Growing Pains of Marketing ROI

Marketing execs are under increasing pressure to show a return on investment for their work, but many are struggling and finding the process complex, according to a report by US-based research and membership organisation The Conference Board.

Key factors preventing such measurement are a lack of necessary technological resources and strong cultural resistance within firms; and most respondents (63%) chose leadership commitment as the single most important driver of marketing ROI.

The report, Managing and Measuring Return on Marketing Investment, is based on a survey of 73 companies and was conducted by the Board's Research Working Group. It stresses that measurement of marketing ROI is still in its early stages. More than a third of companies report making no efforts to measuring it, and of the remainder 37% say they have been measuring it for less than a year and another 40% for just 1-2 years.

'In the past, marketing awareness and brand-building activities were enough to define marketing's mission and role in a company, and to justify its budget' comments Lorrie Foster, VP of Councils and Research Working Groups at The Conference Board. 'But the focus of marketing has evolved toward more strategic, value-added activities that can be quantified and linked to corporate goals. New approaches, methodologies and tools, and technologies are making it possible to link marketing investments directly to revenues and profits, holding marketing executives accountable for achieving expected results.'

The organisation is on the web at www.conference-board.org .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.