Eight tips on how to get your marketing money's worth.

• Position: Marketing News - Product marketing for the financial services industry - Brief Article

How much increase in sales should your marketing program account for? John R. Graham says you're asking the wrong question. In fact, he says, sales are not the proper goal of a marketing program. Your sales staff makes the sale; your marketing program just creates the atmosphere. Graham, president of a Quincy, Mass. marketing services and sales consulting firm, has some firm ideas about what your marketing efforts should accomplish. "Marketing has one objective: to create customers. The mission of marketing is to create an environment so that the customer comes to appreciate the benefits of doing business with your firm."

How do you know if your program is doing its job? Graham suggests eight benchmarks for measuring success. Your program should:

1. Differentiate your product or company from the competition. If your brochures, your Logos, your image doesn't distinguish you from your competitors, customers are likely to make their choices strictly on the basis of price.

2. Generate a continuing flow of quality leads. The trick...