According to Gartner’s annual CMO Spend Survey, marketing analytics investments is the single biggest area of spend, representing 9.2% of budget in 2017. But as my colleague, research director Ewan McIntyre points out, it’s not clear that analytics efforts are aligned to the CMO’s strategic measures. During Gartner’s CMO Spend Survey webinar this past week, marketing leaders came prepared with lots of questions. Here, we’ll explore those about marketing analytics.
What are the big spending trends within CMO’s “analytics” bucket?
Two areas stand out in our conversations with marketers:
Customer data platforms: This emerging category of solutions promises to unify customer data, currently scattered across multiple databases and tools, according to Christi Eubanks, Gartner managing VP and author of the report, “Innovation Insight for Understanding Customer Data Platforms.” From July through October 2017, the number of client inquiries on this topic increased 47% compared to the first six months of the year.
Attribution systems: “Companies are still eager to move away from the biased ‘last touch’ attribution, alongside their increasing desire to show marketing ROI from upstream channels like social and display,” says James Meyers, principal research analyst.
Any talk of using AI and Analytics in the marketing mix or with digital marketing?
Most definitely. The AI revolution touches many aspects of marketing, according to Andrew Frank, Gartner VP and distinguished analyst. He’s identified the three most popular areas: marketing-facing analytics, untargeted conversational agents and real-time personalization. (The report, “Three Questions Marketing Leaders Should Ask Before Approving an AI Plan” is available to Gartner clients.)
What are 3 to 5 key metrics that you recommend CMOs track?
Earlier this year, Gartner’s CMO Strategy Survey found that CMOs lack consensus on what metrics should top the list of strategic key performance indicators (KPIs). Granular, executional data is not appropriate at this level, because it impairs the ability to see the bigger picture.
Among the metrics that should top the CMO’s list are:
• ROI of total marketing spend
• Market share versus competition
• Brand health
• Lifetime value to cost-of-customer acquisition cost ratio
• Profitability
Gartner clients who want to learn more can check out these reports:
CMO Strategy Survey 2017: Marketers Track Many Metrics, but Risk Overlooking What Matters Most to the Business
Use Gartner’s Hierarchy of Marketing Metrics to Link Execution to Goals
Cost Optimization: Use Efficiency Metrics to Build Marketing Spend Accountability
The Gartner Blog Network provides an opportunity for Gartner analysts to test ideas and move research forward. Because the content posted by Gartner analysts on this site does not undergo our standard editorial review, all comments or opinions expressed hereunder are those of the individual contributors and do not represent the views of Gartner, Inc. or its management.
1 Comment
Thanks for sharing Anna Maria Virzi.
Exciting how IT spending have changed radically over years – going from automation of numbers to automation of digital assets, and analysis of what is relevant for the customers to grow revenue. According to Gartner’s CEO 2017 perspective survey by Mark Raskino, it was twice as likely that CEOs were planning to bring IT and digital capabilities in-house (57%), compared to outsourcing to external providers (29%), supporting the results from the 2017 CIO 100 survey where 74% of CIOs responded they were planning to bring key IT and digital skills back inside their organizations. This requires automation of manual processes in the content supply chain.
In 2017, 76% of businesses have created more content than ever, according to CMI. Marketing leaders seeking for answers on AI is related to the massive increase in content creation and management (incl. real-time user-generated content). A digital engine that operates from a single source of truth, like Digizuite DAM, helps secure easy search, control of approval processes and rights management. I like Andrew Frank pointing out brand health among the metrics CMOs should focus on, as this calls for streamlined and controlled workflows.
Best regards, Annette Lang Skovbølling, passionate digital strategist, partner and board member at Digizuite