Testing is core to marketing, but reporting on a myriad of experiments across a plethora of partners is a headache. Setting aside the ideal goal of sensible and accurate multi-touch attribution, simply getting data to jive and integrate into the same dashboard is no easy task. In many cases, it’s akin to mixing oil and water.
Indeed, according to a Harvard Business Review study of 560 marketing professionals, a third of marketers feel hindered by data silos. Similarly, another recent study found that “integrating disparate systems” and their data was a struggle for 52% of marketers..
So, why has this become the case? There are a few reasons:
- Unreliable data
- Niche vendors
- Ambiguous reporting
Unreliable Data
Even when marketers spend time and money to better identify, target, and measure their audiences, some data providers simply aren’t reliable. Indeed, according to a Q3 study on the state of audience data, marketers reported that their audience data buys are often not successful due to:
- Imprecise data (37%)
- Small data pools (22%)
- Low data quality (20%)
Niche Vendors
In the quest to be seen as an innovative marketer testing out new channels, many often turn to niche vendors that can offer the latest in martech, whether it’s a captivating new ad format or some new targeting capability. However, by going down an experimental rabbit hole and running channels in silos, marketers multiply the complexity of their analysis processes.
When this happens, someone on the marketing team is left with a pile of CSVs and no immediately clear answers. It’s not ideal.
Inconsistent Reporting
If assessing the performance of a myriad of siloed vendors isn’t frustrating enough, the process is complicated further when one or more provider has inconsistent, ambiguous, or otherwise unhelpful reporting.
Does the new niche vendor measure viewability the same way as another? Are site lists transparent or hashed? Does one report on GMT and another on EST? The list goes on.
What Marketers Can Do
To mix the proverbial oil & water to more easily integrate insights, marketers must first ask themselves a few questions:
- Are their data partners trustworthy?
- What’s the human cost of integrating insights from niche partners?
- Could they, and should they, simplify the number of partners they work with?
- Do they understand and trust how each partner is reporting?
Join the Conversation
How are you streamlining your marketing activities in 2019 to simplify your measurement & reporting processes? Let us know by joining the conversation on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook.