Marketers Seek Technologically Advanced Agencies for Analytics Needs

When marketers review their relationship with agencies, they want to know that they are fully capable of utilizing data and analytics to the best of their ability, according to new research.

The “State of Agency Business Development” report from Advertiser Perceptions recently surveyed 158 marketers to determine how they narrow down their list of agencies to work with for advertising purposes.

About 53 percent said it is “quite important” that the candidates can collect, use and interpret data. Approximately 41 percent said it was “crucial.”

49 percent of respondents said that it was “quite important” for an agency to use the latest advertising technology, and 35 percent stated that it was “crucial.”

“When it comes to clients putting their agencies up for review, so many of the top reasons for this are fully within agencies’ control—it’s imperative that agencies are up to speed on new technology and that they’re delivering the work they promised; those are the basics,” said Nancy Hill, president and CEO of the 4A’s.

Additionally, 50 percent of marketers surveyed claimed that they have begun moving some of their advertising work in-house. Cost and speed were two factors as to why marketers are making the shift.

In-House vs. Third-Party Marketing Assistance

Although some marketers are moving their operations in-house, previous research suggests that only a small percentage are doing so for data and analytics.

The “2016 State of Analytics” report from Amplitude discovered that just one percent of marketers use in-house tools to leverage analytics.

In addition, approximately 60 percent are utilizing two or more tools simultaneously to drive results from their data, and 90 percent are using “out-of-the-box” tools.