Only one-in-three marketing directors and managers are confident they can accurately measure their marketing department’s effectiveness, according to a new survey commissioned by Crescendo Consulting.
The areas of biggest concern are social, PR, advertising and direct marketing, while digital, sales promotions and branding were of least concern to professionals.
Reasons behind these concerns include lack of tools and techniques good enough to measure effectiveness in today’s complex marketing environment. Thirty-one per cent of those surveyed believe there is too much emphasis on the technology behind today’s measurement systems with too little focus on the results they delivery.
However, 27 per cent of marketers say market research is generating the insight required to understand today’s highly complex marketing environment.
The research revealed that three-quarters of organisations evaluate marketing activity in-house (70 per cent), while over one-quarter (27 per cent) allow agencies to evaluate their work.
Mark Westaby, consulting director at Crescendo, said: “Frankly, we are shocked by just how little confidence marketing managers and directors have in the evaluation of marketing effectiveness. The reasons, however, are clear. Agencies should never be allowed to measure their own work and while understandable that organisations measured effectiveness in-house during the recession it is critical that this be redressed if marketing activities are to deliver true ROI as we emerge from it.”
