Sheer volume of data can make marketers blind to strategy

The vast majority (83 percent) of senior marketers are struggling to adapt to the volume of data available to them, while 80 percent feel the industry as a whole focuses on too many performance metrics, according to a new report from research company Censuswide and Domo. The study polled 681 senior marketers around the world on their opinions, routines and plans for the future. It revealed that analytics, from a vast number of sources, are driving ‘data blindness’ as marketers lose sight of KPIs, and 78 percent of respondents admit to chasing short-term results over long-term strategy.

To reduce operational and strategic complexity, almost a quarter of large organisations (23 percent) are preparing to spend up to 40 percent of their marketing budget on data management and analytics in the next 12 months. An even greater number (70 percent) will allocate at least a fifth to this type of technology.

The study also claims that as a result of the changing nature of marketing, many senior marketers are finding it difficult to hire the right employees and upskill their current workforce. More than one-third (35 percent) of marketers at large enterprise organisations said their main recruitment priority is to build a rounded team with a balance of data and creative skills.

Skills in data security and compliance were also reported (45 percent) as one of the top three skills being sought after as data from across the business becomes more critical to marketing’s success. Not surprisingly, creative skills (45 percent), and data science and analytics skills (42 percent) were the other top two.

Today, marketers see the use of data as a driving force within the sector. A fifth of all marketers believe the biggest benefit of increased data is the ability to make key marketing decisions faster — and in real time. In addition, a quarter of respondents say it enables them to build better-informed strategies.

“Despite having more data about the customer journey than ever before, marketing leaders have more pressure from the business and more challenges in keeping up,” said Josh James, CEO of Domo. “Today’s business environment calls for marketers to have a new modus operandi, helping them balance marketing’s strategic and operational needs, while creating customer value across all marketing activity and clearly communicating  it to the bottom line.”

“More intelligent use of data is central to a new approach to marketing,” said James. “The result will be a marketing organisation that creates customer value, increases transparency around results and enables marketers to focus on strategy and execution.”