Author Archives: Jim Roots

As the role of marketing continues to evolve in business, one would suppose that the CMO or head of marketing is becoming more accountable to business objectives and corporate growth drivers. Yet most marketers still find their role relegated to traditional marketing functions. Why is that?

A large part of the answer is metrics. Too many companies today still see marketing as a cost center. They still measure its performance not based on goals or definable objectives, but rather on dollars spent year over year, using brute force methodologies like ad to sales ratio, total revenues and in some cases, headcount. The mentality of “hit your sales number at the lowest possible expense” is as far as it goes in many businesses. It is surprising in this day and age that while sales targets are provided to marketers, many of them do not have corresponding profitability and marketing ROI goals. Continue Reading…