Survey: Delivering Business Growth is Top Objective for Marketers

As marketers look to achieve a wide range of objectives, new research shows that their top goal is to deliver business growth across the board.

Dentsu Aegis Network recently conducted the “CMO Survey 2018” and surveyed marketers from 10 countries to gauge their attitudes toward marketing contribution. When asked what they saw as their primary role of the marketing function within their organization, the top answer (64 percent) said delivering business growth. This was followed by ensuring effective brand management (53 percent) and developing overall customer experience (52 percent).

When asked what they saw as the primary role of the marketing function in supporting business growth, 70 percent cited securing long-term customer relationships. Sixty-three percent said driving revenue growth, while 59 percent stated enhancing margin growth.

In terms of achieving these objectives, marketers appear to be turning to data more frequently. Within the next two to three years, 29 percent of marketers say that their biggest strategic opportunity lies within the ability to use data to reach real people, rather than proxies or customer segments.

Marketers Lack Confidence in their Data

Marketers have an abundance of data at their fingertips, but previous research shows they are not entirely confident in it.

Lotame published “The State of Audience Data Research Report” and found that just 20 percent of marketers are “very confident” in the data accuracy of purchased data. About 68 percent are only “somewhat confident.”

This is compared to the fact that 84 percent of marketers said that accuracy is “very important” to them when it comes to purchasing demographic data.