CMO Survey Finds Marketers More Optimistic About Revenue Prospects
DURHAM, NC—August 30, 2010—Top marketing executives for U.S. firms are optimistic about their own revenue prospects, but not as confident about the overall U.S. economy. Their mixed outlook is reflected in marketing strategies focused on building and maintaining strong relationships with current customers while cautiously increasing marketing spending and hiring.
These are some of the results of the August 2010 CMO Survey, a nationwide poll of top marketers conducted twice annually by Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and the American Marketing Association. The survey of 574 chief marketing officers (CMOs) also explored the ever-growing importance of social media marketing and found strong trends in its use for business-to-customer (B2C) marketing.
While only 35% of marketers feel more optimistic about the overall U.S. economy than they did last quarter, 64% said they have become more optimistic about their own companies' current prospects. This optimism about their own companies is likely grounded in strong recent results, according to Christine Moorman, a professor and director of the survey.
"Overall, these firms' sales and profits were both up during the past six months, and their goals for the next year are even higher," Moorman said, noting that this is the first time in more than a year that firms have reported any increase in sales.
This optimism for their own companies is playing out in marketing spending, with companies planning to increase their marketing budgets by nine percent, compared to a one percent planned increase reported just a year ago. "This is a huge lift that reinforces that marketers think the economy is turning," Moorman said.
Companies are also devoting more resources to nurturing existing customer relationships, including spending on social media, brand building and integrating what they know about customers into their work. Thirty-two percent of firms expect to eliminate channel partners and other "middle man" relationships in order to maintain direct contact with customers while reducing costs.
