More than half of marketers want more customer information, says Infogroup.
The analyst group's “Big Data's Big Payday” report reveals that data-driven marketing is attracting investment, with 62% of companies having started investing in data-focused marketing solutions, with investment in Data as a Service (DaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) spending up from 54% in 2013.
Despite 47% of brands seeing a positive ROI, the perception is that the quality (and quantity) of the data still falls short of what is required for effective marketing. Just 21% of respondents claimed to be confident in their customer profiles' accuracy and completeness, while 15% claim data collection will be their biggest data-related challenge in 2015 behind analysis (21%) and application (16%).
“Even as [marketers] invest in DaaS and SaaS and execute more sophisticated multichannel campaigns, brands are seeking to continually deepen their understanding of customers by acquiring more meaningful data from multiple sources,” says Gretchen Littlefield, president of Infogroup.
The report highlights the limitations of the most popular types of data collection amongst marketers. For example, less than a third use consumer interests, transaction and event triggers or consumer interactions with brands. Most rely on names (55%) and demographic information (53%) to personalise campaigns.