ExchangeWire Research’s weekly roundup brings you up-to-date research findings from around the world, with additional insight provided by Rebecca Muir, head of research and analysis, ExchangeWire. In this week’s edition: Measurement still needs improvement; Female CMOs more prevalent in the US than the UK; and Location data to modernise metrics.

Measurement still needs improvements

Only just over a third (36%) of digital marketers are confident their campaigns are targeting the right audiences, according to research by Greenlight.

Whilst nearly a quarter of digital marketers (23%) don’t track campaign spend whatsoever, almost one-in-five (18%) don’t think their campaigns are even reaching their desired audience at all. One-in-ten are not even sure what channels are most valuable for their campaigns. In fact, even those who do know are not dedicating their budgets to the right channel, with 17% still yet to commit their budgets accordingly.

Over a third (35%) spend most of their budget on social, even though less than a quarter (23%) of consumers like to be targeted via social media. Similarly, a fifth (21%) dedicate most of their budget to content marketing, when only 3% of consumers actually like content such as blogs.

Marketers are struggling to track online versus offline spend with 44% and 35% admitting this, respectively. Site traffic, impressions, and customer acquisition are used as the most common (31%) measurement metrics, however engagement seemed to be missing from the priority list.

Female CMOs more prevalent in the US than the UK

Female CMOs are 10% more prevalent in the US than the UK, finds data from Act-On. More than half (56%) of the CMOs identified in the US are women, while in the UK, 60% of the CMOs identified are men.

The study also highlights the importance of education. Almost a third (30%) of CMOs in the UK and US have a masters degree or higher.

On average, CMOs in the US tend to serve their companies for at least five years before earning executive titles, while CMOs in the UK often served their companies for eight to nine years. US CMOs also serve at least four other companies before ultimately reaching the C-level.

The majority of CMOs analysed in the US and UK are native to the two countries – 70% in the UK were British-born, 100% in the US were American-born – and promoted from within their own companies (86% in the UK, 89% in the US). Agency experience, it seems, is no longer much of a credential.

Location data to modernise metrics

Four-in-five marketers (81%) rank location data as the first- or second-most important element for marketing measurement, finds a study by PlaceIQ. Location is the foundation on which marketers are building successful integrated marketing programmes, and a third rank location-based audiences as the most compelling factor for integrated marketing.

The study also finds that almost half (47%) of marketers say developing a unified cross-channel customer experience was one of their top three priorities this year.

Implementing the right metrics to measure effectively across all channels –TV, out of home (OOH), online, offline – is crucial for successful integrated marketing campaigns. Over a third (37%) of marketers cite the ability to accurately measure cross-channel results as the most pivotal factor for successful integrated marketing. There is also a growing perceived value of offline campaigns (TV, out of home) that drive online engagement, with 45% of marketers ranking online customer engagement as a goal for their offline campaigns.