One-third of U.S. companies plan to maintain or increase marketing budgets in the 2010-2011 fiscal year, and a higher percentage will set up guidelines and metrics to prove accountability, according
to a study released Wednesday.
The Forbes Insights and software and analytics firm MarketShare Partners reveals marketers and agencies continue to struggle with finding the metrics to justify
dollars spent on campaigns. Fifty-eight percent of companies working with budgets up to $1 million admit they will implement tools that measure return on investment (ROI) to measurable outcomes,
compared with 40% for those working with higher budgets.
Companies with lower budgets favored working on developing metrics, while 58% of marketers with budgets of $1 million or more believe
having a "big idea" was more important. With budgets protected or growing, proving the wisdom of how those budgets are used remains a priority.
More than half -- 55% -- of total respondents say
CMOs own responsibility for effective marketing campaigns for their organization, and that proportion increases to 71% for those with marketing budgets greater than $1 million.
Measurement and
accountability may have become equally important. Forty percent of respondents admit that one of the biggest drivers for developing marketing measurement and accountability programs remains justifying
spend to senior executives. The more experienced CMO remains at the company 28.4 months, according to Booz & Co., compared with 75.6 months for the CEO.
A complex media landscape -- shifts in the
market and new technologies and ad formats -- makes it more important for marketers to track budgets. The rise of social media, search and mobile creates increased competition for consumers'
attention, and marketers need to know how to adjust.
Sixty-eight percent of marketing executives participating in the survey say they have some form of analytics in place to measure effectiveness
and ensure accountability. One-third of respondents reveal that they plan to have formal measurement systems in place in the future, while one in five respondents with marketing budgets greater than
$1 million said the same -- suggesting that nine in 10 marketing executives will have some sort of formal measurement system in the foreseeable future.
Online initiatives are the most popular
programs measured, although not surprising. Three of the top four measurement approaches -- including measurement of online search marketing, 64%; measurement of online display marketing, 48%; and
measurement of online social media marketing, 43% -- focus on digital marketing.
The study, entitled "The Accountability Evolution: Marketers Turn to Metrics to Boost Their Strategic Value," is
based on a survey of more than 100 senior marketing executives. It examines the marketing landscape, as well as the strategies and methodologies being put in place by companies. It also looks at how
approaches vary between those companies with marketing budgets over $1 million and those under $1 million.