Executive Summary: In a study sponsored by Pardot, Demand Metric conducted a survey to explore marketing’s evolution from a lead generation service bureau to a strategic, center of influence and revenue engine. Answers to these questions were pursued to better understand the current perception of marketing: - How is marketing perceived internally? - What level of influence does marketing have in the organization? - How is marketing connecting its activities and programs to revenue results? - How difficult is it for the marketing team to justify its budget? - How current or “state-of-the-art” are the marketing team’s skills? - How well equipped is the marketing team with technology infrastructure? - How aligned are the sales and marketing teams? These study results provide a record card of sorts, providing benchmark data useful for comparison, planning and improvement. Table of Contents: - Introduction - Executive Summary - Current Perception of Marketing - Marketing's Contribution to Objectives - Marketing's Leadership & Respect - Marketing Revenue Impact - Marketing Skills - Analytics, Alignment & Orientation - Marketing Infrastructure - Looking Ahead - Analyst Bottom Line - Acknowledgements
 - About Salesfusion & Demand Metric - Appendix - Survey Background Research Methodology: The Demand Metric 2014 study, “Keeping our Seat at the Table: A Marketing Report Card” was administered online during the period of January 17, 2014 through February 10, 2014. During this period, 259 responses were collected, 207 of which were qualified and complete enough for inclusion in the analysis. To obtain this document, visit us at http://www.demandmetric.com/register

1. Benchmark Report
Marketing Report Card:
Sponsored By:
© 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
3
Introduction
23
Analytics, Alignment & Orientation
5
Executive Summary
27
Marketing Infrastructure
6
Current Perception of Marketing
28
Looking Ahead
10
Marketing’s Contribution to Objectives
29
Analyst Bottom Line
15
Marketing’s Leadership & Respect
30
Acknowledgements
18
Marketing’s Revenue Impact
31
About Pardot & Demand Metric
22
Marketing Skills
33
Appendix – Survey Background

3. INTRODUCTION
When viewed at the organizational level, marketing can take on several personas. In some organizations, it is reactive
and operationally oriented, managed by a marketing professional that is perpetually busy – the “hair on fire” type. In other
organizations, marketing exists as a strategic asset, providing leadership not just to the marketing team but also to the entire
organization because it is has a visionary leader with a plan that aligns beautifully with corporate strategy.
At the operational end of this marketing persona spectrum, marketing at best delivers incremental value, and it constantly
struggles to justify its budget and existence. At the strategic end of this spectrum, marketing is a major driver of the
organization’s success; it can easily prove its worth and it rarely has issues justifying its existence or the investment
made in it.
The marketing community at large has aspired to become more relevant by shifting from the operational orientation to
the strategic one. Financially, this shift is about moving from existing as a tolerated expense to a valued revenue center,
becoming more relevant in the process. This shift must continue if marketing wants to keep its seat at the leadership table. The
velocity of this shift at times seems glacial.
Pushing this progress along are the improved systems, tools, methods, channels, skills and leadership that marketers
are developing or exploiting. Creating drag against progress is an increasingly complex marketing environment, the difficulty
of attributing marketing activities to business results, and sometimes simply the culture within organizations that marketers
serve.
3

4. INTRODUCTION
In a study sponsored by Pardot, Demand Metric conducted a survey to explore marketing’s evolution from a lead
generation service bureau to a strategic, center of influence and revenue engine. Answers to these questions were
pursued to better understand the current perception of marketing:
 How is marketing perceived internally?
 What level of influence does marketing have in the organization?
 How is marketing connecting its activities and programs to revenue results?
 How difficult is it for the marketing team to justify its budget?
 How current or “state-of-the-art” are the marketing team’s skills?
 How well equipped is the marketing team with technology infrastructure?
 How aligned are the sales and marketing teams?
These study results provide a record card of sorts, providing benchmark data useful for comparison, planning and improvement.
4

5. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Primary research for this study was done using a survey, and the data analysis provides these key findings:

Over half of organizations (59%) view marketing as either a necessary or unnecessary expense. Marketers are more
likely to view their own function as an expense (65%) than non-marketers (50%).

As company size increases, marketing is more likely viewed as an expense, and less likely viewed as contributing to
achieving business objectives.

Marketing organizations identified as “indispensable” in helping achieve business objectives are more strategically
oriented, have better alignment with sales, and use analytics to a greater extent to guide their efforts.

The rest of the organization (45%) gives marketing more credit for having a complete understanding of its impact on revenue
than marketing itself does (34%).

Over one-third of study participants report that justifying the annual marketing budget is difficult or very difficult.

Marketing skills correlate strongly to revenue growth. Measuring skills of the marketing team on a scale from one to
seven where 1 = obsolete or lagging and 7 = state-of-the-art, the average was 4.8.
This report details the results and insights from the analysis of the study data. For more detail on the survey participants, please
see the Appendix.
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6. CURRENT PERCEPTION OF MARKETING
Figure 1: The dominant internal view of marketing is as an expense.
Most modern marketers understand the importance of
having the marketing organization operate as a revenue
center, where marketing’s contribution to revenue is
analytics driven and quantified. To exist as an expense
puts the marketing function in jeopardy, keeping it on
the short list for cutbacks when financial pressures
arise.
Internal Perception of Marketing
60%
50%
51%
40%
Even though they haven’t figured out how to transform their
organizations into revenue centers, CMOs pursue this
orientation. The first thing this study attempted to learn is
the financial perception of marketing inside the company.
30%
20%
21%
10%
12%
8%
8%
0%
Unnecessary
expense
Necessary
expense
Breakeven center
Modestly
Highly profitable
profitable
revenue center
revenue center
Marketing Report Card Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=207
6
The survey sample for this study included members of the
C-suite, marketing team, sales team and other corporate
functions. Their aggregate perception of marketing is
summarized in Figure 1.
Over half of organizations perceive that marketing is an
expense, and further insights come from looking at the
responses to this survey question by role.

7. CURRENT PERCEPTION OF MARKETING
Figure 2: Marketing is more likely to view itself as an expense than non-marketers.
Perceive Marketing as an Expense
Unnecessary
Necessary
The fact that there is a difference of opinion regarding this
perception is not surprise. Even the degree of difference –
a 15% delta – doesn’t surprise. The surprise is that
marketers are more likely to perceive their function as
an expense than the full sample does.
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
57%
44%
20%
6%
8%
Non-marketers
Marketers
Marketing Report Card Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=207
7
This perception isn’t the one the modern marketer aspires
to for the marketing organization.
Do marketers have the more accurate, realistic view?
10%
0%
Marketers assess their perception differently than nonmarketers. Their responses are essentially an introspective
self-assessment (as seen in Figure 2).
It’s impossible to discern from this data. Perhaps this
harsher self-assessment is the result of an inferiority
complex, cynicism, a steady drumbeat of criticism or
possibly a clearer understanding of the true contribution the
function is making. Whatever the reason for this selfassessment, the self-esteem of the marketing function
seems to have suffered a blow, somewhat unexpected
from a department that usually doesn’t lack for
swagger.

8. CURRENT PERCEPTION OF MARKETING
A major part to remedying this perception of marketing as an expense is analytics. Of those organizations that view
marketing as an expense, 50% don’t use analytics at all or only to a slight extent to guide their efforts and show accountability to
the rest of the organization. By contrast, for the organizations that perceive marketing as a revenue center, just 16% fall into this
same analytics use category.
Any organization with properly deployed CRM and marketing automation systems that maintain data quality should
have access to the tools and data necessary to demonstrate not just relevance, but revenue impact. The modern
marketing organization shouldn’t function any other way.
It’s important to acknowledge that analytics alone may not provide all the leverage needed for marketing to transform itself from
an expense to a revenue center – corporate culture is sometimes a significant barrier as well. In such cases, however,
analytics are still one of the best tools for breaking down cultural barriers.
8

9. CURRENT PERCEPTION OF MARKETING
Figure 3: The perception of marketing as an expense increases with company size.
Expense Perception by Company Size
Another relationship exists between this perception of
marketing as an expense and company size, where annual
sales determines size:
80%
 Small companies: $25 million or less
66%
60%
68%
 Medium companies: between $26 million & $500 million
 Large companies: Over $500 million
52%
40%
This definition of company size will remain consistent
throughout this report. The results of this analysis show a
trend (as seen in Figure 3).
20%
0%
Small
Medium
Marketing Report Card Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=207
9
Large
The larger a company is, the more likely it is that
marketing is perceived internally as an expense.
Perhaps marketing is considered more vital in small
companies, some of which are struggling to establish
themselves or even fighting for survival. Whatever the
reasons, as sales increase, so does the perception that
marketing is an expense.

10. ABOUT DEMAND METRIC
Demand Metric is a global marketing research & advisory firm serving a membership community of over 38,000 marketing
professionals, CEOs, and business owners with advisory services, custom research & benchmarking reports, vendor studies,
consulting methodologies, training, and a library of 500+ practical tools and templates.
Using Demand Metric resources, members complete projects faster and with greater confidence, boosting respect for the
marketing team and making it easier to justify needed resources. Our 1,000+ corporate clients range from start-ups to consulting
firms to members of the Global 1000.
To learn more about Demand Metric, please visit: www.demandmetric.com.
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