Without data capabilities, marketers can’t improve their performance level, engagement, and customer loyalty. Sadly, marketers still don’t have access to it, and thus, less than 4 of 10 marketers are confident about their data analytics and insight systems. Only 12% of marketers seem highly confident, while 26% are very confident about their data capabilities. According to the report, the data capabilities are out of the reach of the majority of marketers.
A survey was conducted, which included 300 marketing leaders of multiple industries and geographies. Out of all data capabilities, the “Real-Time Availability of the Insights” is 42%, as cited by the respondents, which makes it the most out-of-the-reach data capability for marketers.
Real-time marketing is a vital component of data-driven marketing that depends upon quick access to data and valuable insights. Many marketers are lacking in this department, for which it has a more significant proportion of being out of their reach than all other data capabilities. Less than half of the top marketing performers in the GfK study and CMO Council described the actionable insights as quick or immediate. Worse, only 7% of the bottom performers shared the same opinion.
Furthermore, only 1 in 4 top performers said they had real-time availability of the insights and customers’ data from all across the organization as well as external partners. Unsurprisingly, when the top performers were asked about the data capabilities they have tried to improve over the last few months, only 67% mentioned the real-time availability of insights.
Other than the real-time availability of insights, 50% of the top performers are seeking to improve predictive analytics, while 56% of them are working on data-driven Cx. On the other hand, 64% of the top performers are struggling to get access to the extraction of data signals across channels. Out of these three data capabilities, top performers have also given up on predictive analytics, considering it out of their reach. According to the study’s author, 4 in 10 marketers also referred to predictive analytics as “Data dreams deferred.”
Meanwhile, access to data capabilities is the factor that differentiates between the top and bottom performers. It is a distinguishing trait of the data-driven organization that makes it a barrier to data access for other marketers. The third quarter of the respondents or marketers, that is, 73% of them, reported the lack of tools and technology as the leading cause of the barrier to data access.
According to 6 in every 10 respondents, the second major obstacle to accessing data capabilities is the lack of data management processes. Meanwhile, 41% of the respondents stated that the data controller is lying somewhere else in the organization. Likewise, data not being real-time is also the reason for the data capabilities being out of the marketers’ reach.
4 Ways to Build Data Capabilities in Digital Marketing
As a marketer, when you embark on your digital journey, you should focus on how to get access to the data capabilities through timely decisions.
Here are a few ways to help you build data capabilities in digital marketing.
Integrate Digital Activities in the Overall Strategy
A digital marketing plan should align with the business’s overall marketing strategy. To integrate digital activities into the overall strategy, you would require a strong signal from your management team highlighting the digital marketing activities as the organization’s priority. The campaigns you run might do little to boost sales, but they must give a clear message to the marketing team about the importance of digital activities.
If a company doesn’t have access to solid data capabilities, it can be challenging to integrate digital activities into the overall strategy. The company would feel the lack of skills and data to draw results. It should start building the right skills, but that doesn’t mean it should wait for the right time until it has a perfect set of skills. It should start with the digital marketing journey to create a path to digital excellence and build momentum.
Hire Experts For Help
You can outsource some digital capabilities by hiring experts. It would help strengthen the brand image and control to take a fast course of action. To give your customers an exceptional digital experience, the company needs to focus on its digital activities as well.
Training the existing staff for the new skills and talent might not always be the right option, so you can consider hiring an expert from the outside. However, your expert must be highly specialized to get actionable insights about digital consumers. It will help have a better understanding of how to reach out to the consumers.
Organize Digital Activities
It’s not all about executing or outsourcing digital activities. Instead, a company must also be conscious of how to carry out the entire process of digital activities. It is suggested to weigh the pros and cons of different work models and choose the one best suited to your company’s digital needs and requirements. Also, make a calculated decision regarding where to situate the digital activities in the organization.
Establish a Rapid Response Mechanism
Customers expect a quick solution to their problems or a response that can help them decide without wasting time. You should respond to each query and concern of your customers within a few minutes. If the query remains unanswered, the customers are less likely to make the purchase. Moreover, you should monitor the online discussions to see what people are talking about your brand and products. This way, you will be aware of the problems to fix them quickly.
Wrapping Up
Marketers don’t have access to most of the data capabilities. Thus, they are not confident about their decisions. There are multiple challenges and obstacles in the way that make the data capabilities out of their reach. However, they can follow a few tips and intelligent ways to build data capabilities in digital marketing.
