Firms fall in love with data but fail to get under its skin

Data-driven marketing may now have been embraced by nearly every UK business but the vast majority are still failing to harness the power of their data and limiting its effectiveness by focusing on general analysis rather than more sophisticated techniques.

So says a study of UK marketing decision makers, conducted for technology and digital marketing consultancy Making Science by Censuswide. It reveals that while 95% of UK brands have a data strategy, nearly two-thirds are not gaining granular insights from their information.

And, across the three sectors of retail and ecommerce, financial services, and travel, it is retailers which are lagging behind. In fact, only 7% of retail and ecommerce respondents gather both on- and offline data, compared to 1% of financial and travel respondents.

Retail brands are also less likely to validate the quality of their data, with one in eight failing to do so. This is significantly higher than both financial (1%) and travel (2%).

In regards to data activation, 12% of retail respondents stated that they did not activate their data at all – much higher than financial (1%) and travel (2%) – while 15% of retail brands have not invested in data automation, with financial services at 3% and travel at 4%.

Considering that over half (55%) of all the marketers surveyed aim to gain new clients as a result of data activation, these findings – particularly in the retail sector – highlight surprising wastage of efforts in light of the post-pandemic drive for efficiency and the pressure of growing economic concerns on ROI, the report claims.

Those activating their data not only aim to attract new clients, but also to increase brand awareness (50%), gain more loyalty within their current client base (46%), increase ROI (42%), and increase conversion rate optimisation (38%).

There is also a marked rise in the use of new technology, with nine in ten companies embracing machine learning in order to enrich their data.

The most common use in all industries surveyed was to create product recommendations for consumers, with nearly half of respondents opting for this approach. A further 43% stated that they used machine learning in order to optimise ad campaigns, while 34% use AI in order to personalise their website.

In line with the other data trends, retail brands are most likely to not be using machine learning, with a fifth of respondents from this sector shunning AI and machine learning.

Rather worringly, when it comes to data protection, nearly one in ten of those surveyed are still unsure how GDPR regulations apply to their company, a further 4% state that they have not heard of GDPR , while 1% state they are aware of the regulations but have chosen to ignore them.

Of those who have taken notice of GDPR, 38% work with an external expert in order to become compliant, while 33% rely on in-house expertise.

Making Science first-party data director Kevin Daly said: “The number of brands investing in data collection, yet failing to fully complete the final stage of activation, was particularly surprising.

“Almost all companies look to ensure the quality of their data, with 60% using internal processes and half relying on external platforms. Some 90% are going a step further and enriching their data, using a mixture of machine learning and AI tools.

“However, after all of the hard work, the majority are failing to use advanced measurement solutions to activate their data to its full potential. It is clear that there is currently a lack of understanding or resources to complete the most important stage in the data journey: activation.”