The UK economy can benefit from more confident marketers in 2014
January takes its name from the Roman god Janus, who is typically depicted as a two-faced man looking towards the future and the past. As we embark into the beginning of a new year, the latest findings from the Marketing Confidence Monitor, a quarterly business index from The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and Bloomberg, can be read with a Janus-like perspective – acting as an indicator to help businesses navigate 2014, as well as providing a snapshot of business sentiment from the industry during the year just passed.
Thomas Brown
Perhaps the real value of the study, now in its sixth wave, having launched in October 2012, is in its actionable insights – the answers it provides to the questions all companies should be asking, such as whether marketers are collaborating effectively with colleagues in other teams; taking enough risk and investing in innovation; or being provided with the skills, knowledge and tools they require to drive performance that will ultimately lead to success.
In some respects, the latest findings tell a positive story after what has been a long period of economic turbulence in the UK. At the end of 2013, UK businesses were shown to be heading into 2014 armed with aggressive growth ambitions with 60 per cent of marketers reporting increased confidence in UK economic prospects, twice that of October 2012, when the survey first began. Furthermore, there’s evidence that this optimism is more than mere wishful thinking, with some 46 per cent of marketers reporting that their financial performance over the course of the year had exceeded expectations, compared with just 29 per cent who said their performance fell short.
Whilst optimism makes for reassuring reading, it’s often more useful to understand how things need to change for the better. The Marketing Confidence Monitor identifies that businesses must prioritise improving collaboration between marketing and HR; investing more in training and development; and providing marketers with the tools they need to provide credible, data-driven justification of plans for the year ahead.
When it comes to measuring return on investment, some 27 per cent of marketers said they evaluate their campaigns only when time and capacity allows, and a mere 8 per cent claimed their measurement was sophisticated. Additionally, 45 per cent of marketers said their marketing planning process was driven primarily by budgets, versus 37 per cent who claimed insight and analysis was the primary driver.
Advances in technology have long been heralded as a panacea for marketing return-on-investment and accountability, but this appears yet to materialise for many. While analytical tools have become both simpler and cheaper, and available data richer and more plentiful, it’s increasingly clear that empowering marketers to leverage this effectively should be given greater priority. After all, few Finance Directors would dismiss an offer of more accurate and timely marketing measurement and the more rigorous decision making it could lead to.
Perhaps more worryingly, nearly six out of 10 marketers spent 2 per cent or less of their working year on personal development; more than one in five claimed their development over the last year had been completely ad-hoc and unplanned; and just 29 per cent said their employer had committed to investing in their development over the next 12 months.
More cohesion was also a factor; just 40 per cent described the relationship between the marketing and HR departments as strong, compared with 74 per cent reporting strong relationships with sales, 69 per cent with the CEO and 63 per cent with their main board.
While surprising in some instances, these figures shouldn’t eclipse an overall positive message for 2014. In fact, they suggest that the good news of targets being exceeded and increased confidence in the economy could become better still.
In many respects, a company is only as good as its people. Regardless of time and budgetary constraints, companies need to remember that the cost of investing in training their people is less expensive than the business impact of a skills shortage. However, if training has been forced down the corporate agenda by recessionary woes, there’s every chance that increased confidence in the economy will result in personal development regaining its rightful focus.
Our recommendation, and perhaps an additional resolution to take in to this New Year, would be to make a firm commitment to up-skilling. Whether you are an individual or a business reviewing staffing and resource, learning is more accessible than ever.
Our industry enters the new year facing challenges, but these are far from insurmountable. With businesses focused on growth and marketers more confident than ever, the introduction of greater focus on skills development and new technologies could lead to a very successful 2014.
Thomas Brown is associate director, research and insights at The Chartered Institute of Marketing