• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 29, 2014

The annual Ifbyphone State of Marketing Measurement Survey identifies what successful marketers are doing and how they’re doing it to grow their business. The survey is the leading report in the sector with hundreds of marketing decision makers contributing their feedback. The 2014 survey examines trends in how often CEOs are looking for marketing activity reports, the diversity of channels being measured, and how marketers plan to invest in technology platforms in the future.

According to the Ifbyphone 2014 State of Marketing Measurement Survey 75% of respondents describe their CEO as “totally committed” or “significantly committed” to supporting their marketing teams, up 8% from 2013. The number of respondents tracking weekly or monthly marketing metrics jumped 6% in 2014. CEOs desire all marketing activities to be continuously measured and decision making to be founded on strong statistical evidence.

With this involvement comes increased demand for a more pragmatic approach to marketing campaigns, focusing on conversion and return on investment (ROI), says the report. The most measured attributes include:

• Growth in sales revenue (69%),
• Number of new customers (63%),
• Number of new leads (58%).

The least measured metrics include:

• Increase in awareness (22%)
• Brand perception (21%)
• Purchase intent (11%)

To satisfy increasingly involved CEO leadership, marketers must align their priorities with those of the CEO to effectively generate the desired marketing measurement results. In the past year, the proportion of marketers measuring their marketing activities has increased across all channels. Between 2013 and 2014, focus and measurement of sales revenue growth jumped the most with a 20% boost.

CEOs have a significant influence in marketing decisions. In fact, says the report, as CEOs become more ingrained in marketing processes, and more committed to the role marketing data can play in organizational decision making, CEOs have become rapidly aware of technology advancements in marketing automation that enhance the ability to report more marketing information more frequently.

The most popular marketing measurements in 2014 are focused on tracking marketing’s contribution to increases in sales. A significant proportion of respondents are also reporting the number of new customers generated by marketing activity. Almost six in ten marketers are measuring new sales leads, and more than half are tracking increases in web traffic that result from marketing campaigns, says the report.

The ability of marketers to track their ROI for high-value sales channels is likely to become increasingly important as CEOs push for sales growth and market expansion in 2014. This environment will place a greater emphasis on the integration of marketing measurements of offline and online channels to best track high-value sales opportunities.

High-value marketing channels such as real world marketing interactions at conferences and tradeshows remain important to four in ten marketers, a proportion that is unchanged from 2013. In addition:

• Marketers value online channels to generate high quality leads. SEO and PPC sees a 9% increase in popularity, from 46% in 2013 to 55% today. Social media receives a 7% improvement year-on-year, while online display/banner ads increase 5%
• There is a growing interest in mobile platforms for the purpose of generating high-value sales leads. Mobile advertising (not tracked in 2013) is identified as a source of high-quality sales leads by more than one in ten marketing decision makers today

The growth in mobile marketing is widely reported in the media, but this report noted that only one in ten marketers are currently measuring the value of mobile ads. The future potential for marketers to track increasing amounts of marketing data via mobile device usage is clear.

In almost every marketing measurement category, with the exception of direct mail, mobile marketers report more measurements than the general respondent population.

Due to the way data-rich mobile devices are increasingly used for digital content, some of the biggest increases in measurement by mobile marketers are in online channels such as email, social media and SEO/PPC. Interestingly, mobile marketers are also significantly more likely to measure the results of offline TV advertising, suggesting a strong correlation between these two marketing channels as consumers watch TV while interacting with brands, ads, and other consumers via their mobile devices.

Just 46% of marketers are currently using mobile web measurement tools to report on marketing channels accessed via a mobile device. CRM solutions that can track and provide CEOs with frequent reporting on in-person sales conversions are currently used by just 52% of marketers, while call tracking technologies that can measure the value of inbound phone call inquiries are deployed by 38% of respondents. 42% of respondents are still lack marketing personnel who can deliver the measurement objectives of the CEO.

When asked what they would need to be more successful in measuring marketing ROI during the year ahead, more marketing automation tools is one of the least pressing. Of a higher priority is the need for more budget, and better alignment of marketing with sales.

For additional information from Ifbyphone and access to the PDF file, please visit here.