Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business. You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)

Why the board isn't impressed with marketing

The report, entitled 'Improving marketing effectiveness: Leading practices in marketing accountability', investigates how companies measure the performance of marketing and act upon the results, based on a quantitative assessment of over 200 senior marketers and board level executives.

The survey found that most companies are in fact measuring basic customer and marketing metrics. For example, more than 90% measure customer satisfaction, rate of acquisition and retention, and many say they are doing so effectively (66%, 60% and 51% respectively). However, only half believed that their executives drive change as a result of marketing or customer metrics, suggesting that marketing metrics are not a core part of the decision making process for corporate investment.

Nick Turner, head of marketing effectiveness for Deloitte, and one of the report's authors, explained: "This research really begs the question: what's the point of measuring marketing if companies are not going to take decisions based on that insight? With half the organisations surveyed not using customer and marketing measures, board level executives should ask themselves what really drives their decision making process before pointing the finger of accountability at the marketing department".

"Measuring the impact of marketing investment is an investment in itself; it takes time, expertise and budget - all of which are in short supply," added Thomas Brown, head of insights for the CIM. "If half of businesses aren't using what their metrics tell them to drive change, their leaders should be asking 'do we have the wrong metrics, or do we have an education imperative within the business?'. In many cases, it may be the latter - an area often overlooked."

This study followed previous research into marketing effectiveness by both Deloitte and the CIM that identified measurement as a common theme prevalent in companies struggling to articulate the role of marketing and its value in their organisation. In that research, 81% of respondents agreed that their organisation's marketing strategy was aligned with their organisation's overall corporate strategy, while only 37% thought that their business strategy was clearly translated into marketing objectives.

The report therefore points to the alignment of marketing and corporate strategy, the definition of marketing accountability, and having the 'right' marketing measures (as opposed to the easiest) as the key areas on which companies should focus to achieve real marketing effectiveness and true customer focus.

Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business.

You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy. Grab this goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, technologies, research, suppliers and partners, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid CX strategy.

While most marketers could list maybe a dozen key points for improving their brand's Customer Experience (CX), the researchers and writers at The Marketing Factbook have identified FORTY main 'CX Keys' which will help you drive your customers to new levels of delight, loyalty, advocacy and profitability.

The areas in which customers have direct contact with your organization are perhaps the most obvious places in which CX improvements can be made, and this report addresses all 24 of these 'Direct CX Keys', applicable to offline and online businesses alike.

At the same time there are many other areas that indirectly affect CX (such as the supply chain, policies and processes) in which every business can make simple but far-reaching improvements. This report guides you through the problems and solutions for all 16 of these 'Indirect CX Keys', many of which are often forgotten or under-played even in the best CX strategies.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)