What Makes Marketers Lose Sleep at Night

A Look at Marketing Executives’ Biggest Concerns - And How Your Fulfillment Partner Can Help You Get a Good Night’s Rest

As a marketing professional, you’ve probably experienced your share of
sleepless nights. If so, you’re not alone. Search the internet and you’ll find
an assortment of articles, blogs and surveys listing the top issues that make
marketing executives toss and turn.

At least two organizations – the Association of National Advertisers (ANA)
and Anderson Analytics – have polled CMOs about their top worries for a
number of years. See if your list tracks with their findings.

ANA SURVE YS
In a recent interview with Marketing Daily,1 ANA President and CEO Bob
Liodice noted that the list of marketers’ key issues hasn’t varied much over
the past few years, although priority rankings have fluctuated with changing
business conditions.

The ANA’s October 2010 survey polled 143 senior marketers, asking them to
rank their first, second and third priority issues for 2011 from among a list of
12 key areas. Their top three issues were marketing accountability, building
strong brands and integrated marketing communications. Media proliferation
was ranked fourth in the list of concerns and contributes to the difficulty of
making headway in the top three areas.< /p>

“Media proliferation has taken everyone by storm,” Liodice said in the
Marketing Daily article. “TV and print once accounted for 98% of media
planning and activities. Now marketers’ heads are spinning as they attempt to
effectively integrate a plethora of online, social media and other options, such
as sponsorships.”

Marketing globalization moved up to seventh place, from ninth in the
organization’s 2008 survey. According to Liodice, this reflects the attractive
growth opportunities presented by developing markets.

ANDERSON MARKETING TRENDS REPORTS
Similar concerns emerged in Anderson Analytics’ Marketing Trends 2010
report, released by Anderson and the Marketing Executives Group.2 This
report listed marketing return-on-investment as the top concern for
marketing executives, with customer satisfaction and customer retention
close behind. The study also placed social media at the forefront of most
marketing initiatives, with 70% of those surveyed planning new social media
initiatives.