Survey: Marketers Cite Short-Term Pressures, Misaligned Priorities and Measurement Gaps as Key Drivers of KPI Disconnects

 —VAB Examines 10 Key Questions to Understand Priorities Across Businesses—

What KPIs matter most to marketers? How exactly are those KPIs determined? And how do they differ across small, medium and large businesses? To answer those questions, the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) partnered with Advertiser Perceptions on a custom survey of 200 marketers—and published the findings in Keeping Up With The KPIs: 10 Key Questions Answered by Marketers to Understand Priorities Across Businesses.

In addition to examining organizational priorities, uncovering internal disconnects and identifying new opportunities for media partners, the guide provides playbooks on how business can work with the right media partners who can help deliver on what matters most.

“The depth of candor we received from 200 marketers as they answered ten of the most burning questions on KPI tensions was remarkable,” said Sean Cunningham, President & CEO, VAB. “Their clarity of consequence in being compelled to satisfy short-term KPIs at the expense of longer-term business objectives jumped off the pages of our study results. Marketers clearly know there is an expiration date on ‘making the marketing optimization models work’ each quarter versus building business growth year-over-year; they are ready to go after the larger wins.”

Marketing Technology News: MarTech Interview with Linsday Bayuk, Chief Marketing Officer @ Fullstory

Among the survey’s findings:

• Brand awareness is a top business objective for smaller businesses while revenue and profitability become more important for larger companies. Sixty-six percent of small businesses cite increasing brand awareness as a top business objective, while 59% and 47% of large businesses cite increasing revenue and increasing profitability, respectively. In addition, large and medium businesses tend to prioritize data and measurability over customer focus.
  
  
• Marketers in larger companies are almost three times more likely than small businesses to believe there is an internal KPI disconnect. Thirty-two percent of marketers at large businesses believe there is a disconnect between the KPIs and the goals their management has communicated, compared to 28% at medium-sized businesses and 12% at small businesses. Further, the data demonstrates a disconnect between what marketers know they should do versus what they are actually doing.
  
  
• Marketers across sizes cite short-term pressures, misaligned priorities and measurement gaps as key drivers of KPI disconnects. Small brands face tactical hurdles, while large brands grapple with structural misalignment and resistance to long-term investment. Further, 74% of small businesses say their KPIs reflect a prioritization of short-term sales over long-term branding results, versus 63% at medium businesses and 70% at large businesses. When it comes to expectations of their media partners, medium businesses rank brand safety, content quality and transparency low—signaling a short-term focus at the expense of long-term brand value.

Marketing Technology News: B2B Marketing Funnel: A Refresher with Helpful Tips for 2025

• Multiscreen TV is seen as most effective in upper funnel metrics for large-sized businesses, although it is a close second to search for lower funnel. Sixty-four percent of marketers at large businesses rank brand awareness, and 46% rank revenue and sales growth, among the top three KPIs of multiscreen TV.
  
  
• Moving forward, marketers believe their business should focus on KPIs that strengthen brand equity and deepen customer relationships: Brand awareness is cited within the top five KPIs that brand marketers should focus on over the next 12 months and beyond by 52% of small businesses, 50% of medium businesses and 49% of large businesses.

The Video Advertising Bureau (VAB)—whose members include the national TV networks alongside a broader community of influential media companies—plays a dual role in the video advertising industry. VAB is fiercely advocating for the changes that bring about a more innovative and transparent marketplace. VAB also provides the insights and thought leadership that enables marketers to develop business-driving marketing strategies.