Author: marketingsherpa

Proper use of marketing analytics is critical for understanding and nurturing customers. However, even the most fine-tuned analytics strategies can contain inherent challenges and obstacles. When conducting the survey for the 2013 Marketing Analytics Benchmark Report, we asked marketers …

Q: What were your organization’s most frustrating challenges with marketing analytics in 2012?

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According to survey results, respondents were a determined and persistent group, as their two primary objectives for 2013 mirrored their most frustrating challenges from 2012.

The overall results for this question were evenly distributed among possible responses, but acting on data to improve marketing performance (42%), and combining data from multiple sources to draw correlations and make predictions (41%), were top-of-mind for respondents.

Notably, the third-most selected challenge was the funding of new analytics tools and solutions. Though 30% is certainly a significant percentage of marketers, as seen in a related chart in the Benchmark Report, 3% fewer considered this an objective for 2013.

Minimal, though it may seem, it may represent a positive step toward allowing marketers to focus more on analytics tasks in 2013, and less on the justification of costs to the C-suite.

Points to Consider

In an uncertain economy, it can be especially difficult to justify expenses such as marketing analytics to executives. Have executives in your company allocated more budgeting for analytics tools and resources, or have they denied additional spending for analytics needs? If they have limited your budget, how do you plan on conducting analytics efforts in 2013?

For more information about marketing analytics, download the free excerpt from the 2013 Marketing Analytics Benchmark Report. And, be sure to share your own analysis of this chart in the MarketingSherpa LinkedIn Group for a chance to be published in a future blog post.