Gaps in measurement and ROI obsession: 5 interesting stats to start your week

Almost 7% of brands don’t measure marketing effectiveness

The regularity of marketing effectiveness measurement will differ from brand to brand.

It is concerning, however, that 6.9% of the 1,610 brand-side marketers responding to Marketing Week’s exclusive Language of Effectiveness Survey work for a company that does not conduct any form of marketing effectiveness analysis.

When asked how regularly they measure effectiveness, almost a third (31.2%) of marketers conduct analysis on an ad-hoc basis, depending on which campaigns are running.

Some way behind, 16.8% of brands carry out effectiveness analysis roughly once a quarter, while a smaller percentage (14.6%) conduct measurement once a month. Some 14.2% of marketers say effectiveness work is carried out on average once a year.

The Language of Effectiveness Survey reveals just 13% of brands have invested in ongoing tracking of marketing effectiveness metrics.

What the research shows is brands are more than twice as likely to measure effectiveness on an ad-hoc, campaign by campaign basis than they are to take an always on approach.

Source: Marketing Week’s Language of Effectiveness Survey 2022

ROI is the key metric in the minds of CEOs

When it comes to the importance of ROI within business culture, almost half of the 1,610 marketers surveyed (48.4%) say this is the most important metric for their CEO, CFO and board members.

ROI is followed on the list of priority metrics by delivering business outcomes (39.9%) and new customer acquisition (35.8%).

Among these senior leaders, campaign views (8%) and campaign cut-through (6.9%) are considered the least important metrics, suggesting a potential divide between the priorities of the marketing department and the wider business.

Source: Marketing Week’s Language of Effectiveness Survey 2022

Marketers question preoccupation with ROI

The interest in ROI within business is clear, particularly among senior leaders. However, marketers are questioning whether a bit of perspective is needed.

When asked if their employer is too focused on the ROI of marketing spend when examining effectiveness, 17.5% of the 1,610 brand-side marketers surveyed strongly agree with this statement.

A further 28.2% slightly agree, making a combined total of 45.7%.

While in reality ROI is a priority for business leaders, the data reveals a disconnect between what the wider organisation deems a key measure of success and a desire within marketing for a greater degree of nuance.

Source: Marketing Week’s Language of Effectiveness Survey 2022

Just over a quarter of marketers always measure ROI

Despite the clear emphasis on ROI in brands, just over a quarter (28.4%) of marketers say they always measure the return on investment of their campaigns when conducting effectiveness analysis.

Of course, some in the industry argue ROI is not always the appropriate measure for every campaign and for some organisations it may only be possible to analyse return on investment rigorously once a year.

However, there is no getting away from the importance of ROI in wider business culture. Given the statistic (above) that 48.4% of marketers claim ROI is the key metric for their CEO, CFO and board members, the importance of getting a grip on return shows no sign of waning – especially in the current economic climate.

Source: Marketing Week’s Language of Effectiveness Survey 2022

Marketers call for expansion of effectiveness capabilities

Of the 1,610 brand-side marketers responding to the Language of Effectiveness Survey, 35% strongly agree with the statement that the company they work for needs to expand its marketing effectiveness capabilities.

A further 36.8% of the sample slightly agree with the statement, creating a combined total of 71.8%.

Indeed, less than a fifth (17.9%) of marketers strongly agree they are happy with the analytics available to them to examine the effectiveness of creative.

The data suggests that, if brands are serious about measurement, they need to rethink their effectiveness capabilities in order to enable marketers to ramp up their analysis accordingly.

Source: Marketing Week’s Language of Effectiveness Survey 2022

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