(Direct) Call it a case of holding the bean counters accountable: Financial services firms of all stripes are ratcheting up their spending on measurable marketing media. “The ones that are increasing are the ones that are easier to measure, and show their value,” said Todd Baird, brand director at Boston-based Partners + Simons, which recently surveyed senior marketing executives at financial service companies regarding their advertising practices. Respondents were most likely to decrease their spending on print or broadcast advertising, while few indicated they would be cutting back on online or e-mail efforts. Only one in eight said they would reduce their expenditures on non-electronic direct marketing.
“I think the pressure is on performance, and if you can’t demonstrate performance, you’re making decisions more from instinct and gut, which are more easily challenged.” Baird said.
Meanwhile, 40% said marketing was playing a bigger role in delivering bottom-line results. Sixty-four percent indicated management wanted more direct accountability from marketing spending, and a similar percentage noted that their systems for tracking and developing sales leads were either “fair” or “poor.”
Of course, much of this depends on the function of the print or broadcast advertising campaigns. “You can align your investor [focused] advertising with other sales efforts, and as the market and the dynamics change, you can put a message out there that aligns with the different product sets you want to promote,” Baird said. “As for those decreasing their spending, that might be a function of where they can save budget as quarters or years close.”—Richard H. Levey
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