Marketers’ Trust in Measurement Stagnates
▼ Summary
– Marketers’ confidence in measurement has plateaued, with 62% having some confidence but 54% reporting no change year over year and 14% experiencing a decline.
– Internal stakeholders frequently question the validity of marketing metrics, leading to up to 20% of budgets being reallocated or at risk for nearly 29% of marketers.
– Marketers prioritize incremental ROI (67%), aligning metrics to business outcomes (66%), and improving cross-channel attribution (55%) to prove performance.
– Key barriers to accurate measurement include siloed and incomplete data (49%), cross-channel deduplication issues (48%), and walled-garden reporting limitations (41%).
– Budget constraints are driving adoption of AI for reporting automation, while dissatisfaction with current technology is increasing investment in marketing mix modeling and multitouch attribution.
A surprising new study reveals that marketers’ confidence in their performance measurement tools has stalled, failing to grow during a period when proving value is more crucial than ever. The research indicates that while a majority of professionals express some faith in their metrics, a significant portion report no improvement in their trust levels over the past year, with some even experiencing a decline.
Internal skepticism presents a major hurdle, as six out of ten marketers say colleagues regularly question the validity of their reported numbers. This lack of confidence carries a direct financial impact, with close to 29% of respondents acknowledging that doubts about data accuracy have jeopardized or led to the reallocation of up to one-fifth of their total marketing budgets. This environment of increased scrutiny makes demonstrating clear performance absolutely essential. Proving incremental return on investment is now the top priority for 67% of marketers, closely followed by the need to tie marketing metrics directly to broader business outcomes (66%) and to enhance cross-channel attribution models (55%).
When asked about the primary obstacles to achieving precise measurement, survey participants pointed to several key issues. Siloed and incomplete data was cited by 49% as a major barrier, while 48% identified challenges in accurately deduplicating audiences across different channels. Another 41% highlighted the limitations imposed by “walled-garden” platforms, which restrict the flow of comprehensive data.
Facing these challenges is becoming more difficult for nearly a third of marketing teams, who are confronting moderate to significant budget cuts for their measurement and analytics functions. In response, many are turning to technological solutions to maintain their capabilities. Half of the marketers surveyed have either already adopted or plan to adopt artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate their reporting processes. For 40% of these professionals, using AI for advanced data analysis and report generation is the leading application.
Simultaneously, dissatisfaction with current measurement technology is driving long-term investment strategies. Driven by this discontent, 47% of marketers intend to increase their spending on marketing mix modeling within the next twelve months. Another 35% expect to boost their investment in multitouch attribution systems as they seek more reliable and holistic ways to track campaign performance. The findings are based on a survey of 196 marketing professionals based in the United States.
(Source: MarTech)
