New marketing intel sees data shifts

If there is something all business owners seek to avoid, it is volatility. If there is one tool that can help a business avoid that volatility, it is intel. Knowing what is going on and where current trends may lead can mean the difference between success and failure. In some recently released research, Salesforce has discovered that businesses everywhere have begun to rely on their gathered data as a means to secure the future. The following comes from their recently published research:

  • Salesforce surveyed 1,050 marketing decision-makers in leading markets around the world to understand this marketing analytics conundrum. We learned that businesses around the world have accelerated their digital transformation to meet changing customer expectations and behaviors in an all-digital world.
  • Today’s marketers are increasingly tasked with leading growth in their organization. In fact, nine out of 10 marketers globally have made marketing-led growth one of their top priorities. Although marketers are focused on growth as a priority, less than 50% of them said they are “very successful” in achieving the growth metrics that they deem most important (sales/revenue, customer satisfaction, customer lifetime value, etc.). Disappointingly, nearly four in five marketers report that they are not exceeding their growth goals.
  • Eighty-eight percent of customers expect companies to accelerate digital initiatives, yet nearly one in three marketers has reported a decrease in advertising and marketing spends over the past year. The pandemic has forced businesses to optimize budgets and double-down on activities that drive immediate business value. But marketers are now challenged to use fewer resources to meet targets and test out new marketing strategies to drive growth.

  • Many marketers now rely on a diverse mix of marketing channels — website, display ads, email, social media, and more — to interact with today’s digital-first buyers. On average, marketers report using eight different channels to execute their marketing strategy, and an average of 21 marketing platforms to measure their efficacy.
  • Seventy-nine percent of marketers agree that it’s important to have an overview of all cross-channel marketing activities, but 52% describe their analytics infrastructure as average or poor. An integrated platform makes it possible for marketers to get a complete picture of their marketing performance to provide valuable analytics for smarter marketing decisions.
  • Collecting and understanding data poses one of the greatest challenges for marketers. Gathering data from multiple sources is time-consuming — 43% of marketers spend a week or more each month collecting, cleansing, and harmonizing data sets. This is valuable time lost that could be spent analyzing data for real-time, cross-channel insights and applying those learnings to marketing strategies.
  • Accurate and accessible data is vital for marketing success — over half of marketers believe data veracity and accessibility are the most important factors driving marketing performance. Marketing intelligence makes these a reality, giving marketers the tools they need to optimize marketing spend, get a strategic overview of marketing performance, and understand and engage their customers.

-Written by Kevin Sawyer