Marketing and Finance Misaligned at Large Companies: Study

Respondents say Incrementality testing delivers tangible budget wins, but organizational resistance thwarts better measurement

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, March 4, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The marketing and finance teams at leading enterprise companies are talking past each other. Meanwhile, incrementality testing has proven its value in protecting and growing paid media budgets. These are among the main findings from a survey released today by Recast.

The Recast Marketing Measurement Survey polled 101 marketing professionals, including senior leaders (41%), managers (26%), and junior practitioners (27%). More than half (56%) work at companies with annual paid media budgets exceeding $50 million. The data showed that organizational friction and poor cross-functional alignment continue to undermine effective decision-making, particularly at companies that enjoy large media budgets.

"Three things jump out to me in these results," said Recast Co-Founder Michael Kaminsky. "Senior leaders at the biggest advertisers are the least aligned with their finance teams. The biggest blocker to experimentation isn't budget, but organizational willingness. And when teams do run incrementality tests, they’re seeing real, positive business outcomes."

Among companies spending more than $50 million annually on paid media, 58% of senior leaders report that their marketing and finance teams are not well aligned on measurement methodology.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents (74%) who run incrementality tests (or “lift tests”) report positive budget outcomes, including avoiding budget cuts, securing additional funding, or both.

The research also exposes a critical communication failure between marketing and finance teams:
* Only 28% of respondents communicate experiment results using uncertainty intervals.
* 57% of respondents report only point estimates, and 21% do not communicate experiment results to their finance counterparts at all.
* Senior leaders are the least likely to communicate uncertainty, favoring simplified point estimates despite their limitations.

“If you're reporting single-number-forecasts to your CFO, you're setting yourself up for a tough conversation when results eventually come in differently," said Kaminsky. "Finance thinks in terms of risk and ranges, so those need to be top of mind for more marketers.”

About Recast

\Recast is fast, accurate forecasting powered by incrementality experiments and MMM. Replacing outdated measurement tools and black-box attribution, the platform combines a proprietary, Bayesian MMM with experimentation and robust forecasting tools. Recast brings marketing and finance teams together, allowing them to make better decisions with real data and validated forecasts, instead of gut feel.

Learn more at getrecast.com.

Bill Brazell
Sharp Pen Media
+1 9174457316
email us here

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