Less than half of marketing pro's use analytics

With the number of channels a marketer has to manage and monitor increasing, you'd think technology would be employed to make their job easier. Not so. It seems marketers are foregoing analytics to measure their online marketing campaigns, found analytical-led software firm Alterian in its sixth 'Annual Marketing Survey'.

by Helen Leggatt

When asked about their use of measurement applications, less than half (47%) of the 1,545 American and British marketing professionals polled by Alterian said they currently use analytics to measure their online campaigns. Even so, 62% of respondents plan to increase online spending.

"With the current economic climate, it is refreshing to see results that show businesses investing in areas that can directly drive sales--essential in this marketing," said Alterian's CEO, David Eldridge, in a statement. "What is less encouraging is the low number of marketers who use analytics to evaluate and refine their campaigns."

The survey also found that 25% of respondents believe that analyzing results is the most difficult part of a campaign and that businesses use multiple applications to measure success will little, or no, integration. A quarter use more than seven applications on campaigns and just over half use between three and six applications.

"Multichannel marketing is commonplace in 2009, but the challenge for marketers is to measure the value and draw results across these various systems in order to provide a true picture of ROI back to the business," said Eldridge.

Results of another survey, this time from the Chief Marketing Officer Council (CMO), found marketers are also left wanting when it comes to monitoring and tracking social media conversations, despite acknowledging its growing importance.

Tags: Alterian, analytics, CMO, measurement application, online analytics, online campaign, online spending