CMOs are still struggling to justify their spending to the CFO

In addition, just 21% of top marketers completely agree their CFO is aligned around marketing budgets and metrics. 

This is according to a study released by Perion Network Ltd, a technology company that provides advertising solutions, and Advertiser Perceptions, a business intelligence company serving the advertising, marketing and ad tech industries. 

“With more than three-quarters of marketers still lacking a unified measurement framework, there’s a tremendous opportunity for improvement,” says Erin McCallion, CMO at Perion.  

“CMOs are navigating unprecedented complexity and growing expectations for accountability. This research underscores how connected data and unified insights can strengthen marketing’s strategic role in driving business growth.” 

In other key finding from the study: 

• Just over 60% of Chief Marketing Officers say they need better tools to clearly demonstrate marketing’s impact on the bottom line. 

• Nearly three in four CMOs selected a unified tracking system as a ‘must-have’ for the future of marketing performance. 

Comments Lauren Fisher, GM of Business Intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions: “The CMO-CFO relationship has evolved, but many marketers are still flying blind.”  

“In the absence of clear, unified data, even the most sophisticated teams struggle to prove marketing’s financial impact. The standouts are those leveraging unified performance systems. These marketers report significantly higher alignment with finance leadership and stronger confidence in demonstrating ROI.” 

According to the researchers, marketers using a unified performance system report stronger collaboration with finance, outperform peers on key business metrics, and face fewer internal barriers to proving value. 

You can find out more about the study, titled ‘Bridging the Divide: Solving Fragmentation Between Marketing and Finance’, here.