Want growth? Go for direct mail, say chief marketing officers. Nearly one-quarter of those recently surveyed by Targetbase said traditional mail had the strongest impact on meeting their growth goals.
Direct mail was followed, albeit not closely, by print (15%); e-mail (10%) and point-of-purchase (10%) as having the single greatest effect on sales.
Asked the single most important metric they use to measure growth, CMOs primarily picked revenue (28%), profits (18%), or sales (15%). But a few chose market share (13%) or customer retention (10%).
The CMOs were a bit more evenly divided when they considered the most important approaches to growing their businesses. They most frequently cited generating consumer targeted communication; identifying and segmenting customers; satisfying customer needs and strengthening communications to customers. But they also mentioned partnering with retailers or distributors, multichannel marketing concerns, and improving operational performance. No single approach dominated the results.
According to respondents, there is a disconnect between firms’ marketing and financial goals. Only 8% said these were well aligned, while another 43% indicted they were aligned, but needed some improvement. Twenty-eight percent said they needed significant improvement, and 23% felt there weren’t aligned at all.
Unsurprisingly, a plurality (40%) said their marketing budgets were not sufficient to meet their growth objectives, compared with just over one-third who said they were. And half indicated they frequently modified their long-term growth plans with an eye toward producing short-term results, compared with 28% who did so “sometimes” and 15% who always did so.
Asked about the challenges to achieving their growth objectives, an equal number indicated discounting vs. building value as did inadequate marketing funds (43%). Another 40% cited elusive return-on-investment measurements, while 38% mentioned competitive pressure. Thirty-five percent said that lack of program integration, or difficulty collecting consumer data concerned them, while 30% cited trouble achieving speed to market or lack of staff.
The survey was conducted among 40 CMOs from a variety of companies, including Disney, General Mills, Honda, Sunkist and Whole Foods.
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