Most Marketers Measure Marketing Activity and Not Business Outcomes – Marketing Metrics are not working – a study finds
Editor’s Note: Laura Patterson (click name to follow Laura on Twitter) of VisionEdge Marketing is a good friend of Jeff Ogden of Find New Customers and a past guest on Marketing Made Simple TV too. So when they invited me to share the findings of this recent study, I was delighted to do so. Find New Customers is also a member of ITSMA.
AUSTIN, Texas—May 21, 2013—VisionEdge Marketing (VEM), ITSMA, and Forrester, organizations committed to helping marketers improve their effectiveness, released the findings from their 2013 Marketing Performance Management (MPM) Survey.
The 2013 MPM Survey captured input from more than 400 respondents, enabling ITSMA, Forrester, and VEM to expose valuable insights on the performance measurement and management challenges marketers face. The study, began by VEM initially, is now in its 12th year.
Here’s a quick summary of study findings:
Very few members of the C-Suite rely on marketing data to make decisions – fewer than one in ten. The reason: Marketing dashboards report marketing activity and not business outcomes.
“The data demonstrates how marketers rely too much on their CRM and marketing automation systems to produce dashboards or report on marketing results. These systems are fine for providing a view into marketing program activity and pipeline, but the research shows that most fail to produce the level of information and metrics that business executives want to see,” said Laura Ramos, Vice President, Principal Analyst serving CMOs at Forrester.
Companies are tracking Operational Efficiency – not Effectiveness
Over half of marketers use measures of operational efficiency such as on-time delivery, budget, productivity, campaign performance and lead data. But only a bit more than one out of three use data analytics that predict buying behavior, make strategic recommendations, drive innovation, or impact customer acquisition, retention or growth. The study finds that marketing activity fails to make a strong connection to business outcomes.
“The metrics marketers say they use suggest an almost myopic focus on efficiency instead of effectiveness. Marketers need to add metrics that measure the effectiveness of their programs as well as measures that will help them make strategic recommendations,” said Julie Schwartz, Senior Vice President, Research and Thought Leadership for ITSMA.
Most use measures of Past Performance, not Predictive Insights
Grades are given from the C-Suite for marketing’s ability to impact the business and measure value. Grades were similar to last year.
A – 27%
B – 38%
Failing – 35%
The one out of four A marketers are doing better, but most are still using analytics to report on past history rather than to support future decisions.
“Marketers are at various stages of their journey, some further along than others. One step all marketers need to address is to have the building blocks and repeatable processes needed to support alignment, analytics, and accountability,” said Laura Patterson, President, VisionEdge Marketing, Inc.
The final reports from ITSMA/VEM and Forrester respectively will include select survey results, along with recommended action steps to help marketers improve marketing effectiveness, efficiency, and value for their organization. The results will be previewed at the ITSMA Marketing Leadership Forum in Napa (http://www.itsma.com/events/2013-marketing-leadership-forum/) and presented in the June 4 webinar, Measuring and Communicating Marketing Performance (http://www.itsma.com/events/measuring-and-communicating-marketing-performance/).
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About VisionEdge Marketing: VisionEdge Marketing provides proven expertise to help companies improve marketing accountability, measurement and analytics; create outcome-based marketing metrics; develop dashboards; leverage processes, data, systems, and use data and analytics to make strategic market, customer and product decisions.
About ITSMA: ITSMA is a research-based membership organization that helps B2B companies market and sell services and solutions more effectively. They work with the world’s leading professional services, technology, and communications providers to generate increased demand, strengthen customer relationships, and improve brand differentiation.
About Forrester: A global research and advisory firm, Forrester serves professionals in 13 key roles across three distinct client segments. Forrester provides proprietary research, consumer and business data, custom consulting, events and online communities, and peer-to-peer executive programs.
What do you think? Why do so many use the wrong metrics? We love comments and those who share on social media.
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Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is an award-winning marketing expert and President of the sales lead generation company Find New Customers. He’s also the creator of the very popular TV on the Web show, Marketing Made Simple TV.
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