Most marketers consider data analysis skills more important than social media skills

New research conducted across the US and UK reveals that data analysis skills are considered most important by marketers to their organization.

by Helen Leggatt

BlueVenn's new study, 'Customer Data: The Monster Under the Bed?', published this week, delves into which skills and attributes marketers consider the most valuable to their organizations' survival over the coming two years.

Of the 200 marketers in the US and UK, nearly two-thirds cited data analysis skills as those they hope to acquire as data management has become a more vital skill than social media, web development, graphics design, and SEO.

"In the age of big data, marketers have a better opportunity than ever before to truly understand their customers' decision making processes," said Anthony Botibol, marketing director at BlueVenn. "Unfortunately, as it stands, most marketers simply don't have the time, the knowledge or the tools necessary to undertake this task in a practical and effective way."

In fact, more than a quarter (27%) of marketers continue to give data analysis tasks to the IT department and "in reality only 16% of marketers actually believe that their knowledge of data should have to improve".

According to the report, marketers are not interested in becoming data scientists but instead want access to marketing tools and technology that "makes the tasks of unifying, cleansing and matching data more automated".

"Enter the Customer Data Platform (CDP), which is set to revolutionize the day-to-day tasks of today's marketers," continues the report. "If a Single Customer View can be achieved by a CDP, unifying all the data about customers into one central hub and giving the right analysis and customer journey tools, then why should marketers waste their time "skilling up" or painstakingly preparing data by hand?"