• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, October 23, 2013

A major disconnect exists between consumers and marketers in terms of how each perceives the value of marketing. However, even though marketers have an overblown sense of value and consumers underestimate it, they are aligned when it comes to the relative value of marketing in specific channels.

For example, while marketers give email marketing an 82% rating when it comes to value, and consumers view it as only 31% valuable, they agree on email's relative value; it was the highest rated channel by consumers and the second highest by marketers. "Personalized Web Experience," or owned media, was the highest rated channel by marketers (87%) and tied for the third most valuable channel by consumers (11%).

The data comes from marketing technology company [x+1], which gave RTM Daily an early look at the results of a recent survey it conducted.

John Haake, [x+1]'s VP of marketing, spoke with RTM Daily about the data and shed some light on the disconnect it highlights.

"Our gut feeling is…[that] the marketers are making the assumption that what they're doing is working a lot better and more efficiently than the consumers are willing to admit or even aware of," Haake reasoned. "It doesn't surprise us that marketers thought their marketing was more effective.

"I think the most interesting point is looking at how these things are generally ranked. You see pretty good alignment," he added.

Consumers actually have a higher perception of value in the Web ads (display) channel than marketers. It's close (29% for marketers, 30% for consumers), but [x+1] urges in their report that marketers should "consider this misalignment as they allocate their budgets." Display is the only channel in which consumers have a higher perception of marketing value than marketers.

Haake pointed out that the top channels in terms of a consumer's perceived value — such as email and display ads — "are the most data-driven channels out there." He believes it's "affirmation for marketers to continue down this path of using data to optimize and target their marketing."

He added, "I think, overall, what is significant and comes out of the survey is that consumers indeed find the most data-driven channels to be valuable in their purchase decision-making."

All things mobile (apps, mobile Web, and SMS) were at the bottom of both the marketer's and consumer's value chains. Consumers gave SMS marketing a value rating of 2% (compared to 17% for marketers), and other forms of mobile marketing weren't much higher. Mobile Web ads had a 5% value rating to consumers (20% - marketers), and mobile app ads were given a 7% value rating by consumers (35% - marketers).

The data comes from a survey [x+1] conducted with 250 U.S. consumers and 200 marketers. The survey was conducted in late July. You can download the results here.