After a long period of economic stagnation, a survey of nearly 2,000 decision makers found that 67% of companies do not have a marketing plan, and more than half don't even have a business plan.
The Marketing Maturity Report, published by the Center for Marketing, asked hundreds of small businesses across the UK to answer 60 statements to understand what they are doing to grow their business. We are asking you to mark yourself.
The majority of respondents said their businesses currently have no way to establish how marketing actually contributes to achieving business objectives, and that they do not have a marketing plan that produces regular and timely marketing activity. Only one-third of respondents said yes.
The report suggests that marketers are engaging in “random marketing practices” that are not contributing to business goals as they should.
Fewer than one in three (28%) say they are generating enough leads to meet their business growth goals, and CRM is being used effectively by both sales and marketing teams. Only 40% had a system in place.
Additionally, only 27% of businesses say they set clear goals when using professional marketing services such as agencies, showing that small businesses are unsure whether their marketing is working. Masu.
Overall, most people don't measure their marketing efforts well enough, and metrics are consistently the most difficult area in any industry. Only 25% of respondents believe they have clearly defined marketing performance metrics.
The findings reflect the current state of small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK, suggesting that many lack understanding of how to achieve their goals and pose a collective significant challenge to the UK economy. It's highlighted.
Based on the Marketing Center's Marketing360 assessment tool, among all industries, the marketing and advertising industry ranked highest overall across all 60 questions, followed by the fashion, packaging, and finance industries. The automotive, agriculture, and engineering industries were found to have the greatest overall risk to marketing and business health.
Pete Jacob, Director of Marketing at the Marketing Center, said: “The lack of a strategic business and marketing plan is a major problem for UK SME leaders who are essentially marketing in the dark. A well-developed business and marketing plan is more than just a blueprint. , a safeguard against uncertainty, a guide to corporate growth, and a shield for overall business success.
“The adage that if you fail to plan, you will fail is true. With over half of UK businesses not having a business or marketing plan, significant risks exist and It is important for business owners to recognize that planning leads to successful marketing that aligns with the vision.
“Strategy gives senior leaders confidence that budgets are directed to the right areas and activities are measured and optimized to drive brand awareness, positive sentiment, and ultimately sales. Strategy helps steer the ship, and with it comes a focus on reporting, CRM systems, tools, and lead generation.”
The Marketing Center surveyed 1,988 marketing decision-makers at small and medium-sized businesses across the UK, and found that they were rated “strongly agree,” “agree,” “undecided,” or “disagree” about their current marketing practices. They were asked to rate either “no” or “strongly disagree.”
The questions analyzed covered several aspects of marketing in business. Each company was assigned a score out of 5 for each question, depending on how well it matched the score, and an average Index of 5 for each sector was calculated.
The Marketing Center then grouped each respondent by industry to get a complete picture of how each industry currently approaches marketing efforts.
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