99% of CMOs Cite Return-on-Investment as Their Top Marketing Stressor

As CMOs begin to reflect on 2022 to identify potential challenges in 2023, new research indicates that there are several issues at the top of their minds, including return-on-investment (ROI).

Brand Keys recently released the results of its “Marketing on My Mind” survey, focused on determining which concerns are causing stress for CMOs, in particular. For the survey, Brand Keys asked 463 CMOs and brand managers about what is keeping them up at night, honing in on potential problem areas from the past year. At the top of the list, the majority of respondents (99%) cited ROI. Other marketing-focused problem areas cited by respondents included the development of predictive analytics (90%), optimizing and owning the customer experience (86%), and aligning their brand with customer expectations (86%).

“In the world of marketing, cures for nightmares are a bit more complex than a warm glass of milk,” said Robert Passikoff, founder and president of Brand Keys. “But the right tools, the right insights, with the right people, executed in the right way can virtually guarantee an easier night’s sleep for brand managers and CMOs.”

Rising Marketing Challenges Associated with Personalization

Generally speaking, previous research has suggested that marketers are still facing a number of challenges, specifically when it comes to personalization and the customer experience.

MoEngage and ClickZ collaborated to publish the “Future of Marketing: Why Personalization Matters” report, and statistics indicated that the majority of marketers (64.2%) are being challenged by a lack of budget and resources for personalization. This is followed by a lack of visibility and unactionable data (41.5%), as well as an inability to move quickly and develop personalized campaigns (40.6%).

Additionally, 42.1% of marketers state that unactionable data has been a problem for them in terms of personalizing the customer experience. However, 70% are at least moderately satisfied with the quality of their data.