GDMA: Data is indispensable in marketing and in the boardroom

Data driven marketing has transcended the marketing department and entered the boardroom according to new research from the Global Alliance of Data-Driven Marketing Organisations (GDMA)

In its third annual survey of global DMA groups, the GDMA's Global Review of Data-Driven Marketing and Advertising research suggests that data-driven marketing has grown outside the marketing department and into the boardroom.

According to Jodie Sangster, chair of GDMA and CEO of the Australian DMA (ADMA), "Technology is rapidly changing every day and has a big impact on how customers interact with brands, which is why data is critical for driving many aspects of businesses.

"It’s a positive sign for marketers to see more and more CEOs and Board members understanding the value and importance of data. However, in order for businesses to thrive and deliver on customer experience, emphasis must be placed on sophisticated data management and analytics models. Also at the heart of the data-driven revolution is building consumer trust – as businesses look at securing more personal data from consumers, consumers value transparency and want to know if their information is being well-protected. Moving forward, trust will and should play a critical role in an organisation’s business strategy," she said.

According to the survey:

• Data has become an indispensable marketing asset: 79.6% of global survey respondents said customer data is critical to their marketing and advertising efforts, on par with the levels seen over the past two years
• Growing investment in data reflects the importance marketers place in the customer and their experience: 89.6% of survey panellists said data-driven marketing was focused, at least in part, on the maintenance of customer and prospect databases, the resources aimed at supporting better and more relevant offers and general customer communications
• 2016 was 'The Year of Measurement': More panellists declared their organisations 'sophisticated' at both single and cross-channel campaign measurement
• Investment increasing: More than half of global panellists said they increased spending on data-driven marketing in 2016 compared to the previous year while 35.8% said investment remained flat. Spending increased the most across digital channels as it has for the past two years.
• Data-driven marketing works: Panellists said that over the last year, performance improved across nine of ten tracked channels, suggesting a combination of improved planning and execution, as well as more insightful measurement and attribution techniques
• Improvements from the inside out: For the second year, panellists' top pick for improvement in their work was better integration of their existing advertising and marketing technologies, followed by improving the functionality and efficiency of their internal organisational processes to support data mining

The study was conducted jointly by GDMA and Winterberry Group, supported by MediaMath, through an online survey of 3,283 respondents in advertising, marketing, media and technology industries across 18 countries, between July and October 2016.

Joanna O’Connell, CMO of MediaMath said, “All effective marketing is powered by data, but it’s also about finding the right place and time to show a marketing message and measuring efforts intelligently with an eye toward business results. Smart marketers are realizing that it goes beyond just having a lot of data—they have to more granularly segment and analyze their audiences and then seamlessly reach and engage them across channels and devices in their marketing campaigns.”

Download the GDMA 2017 report here