Featured Research: The Six Principles of Marketing Performance Management

Marketing’s satisfaction with its ability to measure, analyze, and improve performance is shockingly low. This was one of the key findings from the recently published ITSMA/VisionEdge Marketing (VEM) 2012 Marketing Performance Management Survey.

On a 10-point scale where 1 equals not at all satisfied and 10 equals extremely satisfied, marketing’s satisfaction with its ability to measure its performance, examine data to create insights, and manage performance averaged a paltry 5.5.

Why is satisfaction so low? Across the board, marketers struggle with accessing quality data, implementing effective processes and tools, tapping analytical skills, and reporting results.

There is, however, a group of marketers that have cracked the code. One quarter of the marketers who participated in the ITSMA/VEM survey reported that the CEO would give the marketing organization an A for implementing initiatives that enable the company to achieve its objectives. At these best-in-class companies, marketing is able to measure its contribution to the business. What’s more, the senior leadership team sees the link between marketing activities and business goals.

What do these A marketers know that the others don’t? They know how to use marketing data, metrics, and analytics to both prove and improve marketing. They go beyond tracking marketing activities and justifying marketing’s value to managing marketing’s performance and improving business outcomes.

Specifically, best-in-class marketers follow these six principals:

• Alignment. Employ techniques to ensure marketing activities are in sync with business outcomes.
• Accountability. Adopt a metrics framework and create a data catalog, moving from outputs to an outcomes mindset.
• Analytics. Derive actionable insights from data.
• Automation. Implement Marketing Performance Management processes, tools, and systems.
• Alliances. Enroll IT, finance, and sales in collaborative formal partnerships.
• Assessment. Benchmark and audit to identify strengths and weaknesses.

For more information, read The Path to Better Marketing Results, or attend the Just Add Data: The Path to Better Marketing Results lunch briefing in Falls Church, VA, or Basking Ridge, NJ, or the Mastering the Six Principles of Marketing Performance Management online briefing.

View an easy-to-read infographic here.

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ITSMA specializes in helping companies market and sell services and solutions more effectively. We work with the world's leading technology, communications, and professional services providers to generate increased demand, strengthen customer relationships, and improve brand differentiation.ITSMA annual program clients include business leaders such as AT&T, Cisco, Deloitte, EMC, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, SAP, and Tata Consultancy Services, among others. Our comprehensive research, consulting, and training on topics including ITSMA Account Based Marketing℠, Brand Positioning, and Solutions Development provide the insight and experience companies need to improve business results. ITSMA is based near Boston, and has offices in London, Mumbai, and Tokyo. Learn more at www.itsma.com.