Proving marketing impact and ROI is a challenge, but one that is more important than ever. B2B marketing organizations are undergoing a rapid and dramatic shift. Forty-five percent of B2B marketers report that their teams are now considered to be strategic functions by CEOs and executive leadership. This marks a huge jump from 10% just three years ago. That’s according to ITSMA’s survey of 67 senior marketing executives. The quantitative data and in-depth interviews with 12 of them show marketing results—and perceptions—are changing significantly. New patterns in buyer behavior and the explosion of data from marketing technology and other sources are major factors in this change. A mandate for growth, with the onus on marketing to help achieve that goal, is another. But perhaps the most important factor in the growing perception of marketing as a strategic function is the result of changes in leadership. Incoming executives, whether inside or outside marketing, have much higher expectations of what marketing can and should deliver. Living up to these expectations means not only delivering results but also demonstrating the impact of marketing’s efforts. Despite all of our new tools and technologies, this still presents a major challenge: 64% of marketers struggle to prove business impact. Perhaps ironically, the biggest obstacles to proving business impact come down to data. Although marketers have far more of it, most lack the data quality, integration, analysis, and links to business metrics that would help them prove their case. Most also feel they lack the budget and resources to solve the problem (but when does a marketer ever have enough budget and resources?). This report offers recommendations to help marketing organizations improve their reporting, increase trust in marketing data, and prove marketing impact. It also provides suggestions for building and reinforcing marketing’s perception as a strategic business function. Study Methodology Web-based Survey Survey invitations were emailed during April 2015 to select senior marketing executives in the ITSMA community 67 senior marketers completed the survey Qualitative Interviews 12 marketing leaders were interviewed by ITSMA The Data Was Analyzed by Ability to Use Data to Measure and Communicate Marketing’s Impact (Data Savvy) Leading edge. We directly tie marketing activity to business results Above average. We use marketing data to optimize performance

1. “…”
Communicating Marketing’s Impact
and ROI to the C-Suite
Julie Schwartz, Senior Vice President
Research and Thought Leadership, ITSMA
2015 Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact
Julie Schwartz
Senior Vice President
Research and Thought Leadership
ITSMA
Abbreviated Summary | July 2015
This abbreviated summary highlights some of the most significant findings of ITSMA’s Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact.
A more in-depth analysis can be found in the full report http://www.itsma.com/research/itsma-online-survey-communicating-marketings-impact-roi-c-suite/

2. ©ITSMA 2015 Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact | Abbreviated Summary | SV4597AS. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without permission. | 2
What is most responsible for the
change in marketing context?
Marketing’s stature in the
organization has changed
dramatically
Marketing is a
strategic function
and a core part of the
executive leadership team
45%
Today
(N=67)
10%
Three Years Ago
(N=59)
“New marketing
technologies
enable marketing to
track and report
activity and outcomes”
“Recognition that
buyer behavior
has changed and
marketing needs to
own pipeline”
“A change in leadership
influenced the growth of the
marketing department beyond
the singular function of
lead generation”
“Demand for all areas of business
to show value; visibility of
analytics and ‘Big Data’
at the C-suite level”
“New CMO and realizing the
importance of differentiation
and leverage that only
marketing can provide for
the next phase of growth
and staying relevant”
“A movement toward
ROI-based marketing
or marketing that impacts
the business. Not just
design/branding-based
marketing”
Source: ITSMA Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact, April 2015

3. ©ITSMA 2015 Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact | Abbreviated Summary | SV4597AS. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without permission. | 3
Source: ITSMA Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact, April 2015 % of Respondents (N~66)
Despite having new
marketing technologies
and tools that enable us
to track and measure
marketing activity like
never before,
of marketers still
struggle to prove
business impact.
64%

4. ©ITSMA 2015 Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact | Abbreviated Summary | SV4597AS. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without permission. | 4
To build trust,
start with data
integrity and
then go beyond
the data:
What is your
story, who are
you telling
it to, and how?
Which types of data do your organization’s executives request most?
Customers Markets
Contacts
Whom
Marketing is
Nurturing
Sales-
Accepted
Leads
Marketing
Programs
The
Competition
CEO
CFO/
Finance
BU or
Division
leaders
(P&L
owners)
Sales
Note: Multiple responses allowed. % of Respondents (N~54)
Source: ITSMA Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact, April 2015
High
Medium
Low

5. ©ITSMA 2015 Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact | Abbreviated Summary | SV4597AS. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without permission. | 5
How do you know what YOUR
executives want to hear?
Ask them!
What is the
business
strategy?
How do you
want marketing
to contribute to
that strategy?
How will you
evaluate our
contribution?

6. ©ITSMA 2015 Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact | Abbreviated Summary | SV4597AS. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without permission. | 6
Marketers who communicate outcome-based data build
trust among the C-suite
Marketing is a strategic function
Counting
Effort
Tracking
Costs
Counting
Results
Measuring
Efficiency
Reporting
Outcomes
Anticipating
Outcomes
Forecasting
Outcomes
• Articles/Blog
Posts
• Datasheets
Created
• Press Releases
Written
• Events
Produced
• Campaigns
Launched
• Budget
Category
Expenditures
• Media Mentions
• Trade Show
Leads
• Website
Registrations
• Downloads
• New Contacts
• Click Through
Rates
• Leads
Generated
• Campaign ROI
• Cost per Lead
• Cost per Sale
• Program to Total
Spend Ratio
• Program to
People Ratio
• Market Share
• Customer
Lifetime Value
• Conversion
Rates
• Pipeline
Contribution
• Total Contract
Value
• Brand
Awareness/
Preference
• Share of Wallet
• Adoption Rates
• Customer
Sat/Loyalty
• Rate of Growth
to Market
Growth Ratio
• Propensity to
Purchase
• Customer
Retention/
Renewal
• Likelihood to
Defect
• Marketing Mix
Optimization
ACTIVITY OUTCOME
SOutput-
Based
Operational
Business
Impact
Leading-
Indicators
Predictive
Activity
Metrics
Cost

7. ©ITSMA 2015 Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact | Abbreviated Summary | SV4597AS. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without permission. | 7
Marketing’s ultimate objective
is to build business value,
not quarterly bookings
Your metrics
framework
needs to balance
three goals
Revenue/
Contribution
to Sales
Relationships
Reputation/
Brand
Perception

8. ©ITSMA 2015 Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact | Abbreviated Summary | SV4597AS. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without permission. | 8
Source: ITSMA Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact, April 2015
Most marketers are measuring
ROI quarter-by-quarter;
they are measuring leads,
not business outcomes
of marketers use
70% 57%
Focusing
too much
is a mistake
on
to measure ROI
Number of
Sales-Qualified
Leads
only track
ROI over a
period of
3 months
or less

9. ©ITSMA 2015 Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact | Abbreviated Summary | SV4597AS. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without permission. | 9
Linking marketing
activity to business
impact is a
multiyear journey
requiring process
and behavior
change
Build trust in marketing and marketing’s data
 Develop processes and supporting infrastructure to ensure data integrity
 Implement a marketing metrics framework based on business outcomes
 Use your data to tell a good story
Foster a culture of accountability
 Educate marketers on how they personally contribute to business goals
 Set performance targets for every marketing program and campaign and
measure against them
Create business value in addition to campaigns
and leads
 Demand generation and the pipeline are important; but so are customer
lifetime value, brand equity, and propensity to defect
 Take an experimental approach based on hypothesis testing and start
building predictive models
To get executive leaders
to embrace marketing as a key
driver of business performance:

10. ©ITSMA 2015 Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact | Abbreviated Summary | SV4597AS. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without permission. | 10
Study Methodology
Source: ITSMA Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact, April 2015
Participating Companies (partial list)
 Amdocs
 Aranca
 Atos
 Autodesk
 Avanade
 Avaya
 Aviat
Networks
 Baufest
 Black & Veatch
 Capgemini
 CDW
 CGI
 Ciena
 Cisco
 Cognizant
 CPqD
 Cyient Limited
 Datapipe
 Deloitte
 Diebold
 Dimension
Data
 ECI
Healthcare
Partners
 EMC
 EXTOL
International
 EY
 FIS Global
 Fujitsu
 Genpact
 Giffhorn
 HCL
Technologies
 Hitachi Data
Systems
 HP
 IBM
 Juniper
Networks
 KPMG
 Netmagic
Solution
 Neudesic
 NIIT Tech
 Online
Business
Systems
 Persistent
Systems
 Polycom
 Protiviti
 PwC
 Rolta
 Salesforce
 SBS Group
 Schneider
Electric
 ServiceSource
 SunGard
 Symantec
 Tektronix
 TeleTracking
Technologies
 UBM Tech
 Unisys
 VMware
 Xerox
Web-based Survey
Survey invitations were emailed
during April 2015 to select senior
marketing executives in the
ITSMA community
67 Senior marketers completed
the survey
The Data Was Analyzed by:
Ability to Use Data to Measure and
Communicate Marketing’s ImpactQualitative
Interviews
12 Marketing
leaders
were
interviewed
by ITSMA
Back of the pack.
We track marketing activity, but rely
on anecdotal info to show impact
15
52
31
2
Average.
We regularly collect and
communicate marketing data
Above average.
We use marketing data to
optimize performance
Leading edge.
We directly tie marketing
activity to business results
Data
Savvy

11. ©ITSMA 2015 Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact | Abbreviated Summary | SV4597AS. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without permission. | 11
52%48%
64%36%
68%
15%
12%
5%
8 9 10 9
6
22
12
24
Less
than
$50M
$50–
99M
$100–
249M
$250–
499M
$500–
999M
$1–
4.9B
$5–
9.9B
$10B or
More
Respondent Demographics
Job Title
% of Respondents (N=67)
Source: ITSMA Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact, April 2015
Size of Solutions Business
Type of
Company
Physical
Location
Industry
Marketing
director/
manager
Marketing
executive
(CMO, SVP,
VP, AVP)
Both
products
and
services
Primarily
services
(10% or less
revenue from
products)
25
16
15
13
13
9
8
Other technology hardware systems and solutions
Outsourcing (technology/business process)
Telecommunications and network
systems/solutions
Computer systems and solutions
Software solutions
Non-IT professional services/consulting/business
services
IT professional services/consulting
North
America
Europe
Asia
South or Central America

12. ©ITSMA 2015 Survey: Measuring and Communicating Marketing Impact | Abbreviated Summary | SV4597AS. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without permission. | 12
Want to learn more?
Here’s what is included in the full study
For More Information
Julie Schwartz
Senior Vice President
Research and Thought Leadership
ITSMA
jschwartz@itsma.com
+1-781-862-8500, Ext. 112
Slide
Executive Summary 3
Methodology and Respondent Demographics 25
Detailed Findings 38
Business and Marketing Performance 38
Using Marketing Data 50
Communicating Marketing’s Impact 64
Marketing Dashboards 76
Marketing ROI 89