Palo Alto, Calif.—Top marketing executives admit that their group’s performance is not up to snuff, leading to a lack of influence within the corporate hierarchy, according to a study released Wednesday by the CMO Council.

Only 10% of respondents to the CMO Council survey said their marketing groups are “highly influential and strategic” within the company. What’s more, less than half said their teams are “well regarded and respected,” even though two-thirds of CEOs polled in a separate survey by Chief Executive magazine said their marketing groups are “mission critical” for creating top-line growth.

“This study confirms marketers need to move from a tactical orientation to a more analytic and strategic approach that will enable them to realign marketing initiatives with the overall corporate mission,” said Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council, in a news release.

The CMO Council survey was sent to senior-level marketing executives at IBM Corp., Intel Corp. and Xerox Corp., among other high-tech companies; 400 executives responded. (BtoB is a media partner of the CMO Council.)

The Chief Executive survey generated responses from 450 CEOs regarding their companies’ marketing efforts.

—Matthew Schwartz