MARKETING

ANALYTICS
BENCHMARKS, INSIGHTS, & ADVICE
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A key marketing challenge is demonstrating value and relevance. Marketers generally agree that marketing
analytics can help marketers measure their contribution to the organizations they serve.
 
In April 2013, Demand Metric conducted a benchmarking study to examine how marketing analytics is being
adopted, adding value, and becoming integrated into overall marketing strategy.

A survey was used to collect data, and its analysis provides these key findings:
 
§  World leaders: North American organizations lead the world in meaningful marketing analytics initiatives
§  Size matters: large organizations are having more marketing analytics success than SMBs.
§  Money talks: those who are allocating greater portions of marketing budgets are getting more from their
analytics initiatives.
§  Keeping it in the family: analytics data is largely staying inside the marketing department.
§  Perception isn’t reality: CEOs, presidents, SVPs and business owners have a significantly higher opinion of
the credibility of marketing analytics data than do members of the marketing organization.
 
This report details the results and insights from the analysis of the study data.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1)  Research Methodology 7)  Impact of Marketing Analytics

2) State of Marketing Analytics 8) Influence on Decision Making

3)  Attitude Toward Marketing Analytics 9) Credibility of Data & Insights

4)  Biggest Challenges 10)  Chief Analyst Bottom Line

5) Use of Marketing Analytics Data 11)  Acknowledgements

6) Budget Allocation 12)  About Demand Metric Benchmarking

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The Demand Metric 2013 Marketing Analytics Survey was administered online over a period of April 17th through
May 3rd, 2013. During that time, over 700 responses were collected, 622 of which were complete.

All members of the Demand Metric community received email invitations to participate in the survey, and
participation was encouraged through a random draw incentive for an iPad Mini.

While respondent email addresses were collected in order to facilitate the prize drawing, no identifying
information was retained or considered in the analysis of the survey data.

Following collection of the survey data, Demand Metric used IBM SPSS statistics software to analyze the results
and draw statistically significant conclusions.
 

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The information collected about the survey respondents to enable cross-tabulation analysis is summarized here:
 
Type of Marketing Organization: Job Titles:

§  B2B: 74%

§  B2C: 26%
 
Geographic Location:

§  North America: 72%

§  Europe: 11%
§  Rest of World: 17%
 
Size of Organization (# employees):

§  Small (1 to 100): 53%

§  Medium (101 – 1000): 30%
§  Large (1000+): 17%
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STATE OF MARKETING ANALYTICS

The first question considered in this study asks: “What statement best describes the state of marketing analytics
in your organization?” Respondents were allowed to choose one response:

This question reveals that:  

§  29% of respondents are doing nothing or

are searching for a way to start.

§  32% of respondents are experimenting to

find the best set of analytics, but those
analytics are not yet influencing the
organization’s behavior or actions.

§  39% of respondents report they are

tracking meaningful analytics.
   
   
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STATE OF MARKETING ANALYTICS

A deeper analysis of the responses to this question yielded some additional insights about the state of marketing
analytics. The response options to this question represented a scale, where 1 equals avoidance and 5 equals
meaningful and visible results.
 
Using this scale to calculate the mean revealed two statistically significant gaps:

Geographic: North American organizations are in the lead when it comes to the state of marketing analytics.
These organizations had a mean response on this scale of 3.33, compared to 3.07 for Europe and the rest of the
world.
 
Company size: Large companies report greater progress in this area with a mean score of 3.46, compared to
small companies whose mean was 3.17.
 
The data reveals more insight on the state of marketing analytics based on company size: 33 percent of small
companies are either avoiding marketing analytics, or are searching for the best way to start. This compares to
26 percent for medium-sized organizations and only 19 percent for large companies.

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ATTITUDE TOWARD MARKETING ANALYTICS

The second question considered in this study asks: “What best describes your attitude toward marketing
analytics?” Respondents were allowed to choose one response:

A full 92% of responses acknowledge that marketing analytics

are important for managing marketing processes,
demonstrating value or improving marketing’s credibility. 

These results seem to indicate that most respondents recognize the intrinsic value of marketing analytics,
whether or not they have figured out how to use them effectively. 5
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BIGGEST CHALLENGES

The third question considered in this study asks: “What is the biggest challenge with marketing analytics in your
organization?” Respondents were allowed to choose one response:

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BIGGEST CHALLENGES

These results reveal that 94 percent of organizations are experiencing some form of challenge when it comes to
marketing analytics, and those challenges range from skills to resources to buy-in.

This question revealed additional insight upon further analysis.

 
When the responses were analyzed by job responsibility – Marketing, CEO/SVP/President/Owner and Other –
they were fairly uniform except for one response: the difficulty of identifying and then tracking a meaningful set
of analytics.

For this response, there was a noticeable divergence of opinion, with only 12 percent of Marketing respondents
choosing this response, but 24 percent of CEO/SVP/President/Owners selecting it. This benchmarking survey did
not collect data to determine why this gap exists, but we can speculate. When it comes to marketing analytics,
marketers and executives don’t speak the same language. Marketers can speak of and measure things that
don’t always have meaning in the C-suite. This dissonance may explain this gap.
 
The greatest challenge for large companies (33%) – having the systems and infrastructure to measure and track
analytics – ranks third on the list of challenges for small companies (20%). However, the greatest challenge for
small companies (27%) – having the time or staff to get it done – ranks third for large companies (17%).
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USE OF MARKETING ANALYTICS DATA

The fourth question considered in this study asks: “What are you doing with the marketing analytics data you
measure and track?” Respondents were allowed to choose one response:

Data is of no value unless it is put to use.

These results reveal that almost a one fourth (24%) of the

organizations surveyed perceive that no one is using
whatever marketing analytics data being collected.

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USE OF MARKETING ANALYTICS DATA

A further analysis of the responses to this question revealed these insights:

 
Most commonly (38%), marketing analytics data stays within the marketing organization, where it is used to
improve marketing results.

An analysis of this 38% by company size reveals:

 
§  Marketing teams at small companies (30%) are least likely to review and use this data.

§  Marketing teams at medium-sized companies (49%) are most likely to review and use this data.

§  CEO/SVP/President/Owners have a much higher perception of marketing analytics data transparency and
sharing (23%) than do the marketing teams that work for them (6%).

There is some irony here in that the group that should best understand marketing analytics – the marketers –
have the most skeptical view of this data’s transparency.

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BUDGET ALLOCATION

The fifth question considered in this study asks: “What percent of your marketing budget do you estimate is
allocated to marketing analytics?” Respondents were allowed to choose one response:

These results reveal that almost three quarters

(72%) of the organizations surveyed are spending
less than 5% of their marketing budget on
marketing analytics.

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BUDGET ALLOCATION

These results clearly show that organizations that are investing more heavily in marketing analytics are claiming
to get the most from their efforts:
 
Just eight percent (8%) of respondents to this question are investing more than 10% of their marketing budgets
on marketing analytics. Yet, when considering the state of marketing analytics in this elite group (question #1 on
the survey), 50% of them report they are tracking meaningful analytics that have visibility throughout the
organization. This maturity is almost double that for organizations spending between 6 and 10 percent of their
budget (26%) and triple that of organizations spending less than five percent of their budget (17%).
 
When it comes to using marketing analytics data (question #4 on the survey), it appears there is a point of
diminishing returns. Marketing teams in organizations spending between 6 and 10 percent of their marketing
budget on marketing analytics report the highest use of this data to improve marketing results (51%), compared
with those spending more than 10 percent of their budget (45%) and those spending less than five percent (40%).

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IMPACT OF MARKETING ANALYTICS

The sixth question considered in this study asks: “How has your marketing analytics initiative(s) impacted your
organization’s success?” Respondents were allowed to choose one response:

These results reveal that only 21% of survey

respondents are noticing an impact from their
marketing analytics programs.

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IMPACT OF MARKETING ANALYTICS

Further analysis of the data from this question of impact revealed at least one statistically significant association:
organizations that are spending more on marketing analytics are feeling a greater impact from their initiatives.

Following are a few interesting insights:

 
§  Organizations spending more than 10% of their marketing budgets on marketing analytics, 55% reported
“noticeable” or “substantial” impact from their efforts.

§  For those spending between 6 and 10% of their marketing budgets, 38% reported this same level of impact.
 
§  For those spending less than 5% of their marketing budgets, only 15% reported this same level of impact.
 
§  For those spending nothing, only 7% reported this same level of impact.

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INFLUENCE ON DECISION MAKING

The seventh question considered in this study asks: “When it comes to influencing decision making, what role do
marketing analytics play in your organization?” Respondents were allowed to choose one response:

As with the previous question on impact, there is an

association to the marketing analytics budget allocation.

87% of organizations spending more than 10% of their

budget state that analytics are often part of the pre- or post-
decision making process, or integral to it.

By contrast, only 50% of organizations spending less than

5% of their budget make this same claim.

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CREDIBILITY OF DATA & INSIGHTS

The eighth and final question considered in this study asks: “How credible are marketing analytics perceived in
your organization?” Respondents were allowed to choose one response:

Demand Metric’s position is that only when

marketing analytics data is perceived “good”
or “high” in terms of credibility, will an
organization trust it enough to act upon it.

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CREDIBILITY OF DATA & INSIGHTS

The perceived credibility of any data is perhaps the most critical factor in successfully using that data as a
management or measurement tool.  These survey results reveal that small organizations ascribe more credibility
to their marketing analytics data than do large ones:
 
§  44% of small organizations assess the credibility of their marketing analytics data as “good” or “high”

§  30% of medium-sized organizations make this same assessment.

 
§  28% of large organizations make this same assessment.
 
When it comes to job title, there is a significant divergence of perception in organizations that assess the
credibility of their marketing analytics as “high”. For organizations that assessed their analytics credibility at this
highest level, 22% of CEO/SVP/President/Owners felt this way, while only 8% of their marketers made this same
assessment.

This result mirrors a similar perception gap reported for marketing analytics challenges (question #3 on the survey)
and data use (question #4 on the survey). The data collected and analyzed for this study offers no explanation for
these gaps between marketing and the C-suite, but Demand Metric believes it is symptomatic of communications
issues that often plague the Marketing/CEO relationship. 16
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ANALYST BOTTOM LINE

This study indicates that there is almost universal recognition of the value of marketing analytics, regardless of
how effectively an organization is using them. At the same time, most organizations are experiencing challenges
where marketing analytics are concerned, and small organizations have different challenges (time and staff) than
large ones (systems and infrastructure).
 
What’s also clear is that organizations that allocate at least 6% or more of their marketing budgets to analytics
are claiming the greatest impact and highest credibility from their efforts. The organizations that are spending
more on marketing analytics are also the ones claiming to make more data-driven decisions as a result.

A troubling divergence of opinion exists between marketing teams and the CEOs, SVPs, Presidents and Owners
that lead their organizations.

In one area – the challenge of identifying and tracking meaningful analytics – the C-suite respondents
recognized this as a greater challenge than the marketing teams that serve them. In two other areas –
transparency and sharing of data, and perception of credibility – the C-suite had a much higher estimation of
success than did their marketing teams.

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ANALYST BOTTOM LINE

The Demand Metric final analysis is that barriers to greater success with marketing analytics are largely cultural.

Had this study examined the relationship between the marketing organization and the C-suite, we believe that
organizations where trust, empowerment and good communication exists between these groups, that
marketing analytics are playing a key role in driving and measuring results.

Conversely, where there is friction, distrust or poor communication between marketing and the C-suite, we
suspect if marketing analytics are used at all, they are used punitively.
 
What this study makes clear is that company leaders find marketing analytics data credible. The issue for
marketers is how to best leverage the credibility of the data to improve how marketing communicates with their
organization’s leadership. Marketers who do this best understand that marketing analytics is as much about
communications as it is about calculations.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Demand Metric is grateful for those members of the Demand Metric community that took the time to provide their
input to this study.
 
Demand Metric acknowledges the advice and assistance of Dr. Tom Brown, Noble Foundation Chair in Marketing
Strategy and Professor of Marketing in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University, in facilitating
and providing counsel on the analysis of these survey results.
 
Demand Metric also acknowledges the insights of Stephan Sorger, VP of Strategic Marketing at On Demand
Advisors, in the preparation of this benchmarking report. Stephan, a “Marketing Analytics Ambassador” and
author of Marketing Analytics: Strategic Models and Metrics, helped inspire this study and contributed key
insights.

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ABOUT DEMAND METRIC BENCHMARKING

Demand Metric is a marketing advisory firm serving a membership community of over 30,000 marketing
professionals and consultants in 75 countries with consulting methodologies, advisory services, and a library of
500+ premium marketing tools and templates.
 
Demand Metric is conducting benchmarking research to provide metrics and data on key marketing initiatives,
strategies and execution. Members can use this data to benchmark their performance against their peers and get
an objective view of their organization's maturity with regard to specific marketing disciplines and competencies.

If you’d like to work with us to conduct or sponsor a custom research study, email us info@demandmetric.com
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