Only ¼ of Companies Are Managing Marketing Effectively

A snipit from CMB and CMG Partners' upcoming white paper, the Marketing Performance Advantage.

Boston, MA (10/7/2009) – Only one-fourth of companies believe they are managing their marketing efforts effectively, according to the results of a landmark survey of more than 400 companies by strategic marketing consultancy CMG Partners and market research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey. But the study also found that those companies that actively use marketing effectiveness best practices are reaping positive results in areas such as share gains or revenue growth.

The study, entitled The Marketing Performance Advantage, surveyed more than 400 companies across a variety of industries and company sizes to determine the key attributes of successful marketing organizations and to understand what marketing practices they employ.
“We found a high degree of interest in marketing measurement, but surprisingly very few executives reported success with translating that interest into improved marketing effectiveness or bottom line results,” observed Rich Schreuer, senior vice president of Chadwick Martin Bailey.

For example, the study found 75% of participants expressed interest in measuring the performance of their marketing initiatives yet....
  • only 27% of companies are fully integrating their marketing measurement insights into marketing planning,
  • only 20% believe they excel at measuring the performance of marketing initiatives, and
  • only 24% believe they are improving business results based on this information
“Marketing leaders and their organizations are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the value they deliver to their businesses, especially in today’s tough economic environment,” said Mark Carr, a partner at CMG Partners. “The study clearly shows that if done right, marketing performance management -- the practice of measuring, learning from, and improving upon marketing strategies and tactics over time -- can deliver bottom line results and prove a key differentiator in highly competitive markets. For example, of those companies that excel at marketing performance management practices, 98% are gaining or maintaining market share.”


The study found that many of the companies surveyed appear to be stuck in the basic tracking and measuring stage of improving marketing effectiveness. An almost equal number are working at breaking down barriers to improved performance in areas such as correlation of data and measurements with results or incorporating insights into decision-making. Those organizations that are reaping the rewards of marketing improvements are doing so at least in part by taking a more holistic view of how to continually improve the marketing enterprise.

In addition to providing an in-depth look at the state of marketing performance management, the study highlights the best practices of those companies who reported the greatest impact from marketing improvement efforts.

Learn more at marketingperformanceadvantage.com

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