‘We are beginning to turn some corners’: Is ROI still king in marketing?
When used correctly ROI remains an invaluable tool for any marketer looking to prove effectiveness and, despite a fall in its use, it cannot be ignored.
The strategy is in place. The campaign has gone out. You’ve spent weeks tracking brand reputation and awareness. It’s time to demonstrate the success of your marketing efforts to the board. What metric do you reach for in order to prove it?
Well, for a long time the answer was fairly simple: prove its return on investment (ROI). It’s a metric that is relatively simple to track and immediately understand by even the most marketing-sceptic of leadership teams. Of course, ROI has its fair share of detractors, many of whom point to its inherent tendency to lead to a focus on quick wins. Used right, ROI remains a metric that carries a sufficient amount of heft in the boardroom.
However, it seems marketers are slowly but surely turning their back on ROI. Some 41.6% of the respondents to last year’s Language of Effectiveness survey, supported by Kantar, included ROI as one of the three most important metrics for senior stakeholders. In 2024, that figure tumbled to 30.1%
For Francois Bazini, chief marketing and innovation officer at Suntory Beverage and Food Europe, no decision should be made outside of ROI.
