Member research shows upward trends
AT the time of writing this column we had just released the AMI's Marketing Metrics position paper, with very positive responses from other marketing-related organisations such as the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA), the Advertising Federation of Australia (AFA), and the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA).
We have also opened dialogue with the Australian Social and Market Research Society about finding ways of making metrics more accessible for the small and medium size enterprise sector. I believe the developments from this project augur well for closer co-operation between our respective organisations.
However, as the professional body for marketers, we still need to focus on a program of continuous improvement in terms of benefits offered. But based on the results of our recent member survey, I am pleased to report that the trends are positive.
The survey results are drawn from 683 responses from all around Australia, although as you might understand a little over half came from NSW and Victoria. As with our last survey in 2002, the sample over-represents CPMs, our senior members, but in some ways this might be appropriate as they are the more experienced members of our Institute. None the less, we need to keep this in mind when considering the results for the total sample of members.
In this first report on members' views of the Institute, I want to look at changes from 2002 to 2004. In this case the CPM/non-CPM ratio is not an issue, since both samples were very similar in this regard.
The results showed consistent positive trends. For example, there were questions about members' perceptions of the possible main roles of the AMI. Of the nine benefits listed, all showed higher scores for 2004 and six showed statistically significant increases:
• Learning about marketing techniques and trends.
• Professional development.
• Professional accreditation.
• Social activities.
• Professional marketing.
• Marketing Update.
Importance of different AMI roles
We also asked members about the importance of different roles for the AMI and their satisfaction with those roles. Importance scores were almost identical to those from 2002, but satisfaction scores all showed statistically significant increases covering:
• Accreditation of marketing professionals.
• Improving the status and perception of marketing as a profession.
• Education and training to improve skills.
• Information services for other marketers.
• Representation of the profession.
Finally, we asked members about their overall satisfaction with membership. Here the results also showed a significant increase in satisfaction.
While this is gratifying, I know I speak for all members of the Board in remarking that there is a lot more to do to build the AMI in terms of what it delivers to you as a member. We see no basis for complacency.
However, one of the keys to success is to build a stronger financial platform through a larger membership base and through the development of additional revenue streams. I think the launch of the Australian Marketing Metrics will give the AMI and the profession a stronger place in the marketing and business community and will allow us to build our membership even further.
I also think that recognition of the importance of marketing will grow through the current work and through the development of the next stage, the Marketing Metrics Toolkit. As an integral part of the AMI, it should give all marketers more reason for joining us.
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