Few companies have marketing performance measurement tools for ROI

Robert Nelson of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, reported that according to "Measures + Metrics Audit - Assessing Marketing Value and Impact" - an online survey of more than 315 senior marketing executives at global technology companies - more than 80 percent of the respondents do not have formal marketing performance measurement (MPM) systems in place, despite spending as much as 25 percent of their revenue on marketing.

Almost 80 percent of the senior marketing executives were dissatisfied with their ability to demonstrate their marketing programs' business impact and value. The CMO Council represents nearly 1000 technology companies with combined annual revenues of $450 billion. These individuals control more than $40 billion in annual marketing expenditures.

Almost 90 percent of respondents believe measuring marketing performance is a key priority for today's technology companies, said Nelson. And the larger the company, the higher the priority.

Growing executive demand for accountability and justification for marketing budgets, programs and value is driving the interest in MPM, said Nelson. Critical and demanding corporate performance environments heighten this priority.

Other key factors are:
1. Raising marketing's role, influence and stature in the company.
2. Increasing CEO confidence in the marketing function.
3. Better buy in and support from other departments.
4. Better performance: those with MPM systems tend to outperform the market in terms of sales growth, market share and profitability.

The MPM information rated most important, is revenue generated, qualified leads, feedback from sales channels, customer retention and lead conversions, as well as web site traffic and content viewing.

The measures rated least frequently as performance indicators were stock price, Wall Street perceptions, share-of-mind and brand equity.

Hardest-to-measure activities were results from advertising, sales and marketing collateral and branding.

Easiest-to-measure activities were results from websites and Internet search engine presence email campaigns, and telemarketing and contact management programs. "MPM is vital for technology marketers," said Nelson. "Although it is new and needs better strategic systems in place, MPM is necessary to optimize marketing resources and demonstrate value."