PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 16, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Corporate marketing executives can improve the predictability and reliability of forecasts through adherence to several basic principles and processes, according to MarketingNPV(R), a resource for marketing executives looking to improve their decision-making skills and processes.
"Most marketing departments feel very insecure about their marketing forecasting competencies, not necessarily with regards to the experiential/intuitive components, but relative to the science and processes that help balance instinct," observes Pat LaPointe, founder of MarketingNPV. LaPointe, a 20-year marketing veteran, adds, "Forecasting is one of the most important things done in marketing, yet one of the least understood."
To help marketers increase their forecasting ability in these dog days of summer when marketers have no choice but to sweat out sales and marketing forecasts for the coming calendar year, MarketingNPV provides an article titled "5 Ways to Improve the Accuracy of Your Forecasting." It details a process marketing executives can implement for more targeted forecasting.
"Even if still working with a No. 2 pencil and scrap paper, there's no reason marketers can't produce outstanding quality forecasts with more predictability and reliability, significantly improving their marketing return on investment," says LaPointe.
The key to forecasting success, says LaPointe in the article, are process improvements that help corral the best available facts and insights from both inside and outside the company vs. a reliance on mathematical exercises.
Reading and resources on how to improve your 2005 forecasts, how to choose a forecasting software package, and what chief marketing officers really should know about web metrics can be viewed at and downloaded from www.MarketingNPV.com
MarketingNPV(R) (http://www.marketingnpv.com) provides the insight, techniques, and tools to improve financial return from marketing investments. MarketingNPV builds marketing dashboards, provides consulting and training, maintains a website, and publishes a bimonthly journal, all to help marketers make smarter decisions, better assess the economic value of their initiatives, and make stronger cases to request or defend resources.