60% of Marketers Only ‘Somewhat Confident’ in the Potential of Their Data

Although marketers are still finding it difficult to leverage their data, new research suggests that they remain committed to improving its quality to unlock its potential.

Ascend2 recently published its “Outlook on Marketing Data Quality” report, and statistics indicated that the majority of marketers (60%) are only “somewhat confident” in their organization’s ability to improve business outcomes using the data it currently collects. However, most respondents (49%) stated that they believe their leadership team is “fully” committed to improving the quality of their marketing data.

To make these improvements, the majority (44%) said that ensuring data security will be the most critical element to their success. About 39% claimed that it will be most critical to acquire data from multiple sources, while 37% stated that it will be essential to focus on integrating data and technology. Most marketers (47%) believe that the quality of their data allows them to make effective spending decisions.

Quality Dampens Customer Data Platform Potential for Marketers

Data quality has been a lingering problem for marketers, and previous research has highlighted its direct impact on how marketers leverage their customer data platforms (CDP).

Merkle released its “2022 Q3 Customer Engagement Report,” and data suggested that 23.7% of marketers consider a lack of clean, reliable data to be their largest CDP barrier. Other obstacles include a lack of foundational customer data (16.2%), as well as an inability to integrate data from multiple systems (17.2%).

“While their power and promise have helped CDPs take the industry by storm, those promises are often vague and poorly understood,” wrote the authors of the report. “A key misconception stems from vendor claims that their CDP can fully solve for data issues and provide brands with a robust consumer 360.”