Survey: 70% of Digital Marketers are Measuring the ROI of Campaigns ‘Too Quickly’

Many marketers are largely thorough about the measurement of their campaigns, but new data shows that some of them may be gauging their ROI too quickly.

A new LinkedIn survey of more than 4,000 digital marketers suggests that many are too quick to measure their ROI, mixing metrics, and generally marketing under pressure. About 70% of global digital marketers are measuring ROI, but long before a sales cycle has concluded – the average B2B sales cycle usually takes place over the course of six months or more. According to the survey, only 4% of digital marketers measure ROI over a period of six months or longer.

In addition to measuring too soon, marketers appear to be mixing metrics. Nearly 42% of marketers with a lead generation objective claim to use Cost-Per-Click (CPC) as a metric. However, CPC does not always show the impact of advertising dollars spent.

Finally, 58% of marketers say they need to be able to prove ROI in order to justify their spending and get approval for more budget money. This highlights the pressure they are under to gauge the impact of their campaigns quickly and efficiently.

Marketing Budget Concerns to Lessen in 2020

Luckily, budget may be less of a concern for marketers looking ahead to 2020, according to previous research.

The CMO Survey, published in partnership with Deloitte, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and the American Marketing Association, discovered that budget growth is expected to remain strong with an 8.7% growth rate over the next 12 months.

This is compared to a 7.5% growth rate just one year ago. In addition, marketing budgets as a percentage of firm revenues has risen as a result. This year, marketing expenses accounted for 9.8% of marketing firm revenues, compared to 7.3% in the year before.