Marketers say they lack the data to prove value as CFO scrutiny rises. New research shows only 21% are aligned—making unified systems the new power move.
As corporate marketing budgets face heightened scrutiny, the strategic relationship between the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is becoming increasingly pivotal. However, new research from Perion and Advertiser Perceptions reveals a significant data gap, with only 22% of marketers strongly feeling they possess adequate data to justify marketing’s value to their CFOs.
The study, titled “Bridging The Divide: Solving Fragmentation Between Marketing and Finance,” surveyed 167 senior-level marketers in the U.S. and Canada, all managing at least $1 million in annual advertising spending.
“We’re entering a pivotal year for marketing where the expectations from the C-suite keep rising,” said Erin McCallion, global CMO at Perion. “We wanted to understand the tension points and what’s helping CMOs and CFOs stay better aligned. If the CMO cannot bridge that data gap, it makes their remit that much more challenging.”
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The Alignment Deficit
While both executives focus on driving growth, their approaches often conflict: CMOs prioritize revenue through strategic spending, while CFOs emphasize profitability and rigorous cost control. This tension is magnified by a fragmented media landscape, which complicates campaign tracking and muddies the definition of success.
The survey metrics reveal a clear deficit in alignment:
- Only 21% of marketers report being completely aligned with their CFO regarding marketing budgets and metrics.
- However, the pressure to prove value is clear: 62% of marketers acknowledge that their CFO views marketing as a “revenue driver with measurable proof.”
- The same 62% stated they need better tools to show precisely how marketing contributes to the bottom line.
“The CFO does play a significant role in deciding where the investments go across the organization, and so having that shared language and the shared understanding of what investments are driving business outcomes are very important,” McCallion added.
The High Cost of Data Fragmentation
The report indicates that the current state of advertising technology (AdTech) and marketing technology (MarTech) is making it fundamentally difficult for marketing teams to prove their financial value.
Most respondents track some performance across their platforms, but 70% report a tracking gap, and 7% are completely unable to track holistic performance across platforms. This data disconnect has severe consequences for the marketing department’s standing within the enterprise:
- 71% of respondents without a unified data system said the disconnection between AdTech and MarTech has at least somewhat limited their ability to prove marketing’s value.
- 21% said this disconnect has significantly impacted their ability to justify spending.
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The findings underscore the immense value of a unified data environment. Among marketers operating on a singular system, 97% reported they are aligned with their CFO on understanding outcomes and ad spend. This contrasts sharply with only 63% of those whose data is spread across multiple platforms. A similar trend holds for budgets: 97% of those with a single data funnel are aligned on budgets and metrics, versus 66% without.
“The CMO-CFO relationship has evolved, but many marketers are still flying blind,” said Lauren Fisher, general manager of business intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions. “In the absence of clear, unified data, even the most sophisticated teams struggle to prove marketing’s financial impact.”
