Marketers are often misunderstood. Those “creative people,” those “media junkies,” those “spin experts.” Add to this best-selling books like “All Marketers are Liars” and very public marketing mistakes such as New Coke®, and it’s easy to see how marketers are often a little skittish with their own reputations.

Then there’s the lack of standardized language and practices (imagine if accounting or medical terms and processes changed with each practitioner), and marketing effectiveness goes from blurry to blind.

Thankfully, as digital technologies and data gathering enable marketing to be measured, some of this is beginning to change. For example, inbound marketing is becoming a popular way to measure effectiveness, help people work smarter, not harder, and achieve more tangible results. Not to mention, it offers the capability to create a more personalized marketing message for every individual.

The fact is, marketing, when well executed, can make a dramatic difference in the success of a person (Obama), place (Las Vegas) or product (iPhone). However, for brands that seek marketing “silver bullets,” the past is often the best predictor of the future. Brand reputations are built over time through many encounters. That’s where partnering with marketers who understand your business, know your customers, and are aware of your competition—and then use these insights to create a comprehensive plan and disciplined marketing approach—are worth it.

Like other business functions, make certain to include marketing in your shortlist of strategies that must be established and need to be measured on an ongoing basis.