Companies that have fully embraced marketing-performance have marketing organizations that make a more positive impact on business—and are more likely to be market leaders—according to a study conducted by CMG Partners and Chadwick Martin Bailey.
The research, which studies how 400 companies are practicing marketing-performance management, also reaffirms many of the challenges that marketing leaders faces when adopting performance measurement approaches.
Strong Interest in Managing Marketing Performance
Overall, 75% of survey participants say they are interested in measuring the performance of their marketing initiatives. In addition, 44% of those interested in measurement practices say that it's a top priority within the marketing organization, and 38% indicate that it's a top priority at the corporate level.
Translating Insight Into Business Improvement
Most respondents say marketing-measurement insight is being underleveraged both within marketing departments and beyond the marketing function. Of the 93% of participants that measure marketing now, only 60% use the data as an input to budgeting and planning; 16% say the insights go largely unused.
Only 20% of participants say they excel at measuring the performance of marketing initiatives. Only 24% respondents say their measurement practices are having a positive impact on business. What's more, 22% are seeing no impact from their improvement efforts––effectively rendering a negative ROI on investment of money and staff resources.
Barriers to Improvement
Various problems contribute to the gap between performance measurement interest and business impact:
- Lack of data: 40% of participants cite access to the right data as a significant challenge, including timing and availability of data as well as perceived validity and reliability.
- Inadequate technology: 40% say the lack of systems to measure, track, and report marketing performance was a challenge, including the use of disparate systems.
- Lack of organizational commitment: 39% say having the ability to ensure that insights are used to make marketing investment decisions is a challenge.
- Lack of alignment with other departments: 36% say their marketing organizations are ineffectively aligned with other departments on how to use marketing performance insights.
- Missing the appropriate skill sets: 26% say that the ability to analyze and generate insight form market measurement is a challenge.
Marketing Performance Measurement Best-Practices
Among those companies that report delivering improved business results through the use of marketing performance measurement, a number of best-practices were identified:
Foster senior level buy-in. Viewed as the most critical factor in driving success, companies that register a significant impact to their business from their marketing performance management are almost twice as likely to have senior level buy-in as those that report limited business impact.
Seek strategic alignment. Strategic alignment is viewed as the organization's ability to establish the critical measurements that will appropriately inform the marketing department––and also credibly communicate to cross-functional executive teams of marketing's business impact.
Companies that say marketing performance management has had a significant impact on their business are twice as likely to have achieved strategic alignment as those reporting limited business impact.
Make targeted investments. Companies that are seeing a significant impact to their business are on average more than three times likely to have targeted investments, compared to those seeing limited business impact from their marketing performance management.
About the research: The Marketing Performance Advantage research was conducted by Chadwick Martin Bailey and CMG Partners in April-May 2009, utilizing the eRewards online research panel. The results are based on 400 online interviews with CFOs, CEOs, and marketing employees of companies with 100+ employees.
