Maximize Your Marketing Analytics Without Wasteful Investments

Digital marketing continues to be a big facet of organizations looking for rapid digital transformation. And while marketing analytics continues to be invested in, some are wondering if these analytics are even worth investing in at all.

A stunning 54% of senior marketing respondents in Gartner’s 2020 Marketing Data and Analytics Survey indicated that marketing analytics has not had the influence within their organizations that they expected.

Marketers have always utilized tools to get insights on consumer behavior, improve advertising campaigns, and track brand health. In our digital age, solutions such as social media listening and artificial intelligence have taken the forefront. Yet, why do many senior marketing officials feel that forecasting growth with marketing analytics solutions isn’t worth the investment?

Marketing in itself poses multiple challenges for organizations. And, while marketing analytics investments aim to alleviate some of these hurdles, those challenges become larger the more money is invested in them. Obviously, if money is being invested, you want positive results!

Yet marketing analytics comes with its own set of hurdles, such as:  

• Poor data quality 
• Lack of actionable insights
• A desire for more quality analytics skillsets 

Approaches to improve marketing and sales performances can be disjointed and frustrating. Too often, these approaches can seem like a bad or wasteful investment. There are a number of ways organizations can maximize their marketing analytics investments, however.

It should go without mentioning that marketing analytics is highly dependent on the data gathered. If the quality of data is poor, then marketing analytics will not produce expected quality results. 

For many companies, data is siloed and not integrated properly. This is what leads to insufficient data quality. For example, data from a Google Ads campaign and data from a social media advertisement may showcase a similar behavior path, but if the data cannot be matched properly, it may lead to data that is deemed unactionable. 

Additionally, manually sifting through data can lead to operational inefficiencies, which can further the divide between quality data and the data that is deemed to not be useful. The amount of data companies gather has also grown drastically. Knowing what to do with that data is key, but also being able to quantify that kind of data at scale is important. Essentially, marketing analytics allows companies to observe their marketing efforts in an omnichannel approach. This is important because it allows marketers to view the entire customer journey and make decisions based on the data.

Without actions, data becomes useless. Which brings up another challenge that companies face: “What do we do now?”

Based on the Gartner study and others like it, marketing managers and executives aren’t convinced that marketing analytics is worth the investment due to a lack of actionable insights.

True, marketing analytics can seem like a wasteful investment if the insights gathered aren’t acted upon. After all, marketing analytics enables marketers to evaluate the success of their marketing initiatives. Without action, marketing analytics can seem like a money pit. Luckily, marketing analytics provides key actionable insights for teams to strategize and implement, such as:

• Identifying campaign and channel deficiencies.
• Pivoting strategies and tactics.
• Optimizing processes.
• Generating customer segments.
• Promoting predictive analysis.

The value of data and marketing analytics is there. However, it’s up to each organization to fully use its findings to reach its goals. This is why it may seem like a bad investment if no actions are taken. 

The last major challenge that senior marketers and executives face is skill development among team members. The expectations on marketing analytics rest on the shoulders of those who are tasked with driving sales and engagement. So, if the team itself is underperforming and unskilled in certain areas, organizations can mitigate these challenges by investing time and resources to upskill team members.

Establishing a data-driven environment (and marketing team) starts at the top. Organizations that are unwilling to see the big picture and provide marketers with the tools and solutions needed for their success will obviously deem marketing analytics and the like as “wasteful.”

CMOs and the like have the ability to drive a marketing analytics-first culture that puts emphasis on strategizing an optimal path forward for marketers. As the lines begin to blur between marketing and sales, a strong team with clear goals in mind can maximize investment in marketing analytics.

There’s no doubt that CMOs and other senior marketing executives may feel like their marketing analytics investment does not meet expectations. It’s dependent on multiple variables, including the actual size of the organization.

Yet, for those organizations who are seeking tools like marketing analytics to better understand their efforts, there are ways to maximize that investment.

First, recognize that poor data quality can disrupt analytics. 

Disjointed and siloed data does nothing but tarnish the perceived value of analytics. In turn, marketers can’t prove which of their campaigns work and which don’t.

Next, marketing analytics becomes nothing without action.

Marketers can use analytics to optimize returns on marketing investments and ensure future marketing success. But that only can be established with an effective strategy based on data gathered. These actions enable marketers to focus on key areas, such as customer nurturing and management, which can further drive sales.

Last but not least, none of the actions can be properly taken without marketing skills.

Securing and developing a marketing team’s skills is essential to maximize marketing analytics. At the end of the day, the quality of work is determined by advanced analytics skills and ongoing honing of those skills.

In any organization, no matter the size, digital marketing has become an integral part of conducting business and contributing to the bottom line. With data becoming more valuable in modern times, businesses can utilize marketing analytics to properly formulate clear goals and benchmarks for marketing efforts.

Remove the guesswork altogether, and realize the full value of data. At Pandera, we specialize in delivering data-driven solutions that help modernize and transform how our clients activate their data.

For more information on how you can maximize your marketing analytics, please get in touch with us today!