For all the noise about marketing analytics' importance, there's very little actual spark. A survey of marketing professionals revealed that more than half believe their dashboard use, marketing ROI technology use or projections employing ROI planning is weaker than it should be.
Take marketing dashboards with predictive and diagnostic metrics. Only 14% of respondents rate their use of them as a strength – a 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale. But nearly 60% say it is a weakness (a 1 or 2 rating).
Similarly, nearly six in ten indicate their use of ROI technology as part of their campaigns is wanting, as did 54% of those considering ROI planning tools used for projections. Only 16% and 14%, respectively, view these as strengths within their organizations.
Where marketers do – if not excel, at least show some aptitude – is in aligning their organization's culture with financial goals. Thirty nine percent indicate this is a strength, compared with only 29% saying it is a weakness. And while one quarter view their efforts to tie marketing and sales funnel tracking to profitability as an asset, 43% see report room for improvement.
Marketers are all over the map when it comes to embracing dashboards. While 19% report having some form of marketing dashboard in their companies (up from 14% from 2005's study), more than one third do not use one – and have no plans to implement one. Another 17% have one under consideration, and 13% are currently developing one. Only 2% have a thorough, predictive dashboard that they use on a daily basis. The remainder either gave other replies, or did not know the state of their firm's dashboard use.
Is there good news? Well, year over year there has been improvement in firms' confidence in their ROI measurement abilities. Sixteen percent say their competence is either as good as it needs to be or a source of leadership, up from 8% last year. In contrast, 42% said it is "a long way from where it should be," down from 53%.
Marketers are also getting more sophisticated in their use of measurements. Twenty six percent calculate ROI, or net present value, or some other profitability metric, up from 18% last year. Another 28% use some sort of financial metrics, albeit not profitability metrics, down from 31% last year. The rest either don't know, or don't calculate use traditional marketing metrics.
Even brand marketers are embracing measurement. Last year, nearly two-thirds said their efforts to measure the impact of brand initiatives was a long way from where it should be. This year, that figure fell to 42%, while the number indicating it was "somewhere short of where it could be" rose from 29% to 43%.
The study, from MarketingProfs and Lenskold Group, was conducted earlier this year among 1,100 marketing professionals, consultants and academics. The results above are based on the 792 marketing professionals included in that group.
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