L AST MILE MARK E TI N G vo l. 1
Governance: The First Mile
How to Create “Rules of the Road” to
Dominate Digital Efficiently
Does your business present a disconnected or, worse,
conflicting brand offering to prospects and customers due GOVERNANCE ANALYTICS
to diverse stakeholders and complex sales structures? If so,
Last Mile Marketing can help you!
Last Mile Marketing achieves a cost-effective, unified brand
experience, across different devices and media. It requires
examining every point where participants (consumers)
interact with different levels of your business for various
information needs during the purchase process.
Today, brands have to be aggressive to stimulate and meet CONTENT PARTICIPATION
the demand that is out there. Otherwise there is a big risk
of your participants getting “detoured” by the competition.
With lower barriers to entry online and ever changing Last Mile Marketing consists of four components:
technologies, there is hyper competition for an empowered Governance, Analytics, Participation and Content.
shopper who has many options. If a brand doesn’t go the The rest of this paper will focus on Governance. To
last mile, it stands the risk of being disintermediated by new enhance your understanding of Last Mile Marketing,
or more nimble players who will find the holes and disrupt we suggest you listen to our webinar series at
http://www.slideshare.net/performics_us/videos
the legacy brand’s business model.
PERFORMICS LAST MILE MARKETING vol. 1 ©2013 Performics, Inc. Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license granted. 1

2. What is Last Mile Marketing?
The “Last Mile” concept dates from the early days of How do you maximize your Last Mile Marketing expansion
telecommunications. It refers to mapping the total possible opportunities for minimal cost? It is a four part answer
universe of homes that could be connected to the network that begins with Governance. Last Mile Marketing’s rules
with physical wires for telephones and other “hard wired” of the road. It establishes a consistent brand experience
services. The price of getting a phone wire to a house in the for participants across an array of situations on various
remote Ozark hill country might cost the phone company devices. With governed business processes in place, you are
more than the customer (and future owners of the house) ensured that your brand presents the appropriate message
could generate in revenue. As a result, the lifetime value based on the participant’s physical location, immediate
would be negative. needs when seeking information, and his/her role in the
purchase process.
To expand their markets, telecom companies wired
nearly every house in order to own every single “last
What’s a Participant?
?
mile” customer – despite the losses from some of them.
Expansion was achieved by taking a portfolio view of the
overall market and an increase in the customer’s value
At Performics, we are changing both
at the end of the last mile by using cross-sell tactics &
marketing models and marketing
expanded product offerings. Does this concept sound
language to meet today’s evolving
familiar? It should —smart marketers will utilize technology
marketplace. We have replaced the word “consumer”
and governance to eliminate redundancies and increase
with “participant” to more accurately reflect the desired
marketing efficiency. Using advanced analytics, marketers
nature of the relationship between brands and people.
will more accurately understand the lifetime value of a
Marketing is no longer about “reach.” Today, marketing
participant relationship.
is about connecting with people and helping them
to connect with each other. The only way companies
can capture their full potential market, both online and
offline, is by inspiring and activating Participation.
5 Reasons You Need Last Mile Marketing Now
Today’s multi-touch, complex marketing ecosystem requires Last Mile Marketing because Marketers
are expected to:
1. Manage their advertising budget effectively and 3. Adapt to the evolving digital landscape where 90% of
consistently across the entire spectrum of biddable participant time is spent with digital media (including
media to satisfy multiple stakeholders whose goals those using offline media).
may diverge. Search, mobile, display and social media 4. Allocate appropriate human and financial resources to
advertising are all bidded! their digital marketing teams.
2. Provide a consistent brand experience and related sales 5. Ensure all integrated marketing communications and
process for participants regardless of where they are advertising are actionable and measurable.
in the purchase process or what type of device they
are using.
PERFORMICS LAST MILE MARKETING vol. 1 ©2013 Performics, Inc. Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license granted. 2

3. Governance: Last Mile Marketing’s Implementing a governance program in your Last Mile
Marketing initiative yields the following benefits and
Rules of the Road opportunities organization-wide:
In many organizations, internal and external silos are the •• Increases advertising coverage
root cause of a fragmented “participant experience.” Internal
silos exist due to different departments’ involvement, and •• Coordinates brand approach
external silos occur as a result of various marketing partners •• R
educes overlapping advertising spend and
and different sales and distribution channels. streamlines internal processes
•• I
mproves marketing performance by targeting
Silos not only hinder a connected participant experience, advertising more efficiently
but also increase total new customer acquisition costs.
Consider search engine results: ad costs are variable based •• O
ffers faster, more effective crisis response
on a competitive auction, and competing entities bid for when needed
every keyword imaginable including your brand. When a
Any organization can benefit from governance. Businesses
participant types a technology brand’s name into a search
containing multiple areas or organizational levels that
box, the corporate parent may bid on its name to show an
compete at different points in the purchase process derive
ad for a special event; a software division may try to outbid the biggest benefit. The goal of governance is to convert
them to show a specific product; and a hardware reseller participants efficiently without competing against other
may bid to show a different, highly discounted product. areas within your organization. The approach is twofold:
All parties may or may not represent the brand correctly or first, solve the media bidding conflicts in search and display;
follow national ad campaign messaging guidelines. second, manage messaging and subsequent “experience” to
offer the most relevant marketing throughout the purchase
Sounds ineffective, right? These search results confuse journey. These coordinated efforts yield cost savings and
participants and provide sub-optimal brand experiences. reduce the risk of losing prospects to competitors.
From the organization’s perspective, these results represent
increased acquisition costs because different departments At Performics, we help businesses design and manage
bid against each other and potentially drive participants to flexible, accountable governance plans and strategies. In our
experience, these types of business structures benefit most
different databases.
from governance:
A governance program provides an overarching policy •• M
ulti-tier sales, various products and different
framework and related strategy across multiple stakeholders. business units
It ensures your organization’s digital marketing is deployed •• OEMs
effectively with sufficient flexibility. It requires a consistent •• Retailers
approach, including a united brand perspective that talks to
•• Resellers and distributors
participants with one voice and a data-centric method for
prioritizing ads and marketing assets. •• Dealers and franchisees
•• Affiliate programs
PERFORMICS LAST MILE MARKETING vol. 1 ©2013 Performics, Inc. Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license granted. 3

4. Other factors influence the need for governance. 2. Extend to external gap and overlap analysis.
They include the use of varied technologies within an For paid search, perform a detailed analysis of
organization (ad serving, CRM, tracking, and/or business the top keywords. Where is the organization
analytics), increased touchpoints, and multiple marketing- missing coverage, and who is best suited to
related agencies. These elements typically necessitate “answer” the query? To maximize organization’s
additional marketing, headcount or manual workarounds. visibility consider a quarterly analysis. [See: Fig. 1 -
Keyword Governance Plan Example below]
Drive Toward Successful Governance 3. Develop guidelines. Creating business-wide
At its core, governance requires the gathering of relevant processes to support marketing initiatives
information to create effective and efficient business will provide a consistent approach for
processes that place the participant’s needs at the center participant engagement.
of all marketing decisions. In digital marketing, participant 4. Test the process. Create a testing routine that
needs are represented by data. To establish governance, includes variables and frequency. Then use the
start with a neutral outsider, such as Performics, to review established framework in real time with real
business documentation and data. This ensures an scenarios to improve process effectiveness. Learn
unbiased, non-political arbitrator keeps order among various and apply the results.
stakeholders and marketing resource owners.
5. Management process. Ensure there is
a hierarchy of authority and marketing
Follow these six steps to drive your governance on track in
responsibility for business objectives associated
your Last Mile Marketing program:
with groups of keyword terms or data profiles.
1. Internal situation analysis. Collect and examine all
6. Engage Technology. Ensure consistent data
internally relevant business documentation including
treatment and reporting to reduce conflicts and
detailed marketing plans and budgets. Specifically,
confusion. Engage tech teams to develop an
identify KPIs and metrics including search advertising
integrated technology strategy that supports
keyword lists and ROI thresholds for each.
shared decisions.
FIG. 1 - Keyword Governance Plan Example
Instructions: Use this template for each major keyword (or phrase) to initiate your free governance plan.
Reference Step 2 in “Drive Toward Successful Governance.” Download the Excel template at http://www.slideshare.net/
performics_us/performics-keyword-governance-plan-template.
Participant Focused Needs/Context Decision Making Role Landing Page/ Info Expected
Campaign Specifics [Word(s), Device Used, Location] [Maker, Influencer, End User] [Content]
Needs new smartphone, Decision maker end user Price, functionality, service providers
Desktop search
Brand Focused Campaign Specifics
Keyword Business Owner Other Stakeholder(s)
Keyword Type [Name/Business] [Name/Department]
Regional local stores, resellers,
Core brand “Apple” Apple Corporate
affiliates servicers
Regional local stores, resellers,
Product name “iPhone” Apple Corporate
affiliates servicers
Regional local stores, resellers,
Brand + Generic “Apple Smartphone” Apple Corporate
affiliates servicers
Brand + Geo-modified “Apple New York” Regional Manager Apple Corporate
Geo-modified +
“Manhattan Smartphone” Local Store Apple Corporate
Generic
Regional local stores, resellers,
Generic “Smartphone” Apple Corporate
affiliates servicers
PERFORMICS LAST MILE MARKETING vol. 1 ©2013 Performics, Inc. Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license granted. 4

5. Develop Your Governance  Create an escalation procedure. Provide efficient
means for dealing with exceptions and/or conflicts.
Strategy Now This is particularly important when you first implement
While an outside partner such as Performics is critical changes, since there will undoubtedly be issues you
to any Last Mile Marketing program, your organization didn’t anticipate.
also needs these elements to maintain a successful
governance program:  Build relevant metrics. As you gain knowledge and
 Have a project champion. Choose an employee experience, track results to ensure you are monitoring
with sufficient clout to require involved players and the important information accurately. Where necessary,
stakeholders to take appropriate action when necessary. adapt your metrics to reflect gained knowledge of
your participant’s total value. As you build “progressive
 Streamline the process to make it predictable. profiles” of your participant base, you may want to
Keep your process simple and focused. Last Mile change reporting metrics.
Marketing isn’t a do-it-once-and-forget-about-it effort.
Rather, it’s an ongoing process that’s integrated into  Prioritize goals. Determine the order of importance of
your digital marketing campaigns. Streamlining allows your objectives. They must be aligned with the rest of
you to manage the process easily and review at least your business.
quarterly to maximize results and savings.
 Reassess the processes. Remember, “test and
learn” applies here, too! Once you implement your
procedures, review them periodically to ensure your
business remains on track and modify any parts of the
processes that aren’t effective.
PERFORMICS LAST MILE MARKETING vol. 1 ©2013 Performics, Inc. Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license granted. 5

6. National
Brand
Regional
Group
Local Local
Dealer Dealers
Governance Success:
A Last Mile Marketing Case Study
A global auto manufacturer saved 33% on paid search search purchase. This process was tested on a group of 10
media, plus saw a 14% increase in leads. priority search keywords, most of which had a high cost-per-
click, across a test group of dealers. In addition, education
Situation: A large global automotive brand with programs were rolled out at national, regional, reseller,
independent regional auto groups, as well as thousands of and dealer levels. Each program also included local-dealer
local auto dealers, was spending millions of dollars on search campaign assistance.
marketing branded and “generic” key terms such as “new car.”
Result: Implementation of a governance strategy resulted
Action: Performics collected information on the business’ in reduced costs and increased efficiency and volume.
current processes, interviewed stakeholders, and analyzed Total clicks from paid search increased 14% and cost-per-
the current paid search (PPC) buying strategy. Based click decreased 10% through coordinated bidding and the
on this knowledge, we developed a governance model application of a cross-tier governance model. Even better,
that included a new set of business rules to streamline since the pilot study, costs have remained at reduced levels.
Do you want to increase cost effectiveness and reduce redundancy in your
marketing bidding programs? Does your firm need an experienced neutral
outside perspective to help you get your governance program on track? If so,
then contact Performics at 1-800-615-5126 or info@performics.com
Not ready to commit but want to find out more about how Last Mile Marketing
and governance can help you? Sign up for our email newsletter, follow us on
Twitter (@Performics), or find us on Facebook!
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial
license granted for use.