Today, we launched the annual Global Marketing Engagement Index™. The study reinforces the clear link between integrated digital strategies and business viability. All of the top 10 companies in 2020 scored significantly higher in media, digital marketing and social presence metrics. We analyzed the top 300 companies from the Forbes Global 2000 list using a proprietary methodology (LEWIS MET).
The study found the importance of digital transformation and connecting with consumers online has intensified due to the pandemic. The report charts a massive acceleration in areas of e-commerce, engagement and entertainment. Conversely, the research revealed many of the top 300 brands are vulnerable in areas of security, identity and network fragility.
“Fluctuations in this year’s Forbes Global 2000 list demonstrate the massive impact the pandemic has had on business. Innovative companies heavily invested in digital marketing proved to be best prepared for tidal shifts in consumer behavior,” said Chris Lewis, CEO and Founder at LEWIS. “Findings in this year’s Global Marketing Engagement Index indicate a resilient future for agile brands with fluid marketing strategies.”
MET 2020 Key Findings
- The overall 2020 average MET score for the Forbes top 300 has stayed consistent with the 2019 average (56% vs. 54%), and there have been significant shifts within topic areas, specifically for the digital marketing metrics.
- Two in three Forbes top 300 CEOs had no active social presence. Including CEOs lacking public facing accounts, 78% of the Forbes 300 CEOs were missing from social media conversations.
- Companies using CEO thought leadership platforms to provide quotes for the media performed better overall. 83% of the Forbes top 300 CEOs provided quotes to media within the last 90 days.
- Website reporting metrics remain the lowest scored topics on average, similar to the 2019 Index results. Specifically, not fully utilizing custom dimensions in Google Analytics has limited scoring in this category.
- Companies across all industries overall performed poorly when scored on their backlink ratio.
- Companies in highly regulated industries (e.g., Aerospace, Healthcare) scored 7-8% higher than other industries overall.
- Consumer facing industries (e.g., E-Commerce, Financial Services, Real Estate) scored highest on UX, with Financial Services companies scoring 15% higher than the average Forbes 300 company.
- Many companies are not fully utilizing video content on their webpages. The average Forbes 300 company scored 26% when measured on the number of video widgets implemented on their websites.
- In a bright spot for almost all industries, website security scored high across the board. The only exception is the Entertainment industry where website security scored 23% less than the average Fortune 300 company.
- While website security stood out positively overall, 8% of the Forbes 300 companies had critical issues on their websites that left them open to being hacked. One in three companies had issues that could lead to a hack if not fixed.
Looking for more information? Download the Global Marketing Engagement Index.
