53% of marketers crave more customer data

Nearly two-thirds of companies have begun to invest in data marketing solutions, according to Infogroup’s ‘Big Data’s Big Payday’ report, and almost half (47%) of brands have already begun to see a positive return on those investments with another 15% expecting to see a return this year.

However, 53% of the 584 marketers surveyed at the 2014 DMA Annual Conference and Exhibition in San Diego last October for the report think they still don’t collect enough customer data. Just 10% believe they collect too much data and just over one third think the amount of data they collect is just right.

Of those marketers surveyed, just 21% said they are “very confident” their customer profiles are accurate and complete with 15% citing that data collection will be their “biggest data-related challenge” in 2015 followed by analysis (21%) and application (16%).

“Although data-driven marketing is now the norm, marketers still thirst for more data,” said Gretchen Littlefield, president of Infogroup Media Solutions. “Even as they invest in DaaS and Saas and execute more sophisticated multi-channel campaigns, brands are seeking to continually deepen their understanding of customers by acquiring more meaningful data from multiple sources.”

Further key findings from the survey include:

– Key data sources for marketers are customer purchase history (48%) and third-party lists (44%);

– Digital sources are used far less often; web browsing history (16%) and social media posts (12%);

– Campaign personalization is mostly based on the use of customer names (55%) and demographic data (53%); less than a third use data on brand interaction, transaction and trigger events or consumer interests.