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Marketing executives say they would spend more on digital marketing if they found better ways to measure its return on investment.
Almost 75% of over 400 marketing executives polled by the marketing and advertising agency Millward Brown Digital say they would spend more on social media if better ROI metrics existed, up from 50% in 2014.
In addition, 79% of respondents said they’d invest more in mobile and 78% would spend more on digital if ROI could be tracked better.
“Marketers are looking for the shortest path to ROI possible. They want to attribute a media purchase, whether it’s on a TV network or a digital property, to a sale,” Stephen DiMarco, Millward Brown Digital’s president, told The Wall Street Journal. “Variables from quality of creative to the choice of the media property whether it was online or traditional to the retail experience to promotions and coupons to even inventory available– it’s all going to impact ROI.”
Reaping Big Data Benefits
Over 40% name big data as the largest opportunity for marketers this year, yet marketing executives appear less comfortable with big data. Surprisingly, just 14% said they’re confident with how their company applies big data, compared with 39% last year.
“A top pain point in our organization is having insufficient knowledge and training on how to use the available data to continually refine marketing programs,” one unnamed survey participant stated.
While companies can acquire vast amounts of data, ringing useful insights from the number can be more difficult.
Other surveys have also shown that determining social media ROI is challenging for many marketers.
Only 42 percent of marketers say they are able to measure their social media activities, according to the 2015 Social Media Examiner report. Most say they are cannot measure ROI or are uncertain if they can.
At least the Social Media Examiner surveys indicate that marketers are gradually becoming more confident about measuring ROI. In 2014, 37 percent reported they could measure ROI, and 26 percent said they could in 2013.
An earlier CMO survey reported that only 15 percent of marketers believe they can quantify the impact of social media on their businesses. More marketers tend to favor engagement metrics, “buzz” indicators and website visits and page views rather than business-oriented figures such as sales and revenue.
Measurement experts warn that vanity metrics such as the number of social media followers and likes provide little indication about how social media marketing is helping companies reach their business objectives.
Even without meaningful measurement results and insights, most companies expect to increase their spending on social media marketing, according to that survey.
To achieve better insights into ROI, owners of websites need to provide more comprehensive data about visitors to individual pages and other metrics on paid media. Advertisers and marketers must then put systems in place that attribute user actions to specific social media marketing efforts.
Bottom Line: Determining ROI for digital marketing remains a challenge for many marketers as they strive to move beyond vanity metrics and nail down how their efforts impact key business objectives. Marketing executives would spend more on social media marketing and other forms digital marketing if they could better ascertain its return on investment.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
