95% of Marketers Agree That a Unified Data Source Improves Attribution

As marketers struggle to tie their strategic efforts to revenue, new research suggests that a lack of data unification may be to blame.

Ascend2 recently published its “Improving Marketing Attribution” report, and statistics indicated that the majority of marketers (95%) agree that having a unified data source improves marketing attribution. Approximately 44% of respondents stated that improving data quality has been a top challenge to improving overall marketing attribution.

“Integrating data allows marketers to evaluate touchpoints across the entire customer lifecycle and determine the overall contribution of each interaction,” wrote the researchers behind the report. “This allows for greater optimization of marketing efforts.”

When marketers can successfully execute marketing attribution, they cite an improved customer experience (50%), marketing return-on-investment (49%), and streamlined processes (36%) as top benefits.

The Difficulties of Accessing Accurate Marketing Data

While data may be critical for marketers seeking to execute their strategy efficiently, previous research indicates that it has been difficult to access at times.

Nielsen released its “Era of Alignment: Future-focused Strategies for Brand Building and Customer Acquisition,” and statistics suggested that 36% of marketers find data access to be “extremely/very difficult.” Furthermore, 35% of respondents stated that data accuracy/quality is often “extremely/very difficult.”

“To overcome these challenges, marketers need to prioritize their data strategies, complete with an investment in first party data — the data companies collect directly from users or people in a consent compliant way,” concluded the researchers behind the report.