Why under-utilised data is magnifying marketers’ ROI challenges

Marketing budgets are under scrutiny once again with economic headwinds cutting growth forecasts for UK ad spend in 2022. Estimates between 2023 and 2025 have also been downgraded, making it even more important for marketers to demonstrate how investment achieves business goals — a task that will get trickier with the removal of third-party cookies, even with an extension to this deadline. 

Despite data’s ability to both heighten and prove the impact of marketing budgets, findings from a recent Making Science study uncovered that two-thirds of UK marketers are under utilising the data they have available. By relying on general analysis instead of deeper insights, marketers are missing out on a crucial advantage. To progress their data journeys and hit business objectives, what steps can marketers take to make the most of available data sets?
 

Gather a wealth of information 

Data sits at the heart of all modern marketing capabilities, including audience segmentation, ad targeting, campaign personalisation, and more. Whether reaching new consumers or retaining existing ones, marketers require numerous data points to inform how they engage their audiences. With ongoing changes to privacy regulations and marketers being deprived of third-party data in future, they will need to do more with the information they can gather themselves; preparation should begin now.

Digital users currently spend around 40% of their time online, which gives brands opportunities to gather first-party data that can benefit their marketing efforts. In fact, 88% of marketers are collecting data from digital sources, such as online campaigns and user activity on brand websites. Nine out of ten are also measuring the data they gather, building a strong foundation for planning, optimising, and measuring digital campaigns, but it is critical for marketers to harness the full potential of this. 
 

Identify the value of unified data

Although many marketers have successfully mastered the first step, two-thirds only activate data at a high level, using general analysis to inform their strategies. In essence, they are resting on a mountain of untapped granular insights. Ignoring this leads to inefficiencies which can be detrimental to key business objectives, with a notably small proportion of marketers being capable of boosting ROI (42%) or CRO (38%). 

When aiming to improve these metrics, it is important to take a holistic approach to data to gain a clear understanding of audiences and campaign performance. Almost one in two marketers, however, claim that their data is analysed in silos. Failing to unify disparate data sets results in wastage - especially with gathering and sorting data being such a high priority - and prevents marketers from truly maximising the impact of their shrinking budgets.  
 

Assess the entire data journey 

From gathering data through to activation, marketers must evaluate each stage of the data journey to guarantee their strategies deliver against marketing goals as efficiently as possible. 

Starting with the way data is collected, marketers should establish rigorous quality processes so they only keep the most relevant and valuable information. Additionally, data must be centralised in a single, holistic system so that marketers can compare different data streams, for instance online and offline data, to ensure full visibility. Data can then be utilised for two main use cases: 

• Experience optimisation: data used for this purpose allows marketers to gain an in-depth view of users, as well as identify high-value audiences
   
• Media mix optimisation: marketers can leverage data to understand campaign performance and allocate budgets to the channels driving the most impact. Advanced measurement is incredibly beneficial here for achieving the best ROI

The last stage of the data journey is activation, which is vital for minimising inefficiencies and fulfilling the true potential of data. By adopting advanced solutions, marketers can overcome their current challenges, build informed strategies, and hit their objectives. 
 

Upgrade analytical capabilities

Typical analysis tools extrapolate a subset of data to make assumptions about the data set as a whole. Advanced tools, meanwhile, can analyse every point in a data set, processing huge quantities of information to provide granular insights. Overlaying these tools with AI technologies unlocks the ability to expand insights beyond the available dataset via predictive modelling techniques. Moreover, AI can be used to uncover which elements of a campaign are driving success or holding it back through advanced measurement capabilities. Equipped with a deeper understanding of audiences and campaigns, marketers can optimise their decision making and implement strategies which deliver against key metrics. 

The ability to increase ROI and CRO is critical for marketers facing the challenges of restricted budgets. Not only can it boost efficiency, but also justify investment by proving its impact on a business’s bottom line. Realising the full value of available data will ensure campaign success despite economic uncertainty and take marketing efforts to new heights.