Survey: Documented Strategies Increase Marketers’ Odds of Finding Success

For the most part, marketers are relatively lackluster when it comes to ranking the success of their existing strategies, according to new research. However, those who document their strategies are far more likely to achieve their top objectives.

Coschedule recently surveyed 1,597 marketers to determine how their marketing strategies are shaping up in the digital age. The majority of respondents (48 percent) only “somewhat agree” that their marketing efforts are successful. About 43 percent report lackluster results.

However, marketers who have a documented strategy are 538 percent more likely to report success than those who do not. In addition, marketers who document their processes are 466 more likely to report success compared to their counterparts.

Goal-setting also appeared to be beneficial for marketers. Respondents who set goals are 429 percent more likely to report success than those who do not, and 81 percent of goal-setters are likely to achieve their objectives.

CMOs, Marketing Success and Company Performance

This is not the first research to suggest that documentation can help when it comes to proving an ROI and achieving goals. Previous research suggests that CMOs, in particular, struggle when they cannot tie their marketing efforts to their company’s overall success.

Korn Ferry conducted the “2018 CMO Pulse Survey” and discovered that about half of CMOs (52 percent) claim they cannot make a direct link between their marketing team’s results to company performance.

Nearly 39 percent said that data and analytics are the marketing function in greatest need of advancement. This was followed by personalization (30 percent) and branding (12 percent).