EarningsTime’s Post

Great perspective on how brands and agencies need to work together to properly measure effectiveness and ROI from Karen Martin, BBH London and IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) Effectiveness Group chair. I'll add that closing the loop by having marketing, finance and agencies using the same analytics platform helps create the transparency and flexibility you need to pull this off. #sapanalyticscloud https://lnkd.in/gECqF5He

Is your agency growing faster than average? Here's what average looks like: From 2015 to 2020, the average growth rate of digital agencies in our surveys was 13%. In 2021, the average growth rate almost doubled to 25% due to the enormous demand for digital solutions by corporations. In 2022, we saw revenue growth slow back down to 15%, which is much more in line with historical trends. When the 2023 results came in, it was clear that this was the worst year for agency growth since we began tracking. The slowness that began in 2H22 spilled over into 2023 (and, from the sounds of it, through 1H24, too). This is an excerpt from our 2024 Digital Agency Industry Report. Get the full report at the link in comments.

Ah, SaaS startups—the land where you spend huge percentages of...a small ARR. But hey, those early dollars count more than anything! Thanks to my friend Carilu Dietrich for sharing this gem: 💰 SaaS startups typically spend 30-40% of revenue on marketing and sales. Yes, that’s a chunky slice of a modest pie, but it’s what drives the SaaS flywheel: -Building awareness (because “yet another SaaS tool” doesn’t sell itself). -Acquiring those first customers (who hopefully stick around past the free trial). -Testing GTM strategies (aka figuring out which ICPs will actually pay you). Once you start scaling, those percentages slim down to 10-30%. Efficiency and differentiation becomes the name of the game, but in the early stages? It’s all about throwing fuel on the fire—strategically, of course.

Must be something about the end of the financial year, as last week saw a couple of very interesting studies published offering insight into to the state of the agency market. Usurpingly, they both highlight that 2023 was a tough one for agencies, thanks to tighter client budgets, slower decision making, economic uncertainty, the list goes on....   What stood out to me?   First off the latest Benchpress (agencies under £1m) from The Wow Company 💡 50% of agencies reduced staff but 58% hired! 💡 14% made redundancies 💡 Only 17% of agencies say that they are very different i.e niche 💡 Just 7% offer one service and 25% offer 2-5 services 💡 While only a third of agencies (31%) use tiered rates, this tends to be more profitable than offering blended rates Check out the full report 👉🏿 https://lnkd.in/e4pKRDVr   Next up, the team at Chime Agency latest Agency Marketing Benchmark report. 💡 58% of agencies scored below last year’s benchmark, with video production and event/experience agencies scoring lowest 💡 Only 26% of agencies created a ‘hero moment’ in their marketing 💡 46% of agencies are not practicing what they preach! Full report here 👉🏿 https://lnkd.in/e_HQkQ5p   My take, if you happen to be interested... It’s tough out there in agency world, but the ones that get through another bumpy year will be looking very closely at how they work internally and externally. Identify the inefficiencies, gaps and duplication in the way you operate (client servicing, talent, billing rates, spending commitments etc) and how you market your agency (from defining who you are to where you are seen and by who). Now its time to really treat your agency like a like a client. Focus, plan, deliver. #AgencyGrowth #AgencyLeadership #AgencyMarketing

In today’s marketing landscape, achieving sustained financial gains is key. Are you leveraging metrics like ROAS, iROAS, ROI, and mROI to optimize your strategies?🙋♀️ Key Metrics to Maximize Financial Gain: ➡️ROAS: Quick snapshot of campaign effectiveness, but may lead to short-term focus. ➡️iROAS: Identifies true ad spend impact, align with long-term goals. ➡️ROI: Broad impact assessment beyond ad platforms. ➡️mROI: Identifies optimal investment points for long-term growth. Adopt a holistic approach by integrating iROAS, ROI, and mROI into your analysis to drive sustainable growth! Learn more here: https://bit.ly/3WD7BqP #MarketingMetrics #MarketingMeasurement #MarketingMix #MMM

#B2B tech CEOs/CMOs. How much are you allocating to marketing in your 2025 budget? Interesting guestimates from the US-based and very well respected Carilu Dietrich (which she's in the process of firming up - please take the survey - link in her article). A lot will vary depending on whether it's a sales- or marketing-led motion, plus the other variables listed below. But I'll bet my December beer allowance that there aren't many UK-based companies investing at this level, particularly at the lower end. Does anyone know any $10m t/o UK-based B2B businesses spending $1.5m-$2m on advertising and promotions (excluding people and and tech)? And is that why UK businesses are so often out-competed by US companies? #b2bmarketing #marketingbudgets Stuart Clarke MBE

🌟 Strategic Planning: The CMO Superpower 🌟 As marketers, we’re all feeling the pressure to do more with less. According to Gartner, marketing budgets are now at 7.7% of company revenue, a post-pandemic low 📉. Yet, the expectations to deliver impact and growth have never been higher! That’s why annual planning is no longer just a task—it’s a strategic lifeline. Aligning marketing initiatives with business objectives ensures every dollar counts. It’s not just about cutting costs; it’s about maximizing impact and efficiency 🚀. Inspired by a great post from Carilu Dietrich, the key to thriving in this environment is not just planning but smart planning: ✅ Focus on priorities. ✅ Align with company goals. ✅ Deliver measurable outcomes. In today’s environment, CMOs need to lead with clarity, creativity, and a relentless focus on results. Let’s make every decision count 💡. #CMO #MarketingStrategy #AnnualPlanning #MarketingBudgets #DoMoreWithLess #GrowthMindset #Leadership 💼✨ Big thanks to Cari for sharing her insights—spot on and inspiring! 🙌 What are your tips for navigating tighter budgets? Let’s discuss! ⬇️

CEO and CMOs I know are looking for budget benchmarks to help justify 2025 recommendations. If we could do full ROI-based budget planning, life would be easier! But because marketing spend is a complicated combination of multi-year awareness, lead generation, deal acceleration, and customer expansion, many of us come back to tops-down benchmarks too. Want to know what others are doing right now, in today's market? Me too. I've partnered with Ray Rike, Jon Miller, and Bill Macaitis to survey top marketers to get the stats we all want. Please take the survey here: https://lnkd.in/gYrBbVBc (It shouldn't take longer than 7 minutes, and we will share the details by company size, sales model, average selling price, and more.) Over the years, I’ve seen a handful of official benchmarks and a few dozen budgets at different companies. Several VCs and marketing analyst firms publish benchmarks based on survey data of their portfolio, but it often doesn't include at-scale companies. I once commissioned IDC to do a head-to-head comparison with similar companies, but it was expnsive. I’ve also been party to CMOs trying to 1:1 benchmark themselves for their business approach and revenue tier, with limited success. Last year, I published the chart below, my official "guestimates" of VC-backed tech and public companies. These numbers have remained surprisingly constant over time -- though a recent Forrester report suggested that tech allocations are moving up aggressively. Are you seeing that too? There are always notable outliers. And who wants to be average anyway? If you can prove something really works for your business, you might buck the average! I've detailed the challenges and opportunities of the different budget benchmarks on my blog here: https://lnkd.in/g4QfvgpQ. Thoughts? Opinions? Take the survey, and let's see where we are trending now! #CMO #Annualplanning #MarketingBudgets

Any organizing will benefit from tracking marketing metrics. You don’t need every single data point. You need a few that matter. This article explains it well! CMO-OnLoan #marketingeffectiveness

According to Deloitte's 31st CMO survey, roughly 13.6% of senior marketing executives' total expenditure was on marketing in 2023 – a rise of 3.9% from the previous two years. In similar vein, our own independent survey discovered that 80% of respondents' media budget would increase throughout 2024. Which begs the question - when budgets are being planned, how much really is enough as a baseline spend? ⚖️ https://lnkd.in/eTe77WcX