Marketers' views of media

How important do you believe Second Life or other virtual marketing media will be to your marketing campaigns (very important; important; not important)?

• Not so important -- More than half (52 percent) of the marketers said they feel that Second Life or virtual marketing media are not important.

Have you yourself ever responded to an unsolicited email (yes; no)? Have you yourself ever responded to an unsolicited direct mail piece (yes; no)?

• Marketers feel that direct mail still works -- Sixty-four percent of marketers have responded to unsolicited direct mail vs. 49 percent who have responded to an unsolicited email.

Have you yourself ever responded to an unsolicited text message on your cell phone (yes; no)?

• Marketers aren't always supportive personally of the campaigns they use -- Although 93 percent said they have never responded to an unsolicited text message, 65 percent will increase their spend on SMS over the next three years.

In general, do you support the Do Not Track list (yes; no; I don't know what it is)? Would you personally opt in to a Do Not Track list (yes; no)?

• Marketers may not be that familiar with the Do Not Track list, but they would still opt into it -- Surprisingly, 32 percent of marketers aren't familiar with the list, but 47 percent support it. And, 67 percent would opt in to it.

Dealing with industry issues

Over the next three years, do you plan to increase or decrease your marketing staff (increase by more than 50 percent; 25 to 49 percent; 10 to 24 percent; 1 to 9 percent; same; decrease by 1 to 9 percent; 10 to 24 percent; 25 to 49 percent; more than 50 percent)?

• Marketing growth is continuing in a down market -- The respondents revealed that 95 percent of them will maintain or increase their marketing staff over the next three years, with nearly 30 percent expecting their staff to grow by double digits over the next three years.

How would you characterize the relationship between the sales and marketing departments in your organization (terrible; ok; excellent)? Over the last three years, how has the relationship between sales and marketing departments changed in your organization (gotten better; stayed the same; gotten worse)?

• Sales and marketing are finally bridging the divide -- More than 90 percent of the people surveyed said that the relationship between sales and marketing departments is okay or excellent.
• This good relationship is a fairly new thing -- In just the past three years, 54 percent have seen the improvement in the relationship.

Marketer accountability

As a marketer, how has the pressure on you to account for results changed in the last three years (greatly increased; increased; stayed the same; decreased; greatly decreased)?

• The pressure is growing -- No one said that the pressure has decreased; 86 percent of the people said that the pressure has increased on them to account for results.

Does your organization have a way to quantify the contribution of marketing to the bottom line (yes; no)?

• Marketing is accountable -- According to the respondents, 68 percent of organizations are measuring the quantifiable contribution of marketing to the bottom line.

When the company has a bad quarter, who shoulders more of the blame (marketing; sales; equal)?

• Sales and marketing are starting to share the blame -- More than half (58 percent) said they feel the blame is shared equally.

It's good to be a marketer

How does the senior management team of your company value marketing (a lot; some; very little; not at all)?

• Marketers feel valued -- The respondents claimed that 91 percent of them feel valued by senior management (57 percent a lot; 34 percent some).

If you could turn the clock back to college graduation, would you still go into marketing (yes; no)?

• Most marketers enjoy their jobs -- A whopping 74 percent say they would reenter the field.

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Steve Woods is chief technology officer, Eloqua Corporation.